TO STOCKTON (BUT YOU'LL HAVE TO WAIT FOR A PINT)

Having left Hartlepool behind, we head for Teesside, calling at Greatham station to see another LNER steam railcar. 

Passing by, on a different occasion, of course, an ex Birkenhead Leyland bus, in the hands of the nearby RHM Flour Mill.

At the mill itself, in Greatham village, a former Trent Leyland Titan.

Next stop, Billingham station, seen in 1965 (Ben Brooksbank).

Billingham station was later rebuilt and is now an island platform. A class 47 deputises for a DMU in 1987.

The area to the south east is very industrial. The CEGB employed this little diesel at Haverton Hill.

In the northern suburbs of Stockton is Norton, once served by Imperial Tramways.

The Red Lion at Norton still exists, but has no cask beer.

And so to the Tees. We could cross the river by the new Infinity Bridge, but that would take us into Yorkshire (S Gibson - Creative Commons License).

Instead, we find this wharf on the County Durham side, which employed this Barclay 0-4-0ST (Photo in my collection, photographer unknown).

Sometime around 1967/8, I visited this location. The line was still in situ, but was out of use.

I followed the line through the back streets of Stockton.

It terminated in the derelict ex Stockton & Darlington Railway yard at St John's Crossing.

If we follow the Salvation Army band, we should end up in town.

Here we are! Stockton's broad High Street, with trams.

Now, it's sometime around 1925.

The town hall stands proud in the middle of the High Street.

The corner of Dovecot Street is where we'll end this post.

Next time, we'll take a look at Stockton's buses, then take a pub crawl (and it'll be a good 'un!).

SALUTING THE MONKEY HANGERS

And so we arrive at the old town of Hartlepool. The locals are known as "Monkey Hangers" - click here to find out why. There's even a memorial to the event (Creative Commons License).

The Sea Wall in Hartlepool, circa 1910.

An even earlier view of Hartlepool.

The historic quay in old Hartlepool (Hugh Llewelyn - CC).

St Hilda's church serves Old Hartlepool (Richard Huggins).

Most of the industry and present town developed around what is now known as West Hartlepool. Here's a few pictures of the loco shed.

Hartlepool station is well placed for the centre of West Hartlepool. The LNER was using this Sentinel steam railcar on a local service in 1933.

A DMU arrives in 1987.

Northern and Grand Central serve Hartlepool today, but using more modern stock than shown in these 2012 views.

Within the buildings of Hartlepool station is the Rat Race Ale House - limited opening hours, but worth the visit.

Let's now have a look at West Hartlepool town centre. Here are some sewer construction works on Oxford Street.

The town hall, now used as a theatre (Creative Commons License).

West Hartlepool church.

Church Street, when trams were running, sometime around 1910.

A slightly later view of Church Street, with the short-lived trolleybus system.

Again, we're on Church Street, with Hartlepool Transport buses in the mid 1970s.

The depot was just off Church Street.

Hartlepool Transport had a varied fleet towards the end of its existence.

Stagecoach took over from Hartlepool Transport.

Other operators to serve Hartlepool, using the small bus station, included Gillett Bros and Tees & District.

One of the prominent buildings of West Hartlepool is Cameron's Brewery, seen here in 1976, with the Stranton acting as the brewery tap.

A more modern view of the brewery, 2012.

The Stranton has now been renamed as the Brewery Tap (AKA the Anchor Tap Room and Bottle Shop). Brewery tours start from here.

Sadly, we end our tour of Hartlepool at two vanished pubs: The Tap & Spile and The Brewer & Firkin.

The next post will find us beside the Tees.

THREE SMALL TOWNS

From Bishop Auckland we head towards Spennymoor (look at the map here) and pass through Middlestone Moor, where we see a bus of Trimdon Motor Services on route T69.

Another TMS vehicle, this time in Spennymoor itself.

Here's an old postcard of the High Street.

Gardiner's was the local operator.

The vehicles of United and The Eden could also be seen in Spennymoor.

The next town is Ferryhill, once home to Dean & Chapter Colliery.

A postcard of Ferryhill Town Hall.

Ferryhill town centre in 2019 (Creative Commons License).

Here the local operator was Martindale's, with a depot in the town.

At least one stage carriage service was operated.

Ferryhill Station, being over a mile from the town, was on the East Coast Main Line. Trains still pass through.

The loco shed in 1936.

Ferryhill Station village is the location of the Surtees Arms, home to the Yard of Ale Brewery.

In the shadow of an evil looking coking plant at Fishburn was Grierson's Coaches, with a fleet of seond-hand vehicles for transporting miners, etc.

The final town of this post is Sedgefield, home to several pubs and a race course, none of which we are visiting. A local independent here, Wilkinson's, was taken over by United.

We now head for the coast and finish this post at the long vanished Blackhall Rocks Hotel.

Next time, Hartlepool, here we come.