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71-498: The Holy Island Waggonway (sometimes referred to as the Holy Island Tramway) was a network of waggonways across the island of Lindisfarne , Northumberland , England. The earliest two lines connected limestone quarries at the northern end of the island with lime kilns and a tidal jetty in waters known as The Basin, northwest of Lindisfarne Priory . A third line down the eastern side of the island eventually replaced

142-404: A decline in population." In the process of enclosure on Lindisfarne in the 1790s "…the agricultural potential of the land was increased, and its value was estimated to have increased eightfold." This, the climate of the times and the presence on the island of industrialisation's key drivers – coal and iron – brought about radical change. There are thin seams of poor quality coal to the north of

213-400: A long approach ramp from the quarries to the north joined by an approach ramp from the jetty to the south which curved through 180 degrees to meet the former at the top of the kilns, enabling them to be gravity fed with limestone and coal. This implies that, by then if not earlier, locally won coal was insufficient for the task. Tracks heading south from the kilns show no embanking, implying that

284-592: A railway, ran a high-pressure steam locomotive with smooth wheels on an 'L' section plateway near Merthyr Tydfil , but it was more expensive than horses. He made three trips from the iron mines at Penydarren to the Merthyr-Cardiff Canal and each time broke the rails that were designed for horse wagon loads. There was general doubt at the time that smooth wheels could obtain traction on smooth rails. This resulted in proposals using rack or other drive mechanisms. Mr Blenkinsop of Middleton Colliery patented

355-619: A result, in 1767, they began to make cast iron rails. These were probably 6 ft (1.829 m) long, with four projecting ears or lugs 3 in (75 mm) by 3 + 3 ⁄ 4  in (95 mm) to enable them to be fixed to the sleepers . The rails were 3 + 3 ⁄ 4  in (95 mm) wide and 1 + 1 ⁄ 4  in (30 mm) thick. Later, descriptions also refer to rails 3 ft (914 mm) long and only 2 in (50 mm) wide. A later system involved L-shaped iron rails or plates , each 3 ft (914 mm) long and 4 in (102 mm) wide, having on

426-471: A second, much shorter metalled causeway was opened between Beal and the Snook. This, in turn, was joined to Chare Ends by a metalled road in 1966. By 2015 the waggonway trackbed northwards from the site of the level crossing was a public footpath. Continuing south, the waggonway hugged the western coast until it reached a jetty just north of Tripping Chare, in an area known to seafarers as The Basin. The jetty

497-452: A wagonway to a fully steam-powered railway was gradual. Railways up to the 1830s that were steam-powered often made runs with horses when the steam locomotives were unavailable. Even in the steam age, it was convenient to use horses in station yards to shunt wagons from one place to another. Horses do not need lengthy times to raise steam in the boiler, and can take shortcuts from one siding to another. At Hamley Bridge tenders were called for

568-725: A wagonway was proposed to connect the mines at West Durham , Darlington and the River Tees at Stockton , George Stephenson successfully argued that horse-drawn wagonways were obsolete and a steam-powered railway could carry 50 times as much coal. In 1825 he built the locomotive Locomotion for the Stockton and Darlington Railway in England's northeast, which became the world's first public steam railway in 1825, via both horse power and steam power on different runs. Stationary steam engines for mining were generally available around

639-730: Is a village in Northumberland , in England . It is situated a short distance inland from the North Sea coast, and lies on the link road between the A1 and Lindisfarne . The East Coast Main Line runs to the west of the village but the station was closed in the 1960s. The station site has been landscaped and includes a Peckett 0-4-0ST steam locomotive and an ex- North Eastern Railway cast metal warning sign. The place-name Beal derives from

710-548: Is not shown on the map. The right hand line continues beyond the Mean High Water mark at Snipe Point onto rocks which are submerged at some times, some even daily. This posed operational challenges and limited productivity. The workings here were known as Coves Quarry, though this name is not shown on the map. Confusingly, at least one official document later in the century refers to workings at Nessend Quarry as "Coves Head Quarry". Clear dates when St Cuthbert's Limeworks,

