George Stephenson by Hunter Davies Page A

carry stone from his quarry near Bath to the river Avon, but they were most numerous in the north. By 1781, when George Stephenson was born, the whole of the north east was criss-crossed by a series of colliery wagon ways, all of them privately operated by their owners seeking the quickest way to get the coal to the nearest staithe on the river Tyne.
    There are many recorded incidents of disputes as colliery owners had difficulty finding a way across private estates to get to the staithes. The legal problems caused by these wayleave battles was one of the earliest reasons why collieries started to unite, fighting together to get right of way. It was a factor which led to the formation of the Grand Allies in 1726, the group of colliery owners who employed George Stephenson.
    The opening of a new wagon way was a time for great rejoicing, and crowds of up to ten thousand would turn out to watch the festivities. Sykes, in his 1833 Local Records of Northumberland and Durham , describes several of them:
    1810 (April 23) – This being the day appointed by Simon Temple, Esq, for opening his new colliery at South Shields, the morning was ushered in by the ringing of bells, &c. Eight waggons being loaded with the coals were about one o’clock drawn by one horse from the pit to the staith, preceded by the band of the East York militia, and followed by Mr. Temple, and a long procession of his friends, and two associations of shipwrights under their banners. Seven of the waggons in succession were let down by a new inclined plane to the deck of the ship Maida, belonging to Mr. Temple, which was decorated with colours. The delivery of each was succeeded by a general discharge of cannon, and three times three cheers from the surrounding multitude. The eighth waggon was given to the families of the unfortunate men belonging to South Shields, who were prisoners in France. The company then proceeded to Hylton castle, where one hundred and fifty gentlemen sat down to dinner. The high sheriff of Northumberland, the mayor of Newcastle, several of the chapter of Durham, and most of the magistrates of the district, were at the table. At eight o’clock the ball commenced. At one o’clock, near four hundred ladies and gentlemen sat down to supper; after which dancing recommenced and continued till near six, when all retired highly pleased with the entertainment and respectful attention paid to them.
    All this for some horsedrawn wagons. The next stage was equally respectfully welcomed. This was the principle of self-acting planes, in which the force of loaded wagons going down a hill was used to pull empty wagons up the other side, and it was first employed in the north east in 1798 at Benwell. Around the same time brakes were being introduced and the rails themselves were being greatly improved. Up till the eighteenth century they had been made of wood but by the 1770s cast iron rails had come into use. Experiments were tried with flanges on the rails, to keep the wagons above steady when going at speed round corners, and also with the flanges on the wheels themselves. Most of these improvements in horsedrawn wagon ways were developed in the north east long before George Stephenson started work as a pit boy.
    The development of steam as a source of power for stationary engines had also been developed before Stephenson was born. It was Newcomen in 1712 who had produced the first successful steam pump, a simple up and down beam engine, but it wasn’t till James Watt in 1782 perfected an improved steam engine which could turn wheels that a steam engine could be used for winding and haulage. He invented a steam condenser which enabled his machines to operate at a higher speed, more reliably, and use only a third as much coal as Newcomen’s.
    Once steam had been harnessed as a source of stationary power it was naturally applied to the self-acting planes. Instead of devising suitable downhill places where the force of gravity could