A schooner which came ashore at Black Middens only yards away from the S.S. Stanley (HER 12972) in the same storm on 24th November 1858. During the rescue attempt, the hull of the lifeboat 'Constance' was crushed and three of her crew drowned. The Friendship sank with everyone on board. Thirty four lives were lost in total.

On 24 November 1864 the cargo and passenger steamer Stanley, sailing from London to Aberdeen, sank having hit Black Middens rocks in a violent storm The local lifeboat (Constance) could not reach the ship due to the high seas. Built: c.1858
Where Built: West Hartlepool
Propulsion: Screw driven, 2 cylinder compound engine; 2 engines
Boilers: 1
HP: 110
Master: Thomas Howling
Crew: 29-30
Crew Lost: 5
Passengers: c.30
Passengers Lost: c.20
Lives Lost: c.24
Owner: Steam Navigation Co. After this event the Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade (HER 2214) was formed, the oldest organisation of its kind in the world. She was lost in the same storm as the FRIENDSHIP (HER 12973), the ARDWELL (HER 13356) and the ESCORT (NMR NO. 1548412).

Built and owned by Turnbull and Sons in 1876. She was 222 feet long and weighed 1108 tons. She collided with another vessel (the Harvest) near the mouth of the Tyne on 30th November 1885. She was sailing to Copenhagen with coal. Master: R Stainthorp
Owner: T Turnbull & Son, Whitby
Built: 1876
Propulsion: Screw driven, 3 cylinder compound engine
Boilers: 1
Crew: 17

A Belgian steamer of 3658 tons. She was carrying 1000 tons of steel plus a cargo of pulp when she sank on 14th March 1942 after a collision. She lies 2020 feet from Tynemouth lighthouse on the inside wall of the north breakwater at N 55 00 51.8 W 001 24 25. Only large sections of double skinned bottom remains. Salvage was attempted using a solid copper cage but abandoned due to heavy seas (Collings). Steel, 3,658 ton, 103.63m long, 14.04m beam, 5.41m draught. Belgian steam ship registered in Antwerp, she was built in 1899 by Russel & Co. and was owned at the time of loss by Armemant Amversois S.A. Her single steel screw was powered by a three cylinder, triple expansion steam engine. Her machinery was built by Rankin & Blackmore at Greenock. She had one deck and a superstructure consisting of a 6.4m poop-deck, a 21.9m bridge-deck and an 11m quarter-deck. On 14 March 1942, she was on passage from Halifax, Nova Scotia for London with a cargo of rough wood-pulp when she was seriously damaged in a collision off Blyth. The vessel was towed to North Shields for repairs but after entering the Tyne she sank close to the inside wall of the north breakwater. Work was carried out to patch the collision damage and inlets, with the intention of raising the vessel but was temporarily halted for the Easter Holidays. A storm at that time damaged the wreck to the point of being a ‘total loss’.
Bob Scullion of the Marsden Dive Centre said the wreck, or what remains of it, lies adjacent to the numbers ‘17’ and ‘23’ painted on the inside of the north pier wall at Tynemouth. The bow section of the vessel is reported to be upside-down, near the rocky slope against the pier wall where there are large sections of double-skinned hull, steel plates and masses of steel hawser cables on the sandy seabed in a general depth of 8-9m (National Monuments Record and Spokes database records the depth as 3m).
Grid reference conversion made 23.11.2010 with http://gps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/etrs89geo_natgrid.asp with Lat/Long referenced as N 55 00 518 W 001 24 250

A small tug of 82 tons. Sits upright on the sea bed in 25 metres of water. N 55 00 59 W 01 22 984. Steel, 82 tons, 26m long and a single steel propeller powered by a three cylinder, triple expansion steam engine that employed one boiler. The Hercules foundered on 22 November 1940 with the loss of her crew of five after detonating a German-laid mine, three-quarters of a mile east of Tyne entrance. She had been towing a number 116 hopper barge, full of rubbish to a spoil ground when she blew up and sank almost immediately. The crew were apparently killed in the explosion. The barge was only slightly damaged and was recovered by another vessel.

