The Inauguration of Stanhope and Tyne Drops, South Shields, September 1834 (litho)

painter & draughtsman : William A. Kidd (British & North East) lithographer : Day and Haghe publisher : Kelly This print shows the opening of the massive Stanhope and Tyne Railway staiths (wharves) at South Shields in 1834. Ceremonial barges attending the opening are at the front of the view. Chaldrons (wagons) are being towed by horses along rails on the staiths to the five loading lifts. The first ship to be loaded from the new staiths was the brig 'Sally'. The railway transported coal from Pontop, near Consett, and limestone from Stanhope. It also carried passenger coaches, and was the first public railway on Tyneside. The staiths closed when Tyne Dock at South Shields opened in 1859.