‘Last’ surviving building from ‘world’s first’ steam railway in County Durham given reprieve by council
CAMPAIGNERS battling to save one of the last surviving buildings of the Hetton Colliery Railway (HCR) in County Durham have been boosted by Sunderland City Council’s decision to refuse permission for it to be demolished.
As reported last issue, a major event to mark the bicentenary of what has been dubbed the world’s ‘first successful steam railway’ is due in the autumn of 2022.
However, the line’s 1910-built locomotive and waggon shed on Hetton Lyons Industrial Estate, erected on the site of an earlier 1800s building, is threatened with demolition.
Modern-day specialist rail infrastructure engineering company Trackwork wants to pull it down because it has fallen into a state of disrepair.
However, the Hetton Colliery Railway 200 group (HCR200), a charity set up to mark the 200th anniversary next year, and Hetton Town Council have lodged objections as both want it saved because of its historical importance.
Trackwork had applied to the city council for a notice giving it the power to demolish the shed, stating there were no plans to build anything on the site but that “this may change in the future”.
The town council had called for the application process to be halted and expert opinion sought from the city council’s heritage officer.
It also wanted Trackwork to justify need to demolish the shed. A town council spokesman said the shed “represents an important aspect of the town’s railway heritage and is a rare example of such a building.”
HCR 200’s Stuart Porthouse, a former city councillor for the St Chad’s Ward and Mayor of Sunderland, said: “We want it preserved in some manner, and while it’s been allowed to deteriorate, the building itself is solid – it’s just the roof.
“It’s important we look after our heritage. This is the only reminder of what was a huge industrial concern.”
Campaigners have suggested it could be donated to Beamish: The North of England Open Air Museum.
On April 1, the city council, as the local planning authority, refused Trackwork’s application for consent to pull the building down.
The city council issued a statement which said: “The proposed notification as submitted fails to satisfy the conditions in Part 11 Class B (Demolition of buildings ) of The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015. “
Permission was refused, it said, “owing to the lack of information relating to method of demolition and restoration.”
An application by the campaigners for listing status to Historic England for the shed has just been refused by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Stuart said he was “disappointed” by that decision.
The eight-mile railway opened in 1822 and was built to 4ft 8in gauge. It was the first all-new railway to be developed by George Stephenson and the first in the world to operate without horse traction. It transported coal from Hetton Colliery, to be shipped out of the River Wear.
The railway was closed by the National Coal board on September 12, 1959, and several lengths have been converted into the Stephenson Trail walking and cycling route.
➜ HCR 200 is planning to hold a conference about the railway from November 18-22, 2022. Further details about HCR 200 are at www.hcr200.org