WORK has begun to transform the former Teesdale section of the Stockton and Darlington Railway line into a walking and cycling route.
Council workers arrived at Phoenix Row, near Etherley, earlier this month to widen and resurface the existing path ahead of the railway’s 200th anniversary next year. Work will also be carried out on Etherley Incline, which is a scheduled monument.
The Etherley Incline Group, which is part of the Friends of Stockton and Darlington Railway, welcomed the work, which was originally due for completion three months ago.
John Raw of the group said: “We have been told, yes it is going to start – that has been going on for over 12 months.
“All the work was to have been completed in March.
“In this section nothing had even started, so the county council has been given a further deadline to the end of September.”
The delay was caused by protracted negotiations with landowners.
Mr Raw said: “Negotiations are done and dusted for the first section to beyond Low Greenfields, but that is only as far as the Gaunless Bridge in West Auckland.”
This means that work can be completed across the entire Teesdale section of the old railway line.
Fellow member Mary Smith, who has written a book about Etherley Incline, added: “We will be thrilled when we see it happen because we have been waiting an awful long time.
“You have got a section where there is a lot of wet and puddles if there is a lot of rain, so technically there is a lot to do.”
Catherine Yates, also from the group, added: “When I spoke to them last week they said it would take about a week to complete the work up to Phoenix Row, but it has taken longer.”
The incline was built using a steam-driven pulley and rope system to pull coal wagons up the hill, and slowly back down the other side.
Ms Smith said: “It is very important and symbolic because it was the first time you could get the coal cheaply to Darlington.
“Before that it went by packhorse along the A68, which was called the coal road, all the way to Darlington. It was taking a long time for the coal to get to Darlington. I think Edward Pease said he was paying six times as much for his coal as his rivals in Leeds because there it was coming along the canal – of course you can’t put canals here.”
Of the entire project Mr Raw said: “The idea is to have a cycling and walking route from the starting point here in Witton Park, eventually to Stockton.
“It is not going to be possible in certain areas, certainly in Darlington and Stockton where you have got housing estates and ring roads. But between here and Locomotion, in Shildon, you more-or-less stay on the route.”
