Scotswood Walk

Walking Tour of Scotswood station site - 1pm Wed 30 Oct 2024
from St Margaret's Church on Heighley Street NE15 6AR

Scotswood is an area of the west end of Newcastle where the population grew rapidly with industrial expansion, notably Armstrong's factory on the riverside at Elswick.   This coincided with railway development. including the first cross country main line between Newcastle & Carlisle.

The Tyne was the main thoroughfare, with heavy industry along its banks, for which workers' housing packed the steep valley sides.   Railways in the area evolved to meet demand within these constraints, leading to condensed, impressive & expensive civil engineering, including the remarkable layout around Scotswood.

Summer day trip from grimy Scotswood to sunny South Shields
(Newcastle City Libraries)

In April 2020, at the start of the covid pandemic, I published a post linking Scotswood with Marley Hill using photos, maps & info sent by Dave Dixon, giving an insight into the older railway layout

Today, heavy industry, dense housing & railways in the area have vanished, replaced by a silted up river, light industry & a dense road network.

The bricked up east portal of the tunnel under Scotswood, broken into by urban explorers

Impressive stonework becoming overgrown

At 1pm on 30 October there will be a guided walking tour of Scotswood station site, starting from St Margaret's Church on Heighley Street NE15 6AR.     This excellent free tour by St James' Heritage Group will enable a vision of the past to be built up around the huge isolated railway structures which remain, hidden & forgotten.