781-465: Is therefore between 1859–61. The scale of operations and infrastructure associated with St Cuthbert's Limeworks represented a step change on centuries of practice; Nessend Quarry and Lower Kennedy represented a further leap, but also a business error. Nessend Quarry was safe from the sea and more economical to work than Coves and Acre Quarries, though the damage to the caves in the limestone was criticised by at least one writer. A waggonway connecting it to

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852-524: Is unclear why Nicholl left the Lower Kennedy site so quickly. Two reasons are alluded to, firstly, that he acted hastily, and would have done better if he had done more research then gone for the superior Castle Point site straight away; or, secondly, that he built the Lower Kennedy kilns on land where he had no right to be. Whatever the timing and sequence of events, only the censuses conducted in 1851, 1861, 1871 and 1881 show anyone clearly working in

923-525: The Admiralty to build kilns near Castle Point in the south east of the island. This was an ambitious move to a good site, but he had already built a substantial three-pot kiln at Lower Kennedy at the cost of several hundred pounds. As with the St Cuthbert's operation, clear opening and closing dates may never be unearthed, but Map 2 dated 8 March 1860 shows the later Castle Point kilns as "proposed" and

994-605: The Aire & Calder Navigation , running from Wakefield to Outwood , a distance of approximately 3 miles (4.8 km). Edge-rails (with a side rack) were used on the nearby Middleton-Leeds rack railway (a length of this rail is on display in Leeds City Museum ). The wheels of an edgeway have flanges, like modern railways and tramways. Causewaying is also done on modern level crossings and tramways. These two systems of constructing iron railways continued to exist until

1065-483: The Old English 'beo-hyll', which means 'bee hill'. Beal is in the parliamentary constituency of Berwick-upon-Tweed . The area is largely agricultural in outlook. There is a pub at Beal situated on the main road called The Lindisfarne Inn. It re-opened after being refurbished and was renamed having previously been named The Plough. The Barn at Beal is a visitor centre with various wild birds and looks at

1136-445: The lumberjacks moved on to other stands of timber as each area was cleared. At least one such pole road system reportedly extended some 20 miles (32 km). Typically the pole rails were logs of 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 cm) diameter, laid parallel directly on the ground without cross-ties , and joined end-to-end with lap joints and wooden pegs . Rolling stock typically had wheels either with concave rims that hugged

1207-455: The 1846 jetty a short distance south of St Cuthbert's Limeworks was first shown on an Admiralty chart dated "c1855". In 1856 John Selby applied to renew his Lordship of the Manor, which was due to expire in 1858. When this succeeded he agreed to lease land and permission to a lime merchant named John Nicholl, of Dundee . This lease was to last for 21 years from Michaelmas 1858. For this Nicholl

1278-539: The 1st century AD. Paved trackways were later built in Roman Egypt . Such an operation was illustrated in Germany in 1556 by Georgius Agricola (image left) in his work De re metallica . This line used "Hund" carts with unflanged wheels running on wooden planks and a vertical pin on the truck fitting into the gap between the planks to keep it going the right way. The miners called the wagons Hunde ("dogs") from

1349-668: The Commissioners recommended to the Treasury that the Crown pay for the pier and Mr Selby pay for the rest. An enthusiastic report in the Berwick and Kelso Warder newspaper on 25 July 1846 said that construction work had begun in 1845 and production had started at "St Cuthbert's Lime Works" earlier in the year, with several shiploads of lime already sent to Dundee and other Scottish destinations. The report also states that island coal

1420-562: The Lower Kennedy kilns and associated top feed waggonway embankment to be built after Michaelmas 1858 and for the Castlepoint kilns, the new jetties and the joining waggonway to be built after March 1860 the period over which the Lower Kennedy waggonway was worked was likely to have been 1855–61 as a through route and 1858–61 to serve the Lower Kennedy kilns. No photographs of operations at Lower Kennedy have been found, but an artist's impression has been drawn by Peter Westley. The literature

