Backworth Railway Station Totem Magnet

Description

Backworth Railway Station Totem Magnet. Free UK shipping. High quality, hand printed metal fridge magnet. British Railway station name sign, in North Eastern region orange.

Backworth is a village in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England, about 3+1⁄2 miles (6 km) west of Whitley Bay on the north east coast. It lies 5 miles (8 km) northeast of Newcastle upon Tyne. Other nearby towns include North Shields to the southeast, Wallsend to the south, and Cramlington to the northwest.

Backworth is often recognised to include Backworth Village, Castle Park Estate and Moorside Estate. The hamlets of West Holywell and East Holywell lie to the northeast of Backworth. Shiremoor lies to the South-East and Earsdon to the East.

Backworth was a centre of coal mining through the 19th century and much of the 20th century. Brickmaking took place just north of the village on the site of the former “C Pit” from the late 19th to mid-20th century. As late as 1950, 2,905 people were employed in the collieries in and immediately around Backworth.

In the early 1970s, the railway system serving Backworth Colliery was one of the few places where steam locomotives could still be seen at work, and a number of its locomotives have been preserved at various heritage railways. Footage of the locomotives (with the colliery itself in the background) taken around this time can be seen on YouTube. A lean-to on the side of the colliery’s engine shed also provided a place for the fledgling preservation movement to store locomotives rescued from elsewhere.

In 1980, Backworth’s last pit, Eccles Colliery, (the deepest in the Northumberland Coalfield at 1,440 ft) closed after 165 years of mining in the area. The concrete caps covering the backfilled shafts of the “A” pit, Maude and Eccles shafts can still be seen on the site of the colliery. Only the colliery’s former workshops survived the demolition of the surface buildings. These back onto Station Road opposite the golf club, and are home to retail and light industrial units.

When the Metro rapid transit system replaced the British Rail passenger line through Backworth in 1980, Backworth Station had the distinction of being the only stop on the network to be closed due to lack of custom. The test track for the Metro was built at Middle Engine Lane (named after one of the stationary haulage engines used before the introduction of locomotives in the mid-19th century) on the former line from the colliery to the staithes, and is now home to the North Tyneside Steam Railway.

Backworth Railway Station Totem Magnet, the size of the magnet is 115x30mm and they come on a backing card. There are two magnets on the back, ready to stick on the fridge.

Backworth Railway Station Totem Magnet, is part of our collection of Northumberland railway station magnets, click here to see the full range.

Shipping is via Royal Mail 2nd Class Large Letter post, with 1st Class Large Letter available. International post is also available.