A view of West Hartlepool and Harbour railway station – when Norton Road, Stockton was crossed on the level – the trains entered at the left-hand end.
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
A view of West Hartlepool and Harbour railway station – when Norton Road, Stockton was crossed on the level – the trains entered at the left-hand end.
This station had a succession of early owners. It was built in 1841/2 by the Stockton and Hartlepool Railway to provide both passenger and goods services and was also used by the Clarence Railway. This arrangement altered in 1852 when all passenger services were provided at the new Leeds Northern Railway’s station off Bishopton Lane and this original building continued in use as a goods station. Also in 1852, the Stockton and Hartlepool Railway merged with its West Hartlepool docks business and the new company was called the West Hartlepool Harbour and Railway. This company provided competition to the Stockton and Darlington Railway as well as the North Eastern Railway until it was taken over by the latter in 1865.
The station’s position, and the arrangement of its tracks is clearly shown on my copy of the 1925 six inch Ordnance Survey maps.
And if the building and the site had survived, wouldn’t it have been ideal for the location of a Stockton Railway Museum, with all the business that would have created.
An almost identical picture appears in Ken Hoole’s book ‘Railways of Teesside’ (Dalesman 1986, ISBN: 0 85206 683 X) although taken from a point slightly to the left of this one. Could be at the same time, as the same cars are parked outside. He describes it thus: ‘The Stockton and Hartlepool and the Clarence Railway station was situated east of Norton Road, and this was crossed on the level by the North Shore branch. This is a 1963 view of the station offices, with the train shed behind. Trains entered the train shed from the left.
Another picture on the same page of his book is of the ‘train shed’ (the covered area over the platforms) taken from the other side. Trains would enter from the right in that shot, but when Norton Road was bridged in 1872, entrance to the train shed was gained through the east wall and the end entrance abandoned. By then the station was only used for goods traffic, passenger traffic having re-located to the Leeds Northern station.
I have read elsewhere that originally the two Companies had separate stations side by side on this site, and this is shown as such on early maps.
Can anyone tell me where this was please?
When you went down the bank to Tilery from Station Street it was on the right hand side, it would of been attached to the railway goods yard in Station Street.
Further to the comment by Anon this is now where Pickerings lifts operates from. If you stand looking at the gates of Pickerings, Wynyard Street is on the left hand edge of the site.
All the livestock would of arrived here in the forties & fifties before they were driven through the streets on the way to the slaughter houses.
The front of this station building ran parallel to Norton Road, in fact the gates in the foreground were on Norton Road, just to the left of the billboards on this picture: http://picturestocktonarchive.wordpress.com/2014/07/23/unknown-102. The photographer was stood on Norton Road. This puts the station & goods yard in the area of the St Marys Gate (business estate – Plumbase, Avis, Teesside Tyrepower etc).
http://picturestocktonarchive.wordpress.com/2007/04/27/north-shore-branch-and-goods-shed-1977/
The perspective doesn’t look right for a photographer standing in Norton Road – I think it more likely that he was in Oxford Terrace, on the opposite side of Norton Road.
Prior to 1872, Oxford Terrace would be Norton Road.
An even better way to locate this station :
http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/eaw052009