1491-408: The Lower Kennedy kilns as "present." The Berwick Advertiser started to publish Holy Island sailings, starting with the 302-ton Brigantine Isabella , which left with a cargo of lime for Dundee on 14 April 1860, returning nine days later laden with coal for the kilns. This report does not indicate whether the ship used the older jetty near Tripping Chare or the new pair near the castle . Allowing for

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1562-831: The Severn River. It has been suggested that these are somewhat older than that at Wollaton. The Middleton Railway in Leeds , which was built in 1758 as a wagonway, later became the world's first operational railway (other than funiculars), albeit in an upgraded form. In 1764, the first railway in America was built in Lewiston, New York as a wagonway. Wagonways improved coal transport by allowing one horse to deliver between 10 and 13 long tons (10.2 and 13.2  t ; 11.2 and 14.6 short tons ) of coal per run— an approximate fourfold increase. Wagonways were usually designed to carry

1633-410: The castle and to connect them to Nessend Quarry by a wholly new tramway down the east of the island, abandoning Lower Kennedy, the 1846 jetty and all trackwork, though he may have recycled some materials. This took place around 1861. Map 2 gives hints of his evolving aspirations at the time. Standard Ordnance Survey (OS) maps were surveyed in 1860 then in 1898. 1860 maps predate the eastern tramway and

1704-410: The earlier routes. It was built to connect the remaining quarry with new kilns and a pair of new jetties near Lindisfarne Castle . The waggonways had all fallen into disuse by the middle of the 1880s. Lime burning on Lindisfarne was first recorded in 1344, though the process itself has been used for over four thousand years. The scale of the operation before the industrial revolution was small, with

1775-622: The early 19th century. In most parts of England the plate-rail was preferred. Plate-rails were used on the Surrey Iron Railway (SIR), from Wandsworth to West Croydon . The SIR was sanctioned by Parliament in 1801 and finished in 1803. Like the Lake Lock Rail Road , the SIR was available to the public on payment of tolls; previous lines had all been private and reserved exclusively for the use of their owners. Since it

1846-475: The foundation of a well maintained public footpath. The lime kilns at the castle have been preserved and are maintained by the National Trust. The grade-separated trackbeds for bringing coal from the 1861–83 jetties and limestone from Nessend and taking finished product to the jetties can be inferred from the software and from images in the line's standard work, as well as on the ground. In 2016 evidence of

1917-562: The fully loaded wagons downhill to a canal or boat dock and then return the empty wagons back to the mine. Until the beginning of the Industrial Revolution , rails were made of wood, were a few inches wide and were fastened end to end, on logs of wood or "sleepers", placed crosswise at intervals of two or three feet. In time, it became common to cover them with a thin flat sheathing or "plating" of iron, in order to add to their life and reduce friction. This caused more wear on

1988-399: The infrastructure is the footpath north from Chare Ends. The ruin of at least one of St Cuthbert's pots was clearly identifiable in 2012. Nessend Quarry and much of the eastern tramway are visible on navigable maps. From Sandham southwards the third waggonway was on an embankment all the way to the castle, visible on satellite view, map view, on photographs and on the ground. In 2014 it formed

2059-548: The inner side an upright ledge or flange, 3 in (76 mm) high at the centre and tapering to 2 in (51 mm) at the ends, for the purpose of keeping the flat wheels on the track. Subsequently, to increase strength, a similar flange might be added below the rail. Wooden sleepers continued to be used—the rails were secured by spikes passing through the extremities—but, circa 1793, stone blocks began to be used, an innovation associated with Benjamin Outram , although he

2130-428: The island are known to exist, but images of two paintings by Ralph Hedley are attached; one is of operations at the later jetties near the castle, the other, made from a different angle, appears to be of the same location. One photo of a ship at the later jetties (sometimes referred to as "Lime Jetties" or "Lime Jetty") appears in the standard work, but it gives no hint of cargo, working methods or staff. The enterprise

