A Wander Around Killingworth Village

I am not overly familiar with Killingworth. My experiences of the North Tyneside new town, or indeed the old village, are few and far between. As a green-as-grass teenager I was bussed out there to an industrial park for a six-week 'office skills' programme to (ostensibly at least) improve my chances of escaping the dole. This was during the Christmas and New Year period of 1983-84, when my thoughts were otherwise engaged in Newcastle United's promising promotion push. I saw nothing of the town/village itself during my brief incumbency, other than the inside of the local pub during our Friday afternoon sessions - more of which later.

Other than that there were my occasional childhood visits to Woolco, the giant big brother of Woolworth's - a huge superstore situated amidst the concrete jungle of the strikingly bleak 'new' town. And a really rather exciting prospect it was, too, given the store's immense toy section! Even then, though, I thought of Killingworth as a strange and unloved corner of the region. Those bleak blocks of grey masonry have since been bulldozed, to be replaced by more amenable new-builds, accompanied, too, by a cleaner and attractive shopping centre. Not perfect, but better.

I was always aware that there must have been, somewhere, an 'old' Killingworth village, but don't ever remember passing through it. So I thought I'd have a little look a few days ago. What follows is a sketchy 'once-over', aimed at putting similarly-ignorant folk in the picture - at least a little bit, anyway.

After exiting the bus station, I headed a short distance to the south to St.John's parish church:

The parish was founded in 1865 (out of the parish of Longbenton) and the church itself consecrated in 1869. An informative narrative of both the church's and the area's history can be found here. A nice touch is the re-erection of the 'Communicare Cross' nearby, and the helpful information panels (click on images to enlarge):

And thence down the old 'High Street' (or rather West Lane, as it is known). A random selection of excellent stone buildings:

Tigger Cottage!

Killingworth Hall

I really must get my house crenellated.

And a few other bits and bobs:

A surprise find was the region's lowest trig point, at an impressive 0m above sea-level!:

Towards the eastern end of the old village - and on the southern side of the road - can be found the site of Killingworth Colliery. Now nicely landscaped and accompanied by several marker stones (suitably graffitied of course):

As you probably know, this was where a young George Stephenson cut his engineering teeth - and indeed conducted his dangerous underground experiments with his Stephenson safety lamp. This truly is one of the region's most evocative spots, where one is acutely aware of treading in the footsteps of one of the nation's biggest historical heroes.

I followed the track southwards towards Great Lime Road, imagining, perhaps, of accompanying the ghost of old George:

And then westwards to Dial Cottage, the actual home of George Stephenson and his young family during his early working years. A remarkable survival:

This place was only recently sold by North Tyneside Council back onto the private market. As far as I could tell it was undergoing refurbishment when I passed by.

Not too far away can be found a rather large representation of the Stephenson's 'Geordie Lamp':

And before winging my way back round to the bus station, I called in to visit an old friend: The Station public house, last visited by me as a 19-year-old more than 42 years ago. Crikey!:

Doesn't time fly? Must remember to call back again in 2068!