A bit of #railwayarchaeology at Hampstead Heath with some nice #brutalism of the Royal Free Hospital behind! #architecture #C20 #LNER #modernism #london

July 1821, George Stephenson reported 'I have minutely examined the County over which your Railway is intended to pass, and I find it practicable that a Line may be attained' #onthisday 1825, the passengers embarked on the first railway journey on the Stockton and Darlington Railway #railway200

Here's a nicer shot of Sir Nigel Gresley at the #heatontraincarecentre! #heaton #railway200

Happy 150th birthday Heaton Train Sheds! Thanks to Northern Trains for organising a nosy around the traincare centre. Was great to see various generations of ECML HSTs on display! #railway200 #heaton #newcastle #railway #northern #transporthistory #gresley #deltic #hst #highspeedtrain #highspeedrail

45 years ago today, Tyne and Wear PTE decided that Gateshead Railway Station should close as the Metro came on stream saying 'the role of the railway station will be substantially reduced' and recommended that 'Gateshead B.R. Station be withdrawn'. #onthisday #northeasthistory #transport #metro

Great to see a vital part of Tyneside transport and culture, and British history preserved! Looking forward to seeing in on display for future generations to enjoy. Well done @northeastmuseums.bsky.social 🥳 www.nexus.org.uk/news/item/me....

Was great to share an aspect of my research with the Urban History Group yesterday, it's been a great conference so far! Many thanks to the @urbanhistorygroup.bsky.social organisers!

Had a fantastic time at this year's European Society of Environmental History conference in Uppsala, Sweden! Such a varied selection of panels and a met some great people! Thank you @eseh.bsky.social organisers!

It's been a while since my last post but it's important to wish a loved one happy birthday. Happy birthday @my-metro.bsky.social ! 🥳🚇 Image: Newcastle Evening Chronicle, 07.08.1980

It was tremendous fun to share some of our Life Stories of Infrastructure research philosophies, methods and findings at Newcastle City Library. I enjoyed sharing work in an interesting and engaging way and was great to have a sell-out public show! #researchengagement #transport #history #mobilities

I am delighted to announce that more tickets have been released for a public workshop I am hosting at Newcastle City Library next Thursday evening. Come along if you want to hear about the #tyneandwearmetro and share your history of transport! #transporthistory www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/life-stori....

Had my first ride on a new #Metro! Was great to have a much quieter and smooth journey. I must say, however, where are the hanging handles. People were falling over onto eachother as the train accelerated and decelerated. Seems like an oversight to me! #tyneandwearmetro #train #publictransport

Part three of my northern #archive tour, #Liverpool. Never been to an archive with a better view! More libraries need a roof top terrace, well done Liverpool Record Office. Sadly I couldn't quite see the #Queenswaytunnel that I'd been reading about! #archives #history #transporthistory

Some excellent evening entertainment... I'm not quite sure what the point of the article is but it I enjoyed reading it. #metro #poormetro #scrapingthebarrel #tyneside #tyneandwearmetro www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Part two of my northern archive tour has taken me to #Manchester! A #monorail study amongst some #rapidtransit goodies today! Not something I anticipated but a fun surprise. #archive #1960s #transport #history

“This is the railway that devolution built. A railway designed for local needs… It’s symbiotically Tyne & Wear’s railway, but the Metro is Britain’s innovation railway too. It’s local but it’s not parochial.” This short love letter to the Tyne & Wear Metro is well worth a read.

Part one of my northern archive tour, Sheffield! Excited to see what's in store today! Good to be back in my one time home too. P.s. Only slipped over on the ice once! #archive #sheffield #northernengland #yorkshire

Having visited the some of the provinces of #SierraLeone, it's fascinating to read this article by Milo Gough in the Conversation about new city development in the country. Shame I didn't get chance to visit the #archives in #FourahBay! theconversation.com/from-a-colon...