2201-431: The island which have been used over the years. Attempts were made to mine this on a significant scale in the early 19th century. Costs, quality and quantity meant this ultimately came to nothing as cheap, accessible coal became readily available elsewhere. Some coal used in the nineteenth century was brought in by ship from Scotland, but the majority was shipped in from further south in Northumberland . Though dating before

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2272-614: The island's natural south side harbour gave it the same advantage afforded by rivers and canals – a means of getting the product to customers on an industrial scale. The Lord of the Manor, John Selby, wrote to the Crown Commissioners on 21 December 1839 seeking their support to install steam-powered quarrying machinery, erect modern kilns, a sea jetty and a railway to connect them, with the intention of supplying local needs and pursuing "sea sale". Correspondence, inspections and reports passed back and forth until 31 May 1842, when

2343-483: The island's waggonways, iron ore was mined on the island and shipped to Falkirk in the early 19th century. Like coal, this petered out as better ore became much more readily and cheaply available elsewhere. These industrial activities acted as spurs to pursue the island's lime workings. The fact that Lindisfarne is an island had inhibited lime production when markets were small and local, but, conversely, with industrial scale processes and industrial scale markets in view,

2414-427: The jetties at the castle was still plain to see. Wagonways Wagonways (also spelt Waggonways ), also known as horse-drawn railways and horse-drawn railroad consisted of the horses, equipment and tracks used for hauling wagons, which preceded steam-powered railways . The terms plateway , tramway , dramway , were used. The advantage of wagonways was that far bigger loads could be transported with

2485-517: The last recorded vessel carrying lime when she sailed for Dundee on 17 September 1883. Nicholl's vessels called in the following years, but none carried lime or coal. Little hard evidence survives of quarrying and waggonway methods or equipment. The 1861 census lists an "Engine smith" and two blacksmiths. The only mechanical plant recorded at any site is the crane on the Tripping Chare jetty. Hedley's paintings show that ships were moored between

2556-469: The later jetties, which were dissimilar in height. Coal was craned off ships at the lower jetty using ropes attached to ships' mastwork. Lime was tipped into the hold of the ships from the higher jetty. A powder magazine survived until the 1950s, showing that blasting was used as the stone was not to be used for building, but no record of mechanical quarrying equipment has been found. Hedley's paintings corroborate measurements taken from traces of sleepers that

2627-406: The later maps were produced fifteen years after the line was closed and lifted. The OS County Series, Northumberland 1898 1:2,500 map gives a good idea of the layout around the kilns and castle, but does not clearly convey the "grade separated" nature of the tramways designed to feed coal and limestone to the top of the kilns and take end product away at ground level; this unclarity comes about because

2698-487: The level of the top of the flanges. In 1790, Jessop and his partner Outram began to manufacture edge-rails. Another example of the edge rail application was the Lake Lock Rail Road in the West Riding of Yorkshire (now West Yorkshire ) used primarily for coal transport. The railway charged a toll and opened for traffic in 1798, making it the world's oldest public railway. The route started at Lake Lock, Stanley , on

2769-407: The lime trade included Curlew , Mersey , Robert Hood and Superior . Curlew , William and Mersey all separately suffered an occupational hazard of carrying quicklime at sea – water came into contact with the cargo. The resulting reaction generated enough heat to set the vessels on fire. In the 1870s the number of ships plying the route declined and the work became seasonal. Agnes became

2840-461: The lime trade on the island. The Spring 1861 census shows more than double the number of men of any other year. According to the 1861 census, 35 men worked at the lime kilns and the quarries and many of them lived in a new village, which had developed around the quarries. By 1871 the business had already declined, with 11 men employed at the quarries and 9 at the kiln. Looking at recorded occupations such as "Labourer – Limeworks" probably under-represents

