Blyth railway.

[peeem]

Apologies if this has been on before.

http://www.davidheyscollectionextra.com/page24.htm

[Phodgetts]

For any Blyth folk (or other interested parties) the Blyth layout will be exhibited at the Salvation Army Hall on Wawn Street at South Shields Fri 10th and Sat 11th February 2012. I have every intention of being there to see what progress has been made with the construction.

The layout was exhibited for the first time last year and it has been a great hit with local people. Of course many of the old railway men of the area very much appreciate the attention to detail and the accuracy of the track and buildings which have all been constructed to scale. Where there are no photographs of the buildings, the owner of the layout has gone to great lengths to find architects drawings. In fact it is true to say that the first idea of the layout was seeded about 12 years ago. In the interim years much time has been spent researching the station and the Blyth & Tyne Railway and sourcing photos and documentation and grilling the old folks, both men and women, who used the station and the railway in the vicinity of Blyth. The layout is not an eccentric man's Hornby play thing, it is a historically accurate reconstruction of the station in miniature! It has taken many hundreds of hours and years of research to get it this far. I have great admiration for the gentleman who has taken on this task. I shan't name him here, but his name does appear at the very top of the page linked to above.

Anyone here interested enough to go see it....... if you have any memories of using the station or have photos, I am sure that the owner of the layout will be only too pleased to hear your experience and see your pictures.

One more thing, some information is still needed regarding the building that Blyth Hire had for a while. Anyone with old photos of the building and shop front in the 50s and 60s that would be prepared to share them.... well, that would be wonderful.

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,466563.0.html

I'll also ask here if anyone knows of anyone who might have a ground level photo of the signal box which was destroyed by a bomb in 1941. That would be the Holy Grail! It is circled in the attached picture.

I can't wait to see it again in February.

Philip

[Phodgetts]

A snippet from this website about the bomb blast in Blyth on the night of Friday 25th April 1941;

http://www.bpears.org.uk/NE-Diary/Inc/ISeq_17.html


Northumberland.. Blyth.. The only serious railway incident was at Blyth, where a signal box was demolished and lines and rolling stock nearby destroyed. The line, however, was soon reopened. Bombs also fell on Blyth town centre, many places suffered damage, including the railway station. There was damage too in:- Alexandra Crescent, Beaumont Street, Bondicar Terrace, Delaval Terrace, Redheads Factory, the makers of confectionery and Maddison Street. Two people were killed (one at Catherine Terrace and one at the railway crossing at Bebside), ten seriously injured and sixty-three slightly injured. A bomb which seriously damaged a large public shelter, caused the entrance to collapse, George Evans and Jack Furness two men acting as shelter marshals, using their bodies as a bridge helped most of the occupants to escape. The four that were unable to do so were rescued uninjured later.

The effects of the bomb blast at 1030pm  above are grossly understated. The signal box wasn't just demolished, it was blown to smithereens (direct hit) and none of it's structure was extant or recognisable after the blast! The signal box stood atop a tall brick base. The box was 30 feet long and 16 feet wide and it's base column of brick was 30 feet long and ten feet wide. The overall height of the box was about 30 feet. It completely vanished along with signalman John Hollon Elliott Norfolk! A huge amount of damage was also done to the houses on Edward Street and Catherine Terrace and they had to be demolished, hence the 'new' houses built there post war. I read a newspaper clipping with disbelief that told a tale of the wheels from a railway wagon being blown across the town and ending up in Ridley Park. I have yet to hear that it is indeed true.

I think it a shame that there is no memorial in the town centre to John Norfolk. Perhaps a plaque in the foyer of the hospital would do the trick or perhaps a tree planted and identified within the car park. He is buried in the main cemetery. John Norfolk's nephew is of a great age and still lives in the town.

The second image shows the area of the blast site.

