Heading into Whitburn down Moor Lane you will notice when entering the Village some large houses on the left on a bit of a hill. Three of these houses were, in fact , the Harrison family,s residence. Look a little closer to the centre house with the porch and you will see a blue plaque located to the right of the porch.


T.D.Harrison (1808-88), a friend and colleague of the more well known Robert Stephenson ( son of George Stephenson ) were all civil engineers. However, Thomas Elliot Harrison was the engineer responsible for many viaducts, bridges and railway stations in our area. He was also a major role player in North Eastern Railway (N.E.R.) as Engineer in Chief. 






Thomas Elliot Harrison at the age of 76 . Painted by Walter William Ouless for the board room of North Eastern Railway. He continued to work  for the NER until his sudden death on 21 March 1888.











Some of the well known local landmarks of structural engineering include Harrisons Wear Bridge pictured right ( railway bridge alongside of Wearmouth Bridge, Sunderland) and the Victoria Bridge over the river Wear. Now more commonly known as the Victoria Viaduct ( built 1838) in Washington.

Up to 1872 the bridge had been part of the main line from Newcastle to London. The line was still used  for freight until 1991 when the freight terminal at  Follingsby, near Washington closed. This 21 mile long route has been the subject of recent discussions where campaigners have put forward a case for it to be re opened with stations at Washington North, Washington South, Penshaw, Fence Houses and Gateshead East.

This section could not be complete without the mention of our local line which ran from Marsden to South Shields. Originally , this mineral line which opened in 1879, but in 1888 it began carrying passengers as well as the miners and their freight.