2911-470: The link between farming and the local environment. There is a small caravan site located at Brock Mill farmhouse and there are a number of bed-and-breakfast outlets. The following bus services operate to Beal (October 2011) - the A1 minibus link from Newcastle operated by Holy Island minibuses and 477 from Berwick upon Tweed by Perrymans Buses. The South East Northumberland Rail Users Group would like to see

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2982-541: The middle of the 18th century. Wagonways and steam-powered railways had steep uphill sections and would employ a cable powered by a stationary steam engine to work the inclined sections. British troops in Lewiston, New York used a cable wagonway to move supplies to bases before the American Revolutionary War . The Stockton and Darlington had two inclined sections powered by cable. The transition from

3053-973: The noise they made on the tracks. Around 1568, German miners working in the Mines Royal near Keswick used such a system. Archaeological work at the Mines Royal site at Caldbeck in the English Lake District confirmed the use of " hunds ". In 1604, Huntingdon Beaumont completed the Wollaton Wagonway , built to transport coal from the mines at Strelley to Wollaton Lane End, just west of Nottingham , England . Wagonways have been discovered between Broseley and Jackfield in Shropshire from 1605, used by James Clifford to transport coal from his mines in Broseley to

3124-432: The numbers in the industry as, for example, there appears to be an unusually high number of carters for a small community. Dominant occupations in 1861 concerned the sea, with fishermen, pilots and herring workers to the fore. In 1861 a number of men, together with two families lived at "The Limeworks". It is unclear from maps or the census exactly where this accommodation was, but the sequence of enumeration visits suggests it

3195-596: The patent for an improved method of rolling rails was granted in 1820 to John Birkinshaw , of the Bedlington Ironworks . His rails were wedge-shaped in section, much wider at the top than at the bottom, with the intermediate portion or web thinner still. He recommended that they be made 18 ft (5.49 m) long, suggesting that several might be welded together end to end to form considerable lengths. They were supported on sleepers by chairs at intervals of 3 ft (914 mm), and were fish-bellied between

3266-404: The product used locally. Geography and unenclosed land ownership inhibited ambition and opportunity, Lindisfarne was then and remains a semi-island remote from centres of population and industry. Limestone deposits extended to the neighbouring mainland, so the island had no natural advantage to exploit. The island in the 18th century was characterised by "grinding poverty, emigration, lawlessness and

3337-489: The product was emptied at ground level and taken away to the stores mentioned above or to the jetty. Continuing south along the waggonway, it made a level crossing with the road from the village at Chare Ends, immediately east of where it crossed the High Water Mark and became the traditional causeway to the mainland at Beal . That traditional causeway is nowadays commonly referred to as the "Pilgrim's Path". In 1954

3408-432: The quarries to its north and the joining waggonways closed have not been unearthed, but all limewinning at Coves and Acre quarries had passed to Nessend Quarry by 1861. Limeburning was, by inference, taking place at Lower Kennedy by 1860, but that does not preclude the possibility of work continuing at St Cuthbert's with lime brought from Nessend to Lower Kennedy then reversing. The closure period on evidence published thus far

3479-542: The same power. The earliest evidence is of the 6 to 8.5 km (3.7 to 5.3 mi) long Diolkos paved trackway, which transported boats across the Isthmus of Corinth in Greece from around 600 BC. Wheeled vehicles pulled by men and animals ran in grooves in limestone , which provided the track element, preventing the wagons from leaving the intended route. The Diolkos was in use for over 650 years, until at least

3550-435: The sleepers by two iron spikes, half-round wooden cross sleepers employed on embankments and stone blocks 20 in (508 mm) square by 10 in (254 mm) deep in cuttings. The fish-bellied rails were found to break near the chairs and starting in 1834, they were gradually replaced with parallel rails weighing 50 lb/yd (24.8 kg/m). In 1804, Richard Trevithick , in the first recorded use of steam power on

3621-412: The supply of horses, in part because normal railway staff lacked horse handling skills. Wooden rails continued to be used for temporary railroads into the twentieth century. Some timber harvesting companies in the southeastern United States created pole roads using unmarketable logs, which were effectively free, to create tracks at a cost of between $ 100 and $ 500 per mile. Permanence was not an issue, as

