A career on the line

Echo Memories has been captivated by the picture of boys playing football in South Terrace, Bishop Auckland, in July 1960 since it appeared in our first supplement on October 7. Since then, we have named all the boys and girls, we have discussed the banana-ripening warehouse and we have identified the lorry as a diesel TK Bedford. At the top of the picture is Flintoff Street. Much altered, today it still runs at 90 degrees to South Terrace and connects with Newgate Street. A couple of readers have asked: “Why Flintoff?” Cliff Howe, in Billingham, near Stockton, has been doing some detective work, which has led us to one of south Durham’s most overlooked engineers.

THE first mention of Flintoff Street is in 1848 when a Mrs Smith was living there, perhaps in the first house that was built at the Newgate Street end.

In the 1851 census, there were seven houses occupied by working men: two joiners, two masons, a railway carrier, a blacksmith and an annuitant (someone who is in receipt of an annuity, such as a pension).

In 1861, the street had grown into 16 houses, which were lived in by a non-practising surgeon, a mining engineer, a slate merchant, a retired contractor, a brick manufacturer, a rope manufacturer, two tailors, a painter, and a warehouseman.

WHAT IS A FLINTOFF?
A FLINTOFF was probably a hill – as in the old word “hough”, which is commonly found in a variety of spellings in North-East place names – where flints were found.

It makes an unusual surname, albeit one made famous by England cricketer Andrew Flintoff.

According to The Internet Surname Database (surnamedb.

com), the original flinty hill was between Stokesley and Thirsk, North Yorkshire, and the first recorded Flintoffs in parish records are Thomas Flintoffe, of Kirkby-in-Cleveland, near Stokesley, on August 20, 1630; John Flintkofe, of Catterick, on November 3, 1689, and William Flintoff, of Great Ayton, on May 18, 1740.

FINDING FLINTOFFS
WHEN Flintoff Street was being built in Bishop Auckland, there were fortuitously few Flintoffs in south Durham.

The 1841 census yields a John Flintoff, 35, a man of independent means who was married to Catherine and living in Witton-le-Wear.

The 1851 census reveals an Edward Flintoff, a 25-year-old veterinary surgeon who was married to Esther and lodging in Skinnergate, Darlington.

But Cliff’s eye was caught by civil engineer Thomas Storey, of St Helen Auckland, because staying with him when the census was conducted was his married daughter, Hannah Flintoff, and four little Flintoffs: Ellen, ten, Owen, nine, Eliza, seven, and Charles, four.

WHO WAS THOMAS STOREY?
BY coincidence, Thomas Storey crops up in the new, and undoubtedly fabulous, Echo Memories book, The Road to Rockliffe. Indeed, Mr Storey had a profound impact on south Durham.

He was the son of a farmer, born on December 7, 1789, at Makemerich, in Northumberland.

This must be one of the best place names in the world.

Makemerich appears to be west of the A1, to the north of Newcastle airport. Today, the Northumberland Cheese Company is based at Make Me Rich Farm near Seaton Burn.

Thomas’ journey to make himself rich started when he became a mining engineer for a company with interests in Lancashire, Shropshire and Wales. He also, without knowing it, married well: his wife was related to George Stephenson, who then was just another Northumbrian mining engineer.

In 1821, Stephenson was placed in charge of the building of the pioneering Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR). He appointed 31-yearold Storey as the line’s resident engineer. Thomas moved to St Helen Auckland and began changing our countryside for ever.

The S&DR: Between 1822 and 1825, Thomas was in charge of the construction of the S&DR from Witton Park to Heighington Lane (now on the edge of Newton Aycliffe). He built the first enginemen’s houses.

Haggerleases Branchline: From 1828, Thomas was probably in charge of the construction of the Haggerleases branchline, which runs from West Auckland towards Butterknowle.

This included one of the world’s first skew railway bridge over the River Gaunless at the foot of Cockfield Fell.

Conventional bridges crossed rivers at 90 degrees and were held together by keystones.

A sharp bend in the Gaunless made that impossible so, in a field nearby, Thomas used new techniques to build an unconventional bridge out of wood.

