What is the history of The Bowes Incline hotel Birtley Durham UK?

Answer 1

It was a pub for years and years, in the 80s or 90s it started getting tarted up and now I guess it's a hotel. It's right next to the A1, but you probably knew that.

It was named after the coal line that ran down the hill just north, what they used to do is wire two sets of coal wagons together with about six miles of (from a child's memory) 3/4" steel rope. One set were up at the pit head and the other set was down in the Team Valley at the railway yard. When they filled the wagons at the top the weight of them rolling down the hill pulled the empty ones up to the pit head. That line was called the Bowes Incline.

Hey, wadaya know, there's a web page about the place... wonder if I remembered OK? Nope, the run was split into shorter sections, so it wasn't all one thing as it appeared to me as a kid.

Answer 2

Bowes Incline