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3692-505: The support points. As used by George Stephenson on the Stockton & Darlington , and Canterbury & Whitstable lines, they weighed 28 lb/yd (13.9 kg/m). On the Liverpool and Manchester Railway they were usually 12 or 15 ft (3.66 or 4.57 m) long and weighed 35 lb/yd (17.4 kg/m) and were fastened by iron wedges to chairs weighing 15 or 17 lb (6.8 or 7.7 kg) each. The chairs were in turn fixed to

3763-478: The term "railway". As of 2024 , very few horse or cable freight railways are operating, notable examples being the cable-hauled St Michael's Mount Tramway and the Reisszug , which has been in continuous operation since around 1900. A few passenger lines continue to operate, including the horse-hauled Douglas Bay Horse Tramway and the cable-hauled San Francisco cable cars . Beal, Northumberland Beal

3834-537: The top of the pole rails, or un-flanged wheels with separate guide wheels running against the side of each rail. Steam traction engines and some purpose-built locomotives were successfully used for hauling trains of logs. For example, Perdido was built by Adams & Price Locomotive and Machinery Works of Nashville, Tennessee in 1885 for the Wallace, Sanford and Company sawmill at Williams Station, Alabama , where it hauled up to seven cars of 3 or 4 logs each. This

3905-439: The tracks had long been lifted and the rock outcrop on which the castle stands confuses natural and man made slopes. The standard work includes a series of photographs and reproduces two maps, both devised for other purposes, which give the overall idea, but the maps either lack detail or make small errors. Castle Point Limekilns had six pots, double those at Lower Kennedy. No contemporary photographs of any lime trade activities on

3976-579: The tracks were approximately 2 feet (610 mm) gauge. The paintings both show horses being used to haul waggons, corroborating a general assumption. There is evidence that a steam engine was tried, but was found wanting as it left the tracks all too readily. No waggon has survived, once again Hedley gives a good idea that they looked not dissimilar to many unsprung four-wheeled tippler trucks on Victorian industrial lines. The first two waggonways were lifted and abandoned by about 1861. The only residual use for

4047-566: The use of cogged wheels in 1811 and in 1812, the Middleton Railway (edgeway, rack rail) successfully used twin cylinder steam locomotives made by Matthew Murray of Holbeck , Leeds . George Stephenson made his first steam locomotive in 1813 (patented 1815) for the Killingworth colliery, and found smooth wheels on smooth rails provided adequate grip. Although he later recounted that they called this locomotive 'My Lord' as it

4118-519: The wooden rollers of the wagons and towards the middle of the 18th century, led to the introduction of iron wheels. However, the iron sheathing was not strong enough to resist buckling under the passage of the loaded wagons, so rails made wholly of iron were invented. In 1760, the Coalbrookdale Iron Works began to reinforce their wooden-railed tramway with iron bars, which were found to facilitate passage and diminish expenses. As

4189-399: Was a geared engine (4.5 to 1 gear ratio ), driving four individually-rotating concave-rim wheels on stationary axles via chain drives; powerful but running less than 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h). Still later, modified semitrailer tractors have been used. As steam power gradually replaced horse power throughout the 19th century, the term "wagonway" became obsolete and was superseded by

4260-471: Was financed by Lord Ravensworth , it seems that it was known at the time as Blücher . In 1814 William Stewart was engaged by Parkend Coal Co in the Forest of Dean for the construction of a steam locomotive, which when trialled was reported to be successful. Stewart did not receive his expected reward and the two parties parted on bad terms. Stewart was 'obliged to abandon the engine to that Company'. In 1821,

4331-543: Was first used by William Jessop on a line that was opened as part of the Charnwood Forest Canal between Loughborough and Nanpantan in Leicestershire in 1789. This line was originally designed as a plateway on the Outram system, but objections were raised to laying rails with upstanding ledges or flanges on the turnpike . This difficulty was overcome by paving or "causewaying" the road up to

