The third-oldest surviving locomotive in the world stands on top of the High Level Bridge in the black and white photo, the colour one shows the same scene today for comparison.
Nobody realised its true age when it was put on the bridge. Known as the Killingworth Billy, it was built by George Stephenson at Killingworth Colliery and was presumed to date from after he built his Rocket. But it was recently examined by experts who determined it was built in 1816, over a decade before Stephenson’s famous locomotive.
The Killingworth Billy hauled coal there until one of the colliery’s owners gifted it to Newcastle Council in 1881 to use in their celebration of the centenary of Stephenson’s birth. It was placed on top of the High Level Bridge in December of that year.
It remained there for several years but began to deteriorate due to the weather, so it was restored in 1896 and moved inside the Central Station. It was on the move again in 1945 when it was relocated to the Exhibition Park, and it’s current home is the Stephenson Steam Railway in North Shields
The Bridge Inn on the left was originally a shop that sold beer to the Irish navvies who built the High Level Bridge in 1849. When the bridge was completed the shop owner decided to capitalise on the passing trade and obtained full pub licence in 1853.
It was bought in 1892 by an Irishman called John Fitzgerald, founder of the Sir John Fitzgerald chain of pubs. He replaced it with the present building in 1901, and the Bridge Hotel remained a favourite with the city’s Irish community.
The photo can be dated by the landlady’s name on the front of the Bridge Inn, Sarah Oughtred ran the pub from April 1886 until October 1887. We can narrow this down further thanks to a poster on the right of the photo, it’s advertising a Royal Show on the Town Moor which was attended by the Prince of Wales in July 1887.