… And A Link To Christmas!
Jarrow, on the south bank of the Tyne to the east of Newcastle has a rich and varied history. It was (almost) all about the Tyne and its shipbuilding.
A notable feature is the railway line to South Shields originally steam-hauled, of course.
Then came the big upgrade!
Electrified in the early 1900s …
… re-equipped in 1937 …
… and re-re-equipped with BR EPB stock similar to that used on the Southern Region.
Then demoted to diesel …
… and finally made into a magnificent Metro and thus electrified all over again.
Obviously the Metro was more efficient and more frequent than any of its predecessors but (sadly?) lacking the “character” of the old days. Here is the “real” Jarrow station!
And here is where that station building was!
But it is another part of the “transport” infrastructure that fbb is featuring in this blog. So, using steam, electricity, diesel oil and electricity you could get from Jarrow to Newcastle and thus across the Tyne; or to South Shields and across the Tyne by ferry to North Shields.
But there was another way!
J oyous
J arrow
J aunt for
J oggers?
From 1854 and The Tyne General Ferry Company operated a ‘vehicular’ ferry service between Jarrow and Howdon. Jarrow Borough Council also ran a service here from 1883 until sold to the Tyne General Ferry Company who operated it from 1899 until 1909 when they went into liquidation. Another proprietor took over the service until 1919, when Jarrow Council again stepped in and a new vehicular ferry was commissioned. Jarrow Council received Government financial help when running costs became a burden. Other local councils also helped.
The former walkway down to the ferry still exists but it is unlabelled and rather lost in a mess awaiting development.
The pontoon and landing stage was down the bottom there …
Next to the cobbled access road is a circular building that is the entrance to the Tyne Foot Tunnel, opened in 1951.
Two wooden escalators (claimed to be the longest wooden escalators in the world) led down to the twin tunnels.
There was also a lift, seen beyond the flying saucer entrance building …
… there!
As part of a modernisation programme, the escalators no longer escalate, but one has been replaced by a sloping lift.
At the bottom you will find two tunnels, one for pedestrians and one for cyclists. Locals claim, probably correctly, that the right hand tunnel is the only underriver tunnel in the world especially for cyclists.
Here is a video which bemoans the fact that the sloping lift is still not working. That news may be out of date.
The car ferry (of sorts) …
… continued until the Tyne (Road) Tunnel opened in 1967. At first a “normal” two lane road …
A second bore was later added as on this modern map. It is part of the A19
Jarrow Metro station is bottom left. As you walk to the foot tunnel, you will pass the ventilation gubbins for its modern motoring addition.
Bit, if you do choose to toddle (or hog!!) across the Tune, do take care. The directions signs are hardly lavish …
It’s on that lamp posy and fbb will be kind and enlarge it!
Enjoy you troglodyte Tyne transit!
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J esus and
J arrow?
The monastry at Jarrow was the home to the Venerable Bede, probably England’s greatest ancient historian and scholar.
He lived from 672 to 735 AD. As well as his book on the History of England, he also campaigned for a “sorting out” of the system of calendar years. “What you need to do,” said Bede, “is to start the calendar from the Birth of Jesus Christ. And so they did.
Until Bede, methods varied but most societies simply used “in the nth years of King whatever“.
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A bit of a theme begins to emerge from what some just know as isolated Buble stories. It can be summarised this (again!):-
Do it God’s Way and You’ll be OK
Ignore The Boss – You’ll be at a Loss
Time and time again, in the long years of the Hebrews’ relationship with God, things have gone very wrong. Usually this failure is entirely due to straying from the ways and the guidance of the Almighty.
And we don’t seem to have cottoned on to this simple principle!
Even Moses failed. He tried to “do it my way” rather to do it God’s way so he would never make it to the Promised Land – but he was privileged to see its beauty from a mountain top.
His successor was Joshua.
J oshua
J ericho
J eopardy?
Josh’s challenge was to occupy the land that God had ordained. And we all know that Joshua fought the battle of Jericho and the walls came tumbing down.
Although the archaeology is unclear – Jericho’s walls were knocked own many times in the town’s history – there is good evidence that it did suffer a significant downfall (!!) at about the time Joshua was around.
Whatever the physical evidence, this event was near miraculous to the Hebrews. It showed that God was, indeed, with them and supported them for the future. See, they trusted Him and did what he said although it sounded plain daft.
Can you imagine a crowd of folk agreeing to march round the city twelve times in silence and then explode with noise of voice and trumpets on the thirteenth occasion.
And the walls came tumbling down.
But, as the Hebrews settled (we should probably call them Israelites now) they certainly did not form a nation. They were still a shaky association of former desert nomads. Each gang (each tribe) had their own chunk of land which they were to look after according to God’s Laws.
Josh explains – AGAIN …
It ought to be simple … NUT …
They seemed unable to keep to the system. Nothing much has changed in 3000 years!
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Next K ABC blog : Monday 11th December
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