Another exciting new development on Tyneside! The #pedestrian #tynetunnel inclined lift is fantastic! #sustainability #transport #tyneside #urbanmobility #cycling #tyneandwear

My review of the #NorthumberlandLine: Great to see a historic line back in use and the old stations being resurrected but the single track workings do cause some delays and we were held at a few reds. At least Northern kept us happy with free mince pies! #transport #tyneandwear #christmas #railway

So the new Metro can't even run the full system as the #GatesheadHighway falling to pieces. Meanwhile, Tyne Bridge being repaired, A1 Bypass being worked on, Tyne Tunnels reduced to a tunnel at weekends, work to start on Redheugh Bridge, no evening ferries. At least the pedestrian tunnel has a lift.

Turns out this is happening today! I timed that well! #onthisday #transporthistory

It's also wonderful to see that my favourite road albeit from morbid fascination, #gatesheadflyover, is likely to meet it's end. It's nice to know the entire history of something! It's alarming that concrete has a shorter life-span than knowing how to deal with traffic in Gateshead however...

It's great to see that "a" new #Metro will be running passenger services before the end of the year but I can't help but think that politics has outweighed practicality much like opening of the half finished #northumberlandline.

Join me in helping protect at least one of Britain's monuments of the carbon age and modernity by signing @c20society.bsky.social's petition here to save examples of cooling towers: chng.it/QzvL7SKHTr Photo cred: Raymond McBride

Adding stock-image children to a bike lane design should be a necessary planning step.

RMT is devastated to learn that one of their members who was assaulted working at Ilford railway station on Wednesday, has tragically died. The Customer Experience Assistant for MTREL was assaulted on Wednesday evening and police announced their death yesterday.

Great to be invited to the Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade's annual Smoking Concert last night! Fantastic organisation saving lives along the coast and the Tyne. #northeast #tynemouth #lifebrigade #smokingconcert #prior #tyne Disclaimer photos from last year's Smoker!

"One of the major impediments to traffic flow in Northumberland Street during the #christmas period is the heavy pedestrian movement [...] it is suggested that two temporary footbridges be erected across Northumberland Street" - 1967 #archive #transporthistory Photo: @tynesnapper.bsky.social's X

120 years ago, Tyneside's first NER #electricrailway began service on the North Tyne Loop which now forms a large part of the #TyneandWearMetro system today. There were three simple tenets for passengers MOVE QUICKLY. TRAVEL OFTEN. TAKE LITTLE LUGGAGE. #transporthistory #railwayhistory #northeast

Today is an extremely exciting day! Eventually the tunnel lifts are operational! #tunnel #tynetunnel #sustainabletransport #pedestrian #cycle #tyne www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Amazingly, each letter was hand designed 1:1 for every station! I'm not sure how I feel about them being painted black over the past few weeks but at least Calvert's design still remains! #designhistory #transport #metro #calvert #type #design For more: foundationpress.org/shop/a-conve...

Lest we forget paragraph 38 of Traffic in Towns... "within a measurable time some kind of individual jet-propulsion unit will be developed, of which a rudimentary form has already been tried out in the U.S.A" See @trafficintowns.bsky.social #trafficintowns #transporthistory #jetpack

Now everyone can have a copy!

Happy 61st birthday @trafficintowns.bsky.social ! It's a pleasure of mine to own a copy and there are still paragraphs we can learn a lot from today! #trafficintowns #transporthistory #urbanhistory #history #modernism #architecture #urbanplanning

50 years ago, SOC'EM (Save Our City from Environmental Mess) stated: "in Newcastle 1974 there is a population downtrodden, exploited, unrepresented and ignored. Who are they? They are - we, the people who are pedestrians" - Tyne and Wear Archives, Acc2659/D5079, A Policy Statement from SOC'EM

Great to have glimpses of the past and future of Tyneside's transport at Felling station! #railways #transporthistory #northeast #tyneside #newmetro #tyneandwearmetro

Who doesn't enjoy an evening of zine making about their research in the evening. Thanks to the Northern Modern and Contemporary Network!

Ever wanted to know how to make a geordie cultural icon? Turns out it's pretty easy... #archives #exploreyourarchive #transporthistory #tyneandwearmetro

Finally, the needle in a haystack has been located. Found a copy of the Metro Building Design Guide eventually! Also great to be in a private collection with a room to myself!

Hello Bluesky! I've escaped the grasp of Musk and now I can speak as much as I want about twentieth century transport and planning!