He jumped up and down on it to his heart’s content, and when it did not collapse, he began building in stone, sending his £420 skew bridge across the Gaunless at a 27 degree angle without a keystone.

In its day, it was an industrial miracle, although today it is rather forgotten.

Merchandise Station: In 1833, Thomas built the Merchandise Station – the oldest building on the triangle of history that surrounds Darlington’s North Road station (the Merchandise’s distinctive clocktower was added by someone else seven years later).

East Coast Main Line: In 1836, Thomas left the S&DR to become engineer-in-chief of the new Great North of England Railway.

On November 2, at Pilmore House, near Hurworth (now Rockliffe Hall hotel), he began surveying the route of the proposed main line between Darlington and York.

Thomas’ survey took 14 days and construction began the following November.

Work began in April 1838 on the stretch’s greatest engineering feat: the viaduct over the Tees at Croft, which now carries the East Coast Main Line beside Middlesbrough Football Club’s Rockliffe training ground.

This bridge was regarded as “stupendous” in its day because it crossed the river at 51 degrees, which was still regarded as daringly unconventional.

It was not designed by Thomas, but he clearly had great faith in its skewed concepts.

Thomas did design 77 smaller bridges between Darlington and York.

Unfortunately, at 6pm on July 18, 1838, one of them over a beck near Northallerton collapsed with no one even nearby.

Shildon Tunnel: Thomas was consulting engineer to the Prince of Wales Tunnel, which runs 120ft under Shildon. It, too, was a pioneering work.

Resident engineer Luke Wandless must have taken much heed of Thomas’ advice as Storey was among the principal VIPs at a dinner in the Cross Keys Inn, Cheapside, Shildon, on January 10, 1842, which celebrated the passing of the first train through the tunnel.

Thomas also designed the small, original Bishop Auckland station and was involved in the surveying of the Weardale Railway.

Collapse: The 44-mile main line from Darlington to York opened on January 4, 1841. It should have been the pinnacle of Thomas’ career. However, it was a year or so behind schedule because of strikes, riots and engineering difficulties.

To make matters worse, on the opening day the inaugural train was delayed by two hours when one of Thomas’ bridges, which went over the line near Thirsk, collapsed onto the track. The first train had to wait while the debris was cleared away.

Sources vary on what happened next. Some say that 52- year-old Thomas retired from the Great North of England Railway and was presented with a silver dinner service.

Other say he either resigned or was sacked because of the delays and embarrassments, and that Robert Stephenson – George’s son – was brought in to clear up his mess.

Flintoff Street: However his railway career ended, the 1851 census found Thomas living in Front Street, St Helen Auckland. He was listed as a civil engineer and iron founder who employed five men and two boys in a nearby foundry.

Staying with him was his daughter, Hannah, who, in June 1839, had married Theodore Flintoff at St Helen’s church. Who Theodore was, we do not know, and where Theodore was when the census was conducted, we also do not know. But visiting grandpa Thomas were four little Flintoffs – the three youngest of whom had been born in Australia.

THE CONCLUSION
THOMAS STOREY’S pioneering railway career came to an end, possibly because of collapsing bridges, in the early 1840s. Instead, he did smaller construction work from his yard in St Helen.

In the mid-1840s, he acquired land off Newgate Street, Bishop Auckland, and gradually built a terrace of houses (one of his first projects for the S&DR had been building enginemen’s houses).

Because he missed his daughter and grandchildren, who had emigrated to Australia, he named a street after them: Flintoff Street.

Theodore Flintoff either died or disappeared in Australia, and Hannah brought her young family back to St Helen.

Thomas Storey died on October 15, 1859, aged 69. Despite his achievements, he seems not to have got an obituary in local newspapers – possibly because they were full of the death of Robert Stephenson three days earlier.

Robert was buried with all the pomp of a state funeral in Westminster Abbey. All the shipping on the Thames, Tyne, Wear and Tees had its flags at half-mast, whereas Thomas was quietly interred in St Helen’s churchyard.

■ With many thanks to Cliff Howe.