Seaham Harbour

Seaham Harbour

/ November 12, 2020 / 1 Comment / Collections, Industrial Archaeology

Regular readers of the blog will no doubt be aware that wherever possible, I try to obtain (by donation or purchase) images of the collections at the museum, taken during their working lives. Those same readers will also know that Seaham Harbour holds a particular fascination! The museum is custodian of the well-known Stephen Lewin 0-4-0ST No.18 as well as the older vertical boiler Head Wrightson 0-4-0VBT No.17 plus a collection of ex Londonderry (Seaham) chaldron waggons.

The collection also includes a counterbalanced coal drop and a stationary engine used on the quayside. I was therefore pleased that a collection of negatives, taken by George Marsh, appeared on an online auction site recently. They were grouped into threes, and whilst the museum hasn’t the funds at present to purchase them, I couldn’t let them pass so bid for them myself.

I was able to secure three of the four lots which I have included below, and would love to hear from the person who won the fourth lot, as this included a superb image of No.18 crossing the North Dock, between the two tunnels en route to or from the beach to the north of the harbour (which allowed access to the breakwater and also onto the shingle beach for the collection of material used in the manufacture of concrete blocks – these being used as part of the breakwater defences). In due course the negatives will be re-scanned and I’ll pass them to the archive to include in what is now a fairly substantial body of Seaham Harbour related material – much of which has featured on this blog over the years.

Above: This view is taken looking north, from the portal of the tunnel mouth through which the line from the south dock reached the Harbour or north beach (also referred to as Dalton Burn Beach). The line followed the cliff line to the right of the locomotive, with a siding setting it back towards the north breakwater, on which the locomotive and chaldron is stood. The area to the north and east of the tunnel is known as Red Acre Point and if you visit today, it is the area to the north of the heritage centre, cafes and modern outlets buildings.
You will be familiar with No.18, the 1877-built Stephen Lewin locomotive that was heavily rebuilt at Seaham, and is in essence a Seaham Harbour Dock Company locomotive, incorporating components from the earlier Stephen Lewin 0-4-0WT. It became a saddle tan in, we think, 1936, being rebuilt again in 1960, assuming the appearance (with enclosed cab) seen in these photos.
Above: This view shows No.18 resting outside what is now the heritage centre/lifeboat museum. From the previous view, the locomotive has propelled the chaldron waggon (No.38) eastwards towards the entrance to the North Dock (the original dock constructed at Seaham). It would then reverse in order to reach the North Breakwater. For visitors to the North Dock area today, you approach via the access road that runs down the railway line seen to the left of No.18 here. Behind the photographer some of the track remains, set in the concrete, and is where we took No.17 on a number of occasions as part of various outreach projects with the Seaham community and local history group.
Above: I am not entirely sure of the precise location of this view but assumed it to be looking south, taken with the coal staithes behind and to the left of the photographer. The town of Seaham is to the right and some of the streets can clearly be seen in the background – perhaps someone will be able to identify which street and therefore enable a precise location to be identified? What is of particular interest in this view is the signal. Note the steel bodied hoppers in the background, either pre or post teaming (unloading) into a waiting collier.
Above: No mistaking this location! No.18, a flat waggon and two chaldrons plus the steam crane (all engaged in maintenance work) are seen on the North Breakwater whilst the harbour dredger ‘Wynyard’ is seen at work in the foreground. The mainteance train consists of a flat waggon, on an elongated chaldron chassis, complete with cement mixer and bagged cement. The two chaldrons presumably carried other materials necassary for the repairs being undertaken.
Readers can find some lovely colour images of this work on the Restoration & Archiving Trust website: http://www.gwrarchive.org/index.php then select ‘United Kingsom/Industrial Systems and refer to images arc239 to arc248.
Above: A view looking towards the north east corner of the South Dock. Note the coal drops to the left of this view and the tugs arrayed around the harbour walls awaiting their next duties. The two that are braodside to the photogpaher are paddle tugs, possibly Reliant and Eppleton Hall? When the museum archive reopens and is able to, all of these negatives will be rescanned to a rather better reso;ution and we may be able to more positively identify the vessels visible here.
Above: I was particularly pleased to be able to secure this image, showing the coal drop now stored at Beamish and regularly the subject of studies and consultations with a view to reinstalling it adjacent to the docks at Seaham. The waggons arrived (loaded) on top of the wooden staging, entering a cradle that would lower them into the hold of a ship for teaming. The now lighter waggon would then be raised as the counterbalance of the lifting beams returned it to the siding upon which it arrived. The large wheel (see also below) acted as a means of controlling the descent/ascent, being braked for this purpose. The stones upon which the mechanism is assembled are at Beamish, though the timberwork was either not collected or has long since perished.
Above: A close up view of the breake wheel. Note the arc of the counterbalance behind, toothed to engage in a cog on the brakewheel axle with which it engaged and rotated through its arc.
Above: Frank Atkinson took this photograph of the coal drop in situ prior to arranging its dismantling and storage (it later moved to Beamish). Some historical notes may be of interest at this stage. At Seaham the harbour is against a series of cliffs, so the height was available for the drops, but also a problem in causing breakage of coal. As a result, William Chapman (1749 – 1832) a noted engineer, patented (in 1807) a means of ‘Putting coal on board ships, lighters and other vessels so as to prevent breakage’.
In 1820 Chapman became engineer to the Londonderry family who owned a number of collieries around Seaham and were developing a harbour there. John Buddle was chief viewer for the Londonderry family (essentially their engineer) and he oversaw a lot of the Seaham Harbour works – dying in 1843. It is therefore possible that these two initiated the construction of the forerunner of these drops – originally a timber construction but later, perhaps in the 1845 – 1850 period, upgrading these to iron construction.
Above: Long after his retirement and right up to his death, Beamish’s founder, Frank Atkinson, was a passionate advocate of re-erecting the coal drops that he had collected. He commissioned this model, which I remember him showing me in his study not long after I started working at the museum, and which is now in the collection here. It shows the method by which the coal drop worked. In truth, it is less of a ‘drop’ and more of a controlled unloading. The waggona arrives at the top of the mechanism and is propelled into the cradle.
Above: The loaded waggon is then lowered in its cradle, with the weight of the waggon causing it to descened, braked by the band around the large brakewheel that sits behind the two substantial girders that carry the cradle and which engages in a toothed rack as seen in the photo earlier.
Above: The empty chaldron is then lifted as the brake is released, the weight of the girders causing them to raise and so lift the cradle. Simple and effecive but slow compared to later methods employed for unloading in parallel to the colliers. It is unlikely that we will ever rebuild the coal drop at Beamish (I would love to though – what a superb working exhibit!), but we regualry discuss the potentail of re-erecting the drop at Seaham – the usual sticking point being that of finance. For now the dismantled girders and brake wheel plus the remains of the cradle are stored at Beamish and can be seen by visitors as they travel between Pockerley and the Town area.
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