Vanished monuments of a bygone industrial age, it's 45 years since Tyne Dock arches, situated just to the east of Jarrow, were bulldozed into history.
There were four of them bridging the main Jarrow to South Shields road, each one supporting a busy railway line on which freight trains laden with coal and heading towards Tyne Dock would arrive from the numerous pits of County Durham, then return empty of their cargo.
Tyne Dock covered 50 acres when it opened in 1859. At its height in 1913 - in an age when coal was king - seven million tons of the black stuff was handled each year. By 1923 there were around 170,000 miners working in the pits of the County Durham coalfield.
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Much of what they produced was transported to Tyne Dock from where it was shipped to London or exported to the continent. The place would have been a noisy hive of activity as the coal was poured into collier ships from four staiths, using 42 spouts.
Tyne Dock arches, meanwhile, made a literary appearance in the novel Kate Hannigan’s Girl, written by the best-selling author Catherine Cookson who was born nearby in 1906.
Our two then-and-now photographs were taken decades apart by Whitley Bay-based amateur photographer, Trevor Ermel, who has kindly shared much of his work with ChronicleLive in recent years.
He says: "The stone arches were built by the North Eastern Railway in the 19th century. The arches had fallen out of use by the 1960s, although they remained a prominent landmark until their demolition in September, 1977.”
“Slight inclines were incorporated into the design of the structures. The gradients enabled loaded coal wagons on the top level to run in gently by gravity and out to the staiths, then return empty downhill via the lower track to sidings. The 1970s photograph recalls the cramped road conditions, but of course when the arches were built, horses and carts were the mode of transport.
"There is no sign of the arches today. With their removal it was possible to widen the road considerably - it is now a dual carriageway - and there is also a dedicated cycle track.”
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