Dawdon Homepage


Liddle Stack standing tall near Seaham
©Colin Keightley
Dist:0.1km north<br/>
©brian clark
Dist:0.4km north<br/>
©brian clark
Dist:0.5km north<br/>View north towards Seaham Harbour. The prominent stack here seems to have acquired the local place-name, Liddle Stack, although this is marked on the maps as much further north and may no longer be extant. A full description is given here [[1540961]]
©Andrew Curtis
Dist:0.5km north<br/>The beach got its name from Seaham Chemical Works which occupied a nearby site in the 1860s. By the 1890s, both it, and Seaham Iron Works, former occupier of the Dawdon Colliery site at Nose's Point, were marked on the OS map as 'disused'. Seaham and Londonderry Bottle Works further north making glass from beach sand and local coal stayed in business much longer. The wooden piles, visible in the surf beyond the stack were supports for a rail track used by wagons for tipping mine waste from Dawdon Pit into the sea. Photo by Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen is here http://www.amber-online.com/exhibitions/coal-coast/exhibits/dawdon-afternoon-24-october-2002
©Andrew Curtis
Dist:0.6km north<br/>The harbour was purpose built to ship coal from the several local collieries on what was, for a century, an incredibly industrial coast. The local deep mines all closed in the early 1990s, although coal is occasionally now imported through here from the Continent. These ships were loading scrap metal, recycling of rare resources being the new growth industry.
©Andrew Curtis
Dist:0.6km west<br/>View of ex-colliery houses immediately following renovations paid for by EU project.
©Irene Marlborough
Dist:0.7km south<br/>Some of the most impressive magnesium limestone cliffs in Britain on what used to be a very polluted coastline. It's nice to see the gradual recovery.
©Irene Marlborough
Dist:0.7km west<br/>The houses shown were demolished in 2002. They had been colliery houses divided into flats.
©Irene Marlborough
Dist:0.7km south<br/>
©brian clark
Dist:0.7km south<br/>To the upper left of the picture is where Dawdon Colliery used to stand until its closure in 1991. In the foreground is the Blast Beach. This is where all the colliery waste was dumped (if you've seen the film 'Get Carter' you'll have seen a slurry tip like the ones that were here). In the decades before the pit closed so much waste was tipped that it formed an artificial raised beach running several hundred metres out to sea, complete with plant and animal life. Once the pit closed the sea started to erode the beach back to its former state. In the lower middle of the picture can be seen the remains of this artificial beach - doubtless in ten or twenty years that will be gone too and the beach will be back to its original state. Much of the shore area to the South of Noses's Point is now owned by the National Trust.
©Brian Abbott
Dist:0.7km west<br/>This photo taken on Longnewton Street shows where houses on School Street and Longnewton Street had been demolished. Parkside is in the distance.
©Irene Marlborough
Dist:0.7km south<br/>This area was the location of Dawdon Pit which mined coal deep below the North Sea. Founded in 1907 it was one of the most productive pits in the country. Waste from the pit was dumped directly into the sea over the cliffs at Nose's Point until it closed in 1991. The action of the sea and a project called 'Turning the Tide' has now cleaned up much of the coastline http://www.bbc.co.uk/wear/content/articles/2006/11/27/durham_coast_feature.shtml For photos of Dawdon Colliery, before the clean-up, explore here http://www.east-durham.co.uk/seaham/dawdoncolliery/pages/image/imagepage28.html A Durham Heritage Coast Education Pack giving details on many features of the geology, industry and history of this landscape can be found at http://www.durhamheritagecoast.org/dhc/usp.nsf/pws/Durham Heritage Coast - Kids - Teachers
©Andrew Curtis
Dist:0.7km north<br/>Shipping on the outer quay in the enclosed dock, with remains of coal loading staithe on the left.
©George Robinson
Dist:0.7km south<br/>The sky-field is a work of art by Newcastle-based Alec Findlay. It responds to the sea breezes and squalls that are characteristic of Nose's Point. This windy place is the site of Dawdon Colliery which closed in 1991.
©Andrew Curtis

Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]

Members Nearby

Dawdon Discussion Forum

Durham News (from the BBC)

  • Prins and Gore win darts titles

    Dave Prins and Julie Gore win the titles at the Isle of Man International Darts Championship.
    Wednesday 17 March, 2010

  • Workington to assess Ebden deal

    Workington manager Darren Edmondson will run the rule over free agent Lee Ebden with a view to bolstering the club's striker ranks
    Wednesday 17 March, 2010

  • Durham City double season record

    Durham City make it two wins in four days with a 4-3 defeat of Whitby Town, after 28 straight defeats.
    Wednesday 17 March, 2010
Display-ad-120x600

Places Near Dawdon

Burdiehouse • Cold Hesledon • Dalton-le-Dale • Dawdon • Deneside • Doxford Park • Easington • Easington Colliery • Easington Lane • Grangetown • Great Burdon • Great Eppleton • Greenhill • Hawthorn • Hillview • Leechmere • Little Thorpe • Lyons • Murton • New Silksworth • Northlea • Old Burdon • Parkside • Ryhope • Ryhope Colliery • Seaham • Seaton • South Hetton • Tunstall • West Lea •