Jesmond Road, The Carriage Public House

Disused since 1977 and now "The Carriage" public house and restaurent this former station on the Blyth and Tyne Railway dates from 1864 and was probably built to the design of J F Tone. A good example of a small suburban station in Tudor style, single storey in red brick with stone dressings, strong cross gable on platform side, stone mullioned windows, octagonal stacks etc. Passenger railway station, now public house. Between 1861 and 1864, possibly to designs,of John Dobson. Brick with sandstone ashlar plinth, quoins and dressings. Welsh slate roof with stone gable copings and kneelers. Tudor style. One storey and attics; 3 bays. Tall gabled centre section has Tudor-arched doorway with double door; stone-mullioned windows of varying sizes in this and in flanking lower gabled bays; stone slits in gable peaks. Steeply-pitched roofs have tall octagonal corniced stone chimneys. Cross-gables to returns. Station was associated with a number of other structures such as the stationmasters house built in 1879, demolished in the 1970s. Of historical interest as being the last surviving station of the Blyth and Tyne railway. Converted to a pub in 1981 with the addition of a 1912 private saloon railway carriage. Platforms survive but signal box is modern. Said to be haunted. Staff and customers have reported that they felt someone behind them waiting to get past, but no one was there. Glasses have apparently been thrown from the bar always landing upright and never breaking. This has been attributed to the death of two passengers on the station platform during a bombing raid in World War Two {Kirkup 2009}.