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4402-444: Was generally established. Wheels tended to bind against the flange of the plate rail and mud and stones would build up. The manufacture of the rails themselves was gradually improved. By making them in longer lengths, the number of joints per mile was reduced. Joints were always the weakest part of the line. Another advance was the substitution of wrought iron for cast iron, though that material did not gain wide adoption until after

4473-586: Was near the Castle Point works. The names for the railways evolved over time, with waggonway segueing into wagonway into tramway. The third and final tramway on the east coast was the longest lasting and left the clearest remains into the 21st century. Nicholl's ambitions led him to build Lower Kennedy Limeworks and abandon the early quarries and St Cuthbert's Limeworks about 1858. After a brief, expensive period working Lower Kennedy he obtained Admiralty permission to build new kilns and two parallel jetties near

4544-508: Was not part of the works. The active kilns consisted of the two "pots" labelled "Limekiln". The lower building labelled "Limekiln" was not part of the St Cuthbert Limeworks, but was the later, short-lived Lower Kennedy works described below. The waggonway passing northeast was also a later addition connected with the Lower Kennedy scheme. Map 1 shows that by 1860, if not initially, the waggonway to St Cuthbert's works included

4615-399: Was not the originator. This type of rail was known as the plate-rail, tramway-plate or way-plate, names that are preserved in the modern term " platelayer " applied to the workers who lay and maintain the permanent way . The wheels of flangeway wagons were plain, but they could not operate on ordinary roads as the narrow rims would dig into the surface. Another form of rail, the edge rail ,

4686-465: Was to pay an annual rent of £250 plus 2 pence per ton of lime "made and burnt" in excess of 5000 tons per year. The term "made and burnt" is unclear, but making one ton of quicklime usually requires two tons of limestone. Nicholl "would appear to have entered into his Holy Island enterprise with some alacrity but perhaps insufficient caution" as he was reported in March 1860 to have received permission from

4757-403: Was transferred to a Colonel Crossman in 1874; Crossman and Nicholl didn't get on. The 1871 Census shows only half the number employed compared with 1861, by 1881 this had halved again. Six of Nicholl's ships sailed regularly between Holy Island and Dundee in the 1860s: Agnes , Belford , Isabella , Lancaster , Margaret Reid and Maria . They did not hold a monopoly, other vessels involved in

4828-461: Was uneconomic and suffered a steady decline. Reports to the Crown Commissioners in 1870 and 1874 repeated the opinion that Nicholl had not been successful and the business was unprofitable. An 1874 report concerning land transfer noted that even with the low rate of consumption, the quarry would be exhausted before long. Straightforward enterprise woes were compounded when the Lordship of the Manor

4899-554: Was used by individual operators, vehicles would vary greatly in wheel spacing ( gauge ) and the plate rail coped better. In South Wales again, where in 1811 the railways were connected with canals, collieries, ironworks, and copper works, and had a total length of nearly 150 miles (241 km), the plateway was almost universal. But in the North of England and in Scotland the edge-rail was held in greater favor, and soon its superiority

4970-620: Was used. The scale of the operation was modest; the 1851 Census shows just eight men involved in lime works. St Cuthbert's Limeworks are shown, but not named as such, on Map 1, the OS map surveyed in 1860. These works are collectively labelled "Lime Works" and are individually labelled as "Well", "Smithy", "Limekiln" and "Limekilns". The standard work on the waggonways argues that the zigzag structure labelled "Limekilns" were not kilns at all, but storage bays for finished and semi-finished product where lime could be slaked . The building labelled "Old Walls"

5041-424: Was wooden and had a crane. It can be seen to fork to two tracks at its seaward end. Ships would only be able to berth or sail at high tide. Two of the first waggonway's northern extremities can be seen on the north end of Map 1. The more westerly (which is the middle of the three shown on the southerly map) approaches "Seal Gut"; it and its western neighbour were known collectively as "Acre Quarries", though this name

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