Philip

[barryd]

The railway level crossing that that John was killed at was at Bebside. The Imperial War Graves Commission {now Commonwealth} have him listed as civilian husband of Mary Elizabeth Norfolk, of 8 Railway Cottages, Bebside and that he died at the railway crossing. No mention of the signal box. Could he have been the crossing guard? Or was the level crossing and signal box at the same place.  Wikipedia has a photograph of Bebside Station complete with what looks like a signal box but that photograph was taken in 1965 in the last days of steam locomotives.

[Phodgetts]

There has been some confusion in amongst the events that took place that night. I am gathering together the information my sources have regarding this.

As I understand it the archives at the National Railway Museum place John Norfolk in the box at Blyth that night. He was asked to cover the shift by his supervisor because the appointed signalman was not available that night.

He certainly lived in Bebside, but somewhere along the line there has been a mix up and the information held by the Graves Commission is inaccurate in this instance.

I am awaiting further detail and sources.

Also the Blyth News dated Monday 28 April 1941 in reporting on the damage done at Cathrine Terrace makes no mention of any bombs or damage done at Bebside that night.

Watch this space and I'll see what further information comes to light.

Philip

[Phodgetts]

I have finally had word come back to me.

These are notes entered into the signalman's note book at Newsham Box;

Newsham Signalbox Occurence Book

16th February 1941 Single line working in
operation between Newsham North and Bebside. Up Line damaged by bomb.
N Dalby

25th April 1941 Mine dropped on line near entrance to Blyth Station. All lines blocked. Signalman Norfolk
killed 10:30 pm.

27th April 1941 “Single Line” working arranged between Blyth Station Box and this box on Down Line at 7:45 am
R Calder

28th April 1941 Single Line forms
withdrawn and Single Line Working instituted between Isabella and Blyth
Crossing Boxes 3 45 p,
W Anderson R/S

29th April 1941 Double line working
resumed.
R Calder

I think that has it in a nutshell.

Should I tell the CWG? I think the mix up has just come out of the fact that John WAS FROM Bebside.

Philip

[barryd]

From all of the messages above I have only found two killed on that night. From the webiste I quote -  "A snippet from this website about the bomb blast in Blyth on the night of Friday 25th April 1941 ..................... Two people were killed (one at Catherine Terrace and one at the railway crossing at Bebside)". No mention of a signal box death which would make a third death. The CWGC makes no mention where the railway crossing was (only a no name railway crossing)  but does mention that he lived in Bebside. I wonder if his death certificate would solve this? I was wrong to infer the CWGC placed his death in Bebside but it seems the website does mention that.

[Phodgetts]

The sifting of information and records is difficult and not always straight forward since sometimes mistakes were and still can be made and I am well aware that I am equally at risk of making an error. So, I will just stick with what has come to light about John Norfolk. The railway records held at York that were recorded as events unfolded that night will likely be accurate, I think and hope!

Here is a cutting from the Blyth News dated 28th April 1941.

I believe that the person buried and recovered dead was Catherine Terrace and I think the nearby instantaneous death was John Norfolk. A shame that there is not more detail.

As for other deaths that night and the possibility of there being one at Bebside crossing I don't want to get into an argument over. All I can say confidently on the basis of the railway record is that John Norfolk was killed in the box at Blyth at 1030pm.

Philip

[Phodgetts]

I have also looked into the index of the CWG and this is cut directly from their web page;

NORFOLK, John Hollon Elliott  51  25 Apr 41
     Blyt  Railway Crossing, Bebside  1807

Now I can see why there might be some confusion and how anyone might come to the belief that he was killed at Railway Crossing Bebside, however checking the punctuation that is not actually said is it? If we look at it with regard to it being Blyth Railway Crossing that might well refer to Renwick Road and geographically that is not inaccurate.

I note they have his age at death as 51 but he was actually 52 as per the gravestone.

I think his death cert would make for interesting reading. Will they have that info at Woodhorn?

I hope this is helping clarify the situation with John. A juicy subject.

Philip