© Copyright AndrewCurtis and licensed for reuse under this CreativeCommons Licence.
The riverside monster that is Dunston Staithes is well known
to all Tynesiders. Despite being severely damaged by fire twice of late, its
skeletal form still looms large over all within a good mile or so of its muddy
situate on the southern shore of the River Tyne.
The bare facts alone are all you need to know…
- Contructed
by the North Eastern Railway Co. during 1890-93 to transfer coal from
trains into seagoing vessels
- 1,709ft
long, 50ft wide and 40ft high – reputedly the largest timber structure in
- Total
weight of timber: in excess of 3,000 tonnes
- Cost:
£120,000+
- Materials:
North American Pitch Pine
- Shipped
1.5 tonnes of coal in first year
- Peaked
in 1939 with nearly 4 million tonnes shipped
- Operations
ceased in 1977, and structure closed in 1980
- Centrepiece
of
Recent uncertainty over the structure’s future seems to have
been averted as plans are afoot to preserve and develop the site.
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