For all of my adult life I have been interested in the history of the North-East of England. As many of you know, I have written many articles on all sorts of topics, and published them here, there and everywhere. I have had odd pieces published in local newspapers and magazines, but I have mainly just published them myself on blogs and self-published magazines and books.
I am no academic, and simply enjoy the process of passing on - in an amateurish, populist way - little snippets that I have picked up on my travels through both the landscape and my book collection. I like to be able to pass on the occasional nugget of historical knowledge to my family, too, on our travels - even if no one seems to be that interested!
In my more smug moments I like to think of myself as a bit of an expert. Until, that is, I come across some topic or other of which I have absolutely no knowledge, and which holds me transfixed for an hour or two on YouTube, or wherever. I then realise that I know almost nothing of my 'specialist subject', and am forced to conclude that I will never 'know it all'.
When, for example, I find myself looking over the seemingly empty expanse of the Durham Moors and the Pennines beyond, I stand there thinking to myself, well, there's not much to see here, then. An isolated ruin on a hillside, a faint track through the heather, or the skeletal remains of a mangled piece of ironwork: none of it can mean very much, can it?
Whilst out walking the other day I fell upon - totally unexpectedly - the mighty Hownsgill Viaduct, near Consett. My wife and I had pulled up at another previously unvisited spot, the delightful Allensford Country Park, where we walked westwards towards the Wharnley Burn Waterfall, then fell upon (in the other direction) the following 'Heritage Trail' information panel:
(click to enlarge)
So, off we went, following the path (not easily done, I would add, so take your OS map/app!) and eventually fell upon the immense structure. I knew a bit about Consett and its old iron & steel works, of course, but the viaduct was an unknown entity.
Then, coincidentally, a few days later I fell upon mention of the same patch of ground on the always excellent North-East Heritage Library's website . The young man behind the NEHL, Kieran Carter, recently wandered these parts on foot and a great deal of information on the area can be found on his Twitter/X feed - and an excellent article can be found on Kieran's website concerning the related Stanhope & Tyne Railway. All great stuff, and new to me.
Then I came across a new-ish YouTube channel called 'Rails & Revolutions'. And though it only has a few videos up and running, I found the quality of the same quite excellent and most informative. And, again, yes, it made me feel quite inadequate when it came to historical knowledge of the seemingly empty, open fells of County Durham. If you enjoy the local history of the North-East, then I would urge you to have a look. It'll certainly fill in a few gaps for you on the historical map of the region!
Boy, I've still got a lot to learn....
P.S. If anyone out there has any other websites or YouTube channels to recommend, then do get in touch.
