The area around the Team Valley was once riddled with waggonways, built to get coal down to the Tyne or the main line railways. One such was the Ouston Waggonway, passing through Birtley.
Accidents on these inclines were not unknown. This one was at the foot of the Blackhouse incline on the Pelaw Main Railway near Birtley.
Birtley had a station on the ECML. A "Peak" passes the site in 1965 (Ben Brooksbank).
Durham Road, Birtley, in 1912.
A motor bus passes along Durham Road circa 1917.
The War Memorial Garden in Birtley (Creative Commons License).
The first pint of the post, in the Moulders Arms, Birtley.
The area to the south takes its name from the pub, the Barley Mow. It is closed at the time of writing.
The Go Ahead Group operates most of the buses in the Barley Mow area.
On the Tyne & Wear/County Durham border was the Wheatsheaf. It's still open, but is mainly an Italian restaurant.
A Go Ahead 'decker passes by.
Further down the road, the Lambton Worm. Back in 2013, it was owned by Sonnet 43 Brewery.
This is Pelton Fell near Chester-le-Street around 1913.
Onwards then, to Chester-le-Street and here are two views of Front Street circa 1930.
The town is dominated by the railway viaduct, built by the NER and carrying the ECML.
Chester-le-Street station is still open. Here it is in NER times.
Northern General's Chester-le-Street depot housed the unique "Tynesider" and more conventional vehicles.
Northern's Routemasters once plied the main road (Les Flint).
The Go Ahead Group operate more modern buses these days.
United also served the town in 1995.
Shaws was a short-lived offshoot of the Go Ahead Group.
General was the local independent.
Other operators once included Gardiners and Classic Buses.
We'll finish off this post with a few beers. First, there's the Wetherspoons, the Wicket Gate.
The Cricket Club's bar has a selection of real ales.
We conclude in the excellent Butchers Arms, seen as a Cameron's house, but now in the hands of Marstons.
We travel back into Tyne & Wear in the next post.
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