Sections of Stockton & Darlington Railway listed as "at risk"

This does not look good when the 200th anniversary of the opening of the railway is little more than a year away.

FULL LIST OF ALL THE HISTORIC NORTH EAST PLACES ADDED TO THE AT RISK REGISTER

It looks even worse when it is considered that six of the 13 are remote camps and farmsteads which are several thousands of years old – surely the world-changing industrial history on our doorstep should not be as vulnerable as earthworks from a previous millennium in deepest Northumberland.

However, all is not lost.

“In much of the area, a walking and cycleway along the route of the S&DR is being constructed and this will improve the condition of the monument,” said Giles Proctor, an architect at Historic England, which compiles the register. “We hope that by the bicentenary these sections will be largely sorted and no longer require a place on the register.”

The Etherley Incline, by Elaine Vizor

The parts of the line which are now officially at risk are the Etherley Incline, the line along the side of the River Gaunless near West Auckland, and then the Brusselton Incline.

These earthen inclines are at the start of the line. Stationary engines lowered coal down Etherley from the mines so horses could pull it along the Gaunless riverside to the foot of Brusselton up which it would be hauled by more stationary engines until it was able to meet the modern steam-powered locomotives, like Locomotion No 1, at Shildon.

When they were being built in 1823, these embankments were a wonder of the world. People came to gawp at the 40ft high Etherley bank as they could not believe man could move so much soil.

Over time, though, the overgrown banks have become mistaken for wasteland and have been incorporated into gardens or, in one case, had a driveway driven through.

Now: The abutments of the Gaunless bridge

Also now officially at risk are the abutments of the Gaunless bridge. In February, Memories reported how Historic England had given the county council a £161,000 grant to restore the bridge, which is one of the first iron railway bridges in the world.

Then: People on the Gaunless Bridge, no doubt admiring its pioneering lenticular construction, before the ironwork was removed in 1901

READ MORE: HISTORIC GAUNLESS BRIDGE GETS £160,000 GRANT FOR RESTORATION

THEN READ: WAS THE GAUNLESS BRIDGE THE FIRST IRON RAILWAY BRIDGE IN THE WORLD?

Mr Proctor said: “We are encouraged that Durham County Council is repairing the bridge, which is a major element of one of the at risk zones, and the Friends of the Stockton & Darlington Railway have improved the Brusselton Incline, so we are picking up on things that are putting the monuments at risk so by next year we hope to be able to remove much of these sections as their condition improves.”

The early S&DR buildings at St John’s Crossing in Stockton have just been upgraded to a Grade II* listing because their condition has improved.

The Brusselton Incline is officially "at risk", although volunteers have splendidly restored most of it. Picture: Elaine Vizor

Niall Hammond, chair of the Friends, welcomed the trackbed’s inclusion in the at risk register. “It means Historic England are continuing their support in caring for the S&DR,” he said. “They have grant aided the Gaunless bridge conservation, which will happen soon, and so hopefully with other stretches of the line now ‘at risk’, they will be able to help grant aid repairs to Hummer Beck Bridge, Brusselton Reservoir and possibly some other smaller but no less significant structures.”

The Heritage at Risk Register is now in its 25th year. In the North East, there are 262 historic sites that are at risk of neglect, decay or inappropriate change. That figure includes 71 buildings, 24 places of worship, 131 archaeological monuments, six parks and gardens, one battlefield, 29 conservation areas and four stretches of the railway that got the world on track…

READ MORE: WHY DARLINGTON'S £35m RAILWAY VISITOR ATTRACTION IS TO BE CALLED "HOPETOWN"