Some confusion surrounds this vessel’s position as two precise wreck positions have been given. However the location is straight out from the Tyne and is partially buried, standing 2.5m at the highest point. The deck and superstructure have gone, however the engine block and hull sides are prominent.

The Spokes and NMR databases suggests two depths for the wreck – 25m and 27m.

Grid reference conversion made 23.11.2010 with http://gps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/etrs89geo_natgrid.asp with Lat/Long referenced as
N 55 00 545 W 001 23 109

A Danish cargo vessel of 1022 tons. She sank on 20th November 1902 outside South Shields after colliding with the steamer Swale Dale. Eight people died (Collings). 1022T Steamship sunk as a result of a collision outside South Shields on 20th November 1902. NMR states loss just off the Black Middens following a collision on her departure from South Shields for Gandia with coal and coke. Constructed of iron in 1871.

A British steamer of 562 tons. 409 feet long. She was bombed in the mouth of the Tyne, exact location unknown (Collings). A 5620T steamship bombed off the mouth of Tyne although the Spokes database suggests that the wreck may lie off the coast at Whitby/Robin Hoods Bay. The date of the sinking is recorded as 13th January 1942.

A 3210 ton passenger cargo steamship, mined east of Cullercoats on 15th December 1939. Lies in 41 metres of water on colliery spoil and shale at N 55 02 37 W 001 17 35. She was dived in 1988 and found to be intact, except for the mine damage (Collings). Steel, 321-ton, 43m long, 6.9m beam, 3.8m draught. Norwegian steamship built in 1923. Her single propeller was powered by a three-cylinder, triple-expansion steam engine that used one boiler. On 15 August 1939, the steamer was on passage from Murvik for Hull with a cargo of ferromanganese when she detonated a German-laid mine and sank almost at once, with the loss of her crew of nine, five miles northeast of the Tyne North Pier. The Strinheim was one of three Norwegian ships to be sunk by German-laid mines off the Tyne on 15 December 1939; the other ones were the 1,264-ton Ragni and the 1,902-ton H.C. Flood.

The wreck lies in a south-south-east to north-north-west direction on a seabed of dirty, coarse sand, stone, shale and colliery waste in a general depth of 46m (The NMR database has a depth of 41m under the name Strindheim and 47m Strinheim). It stands up to 8m high and is relatively intact from the stern up to just forward of the bridge, with everything forward of the winches to the bow section totally collapsed and spread out in a jumble of large pieces of steel debris, extending over 30m to the north, which was probably caused by the exploding mine. Her bows lie to the south-east and the highest sections and bows are now supporting a large collection of Dead Man’s Fingers and soft corals.

There is also a record for the Strindheim on the Spokes database which appears to be the same ship as the Strinheim. The NMR has these two ships are separate entries (NMR no. 1368234 and 908770).

Bell & Tel removed in 1988.

Grid reference conversion made 08.12.2010 with http://gps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/etrs89geo_natgrid.asp with Lat/Long referenced as N 55 02 37 W 01 17 35

The Team Valley Railway was proposed as an alternative route to Gateshead from Darlington. The York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway were given authorisation for construction in 1848. The proposed route was from Gateshead to Newton Hall and then to the old main line at Belmont Junction. The downfall of George Hudson in 1849 postponed the work. Powers were revived in 1862 by the North England Railway. The line opened in 1857. The line now forms part of the East Coast Main Line.

A partly artificial causeway beside Leyburnhold Gill was revealed when a section was cut. It was 30 yards long, standing 15 feet above the Gill and dropping to 10 feet at the crossing point. Large metalling was seen. The road was 26 feet wide, cambered and possessed side-kerbs. The built-up causeway showed that there must have been a small bridge across the Gill. The field south of the Gill stood at a much higher level than the causeway as ploughing had worked several feet of soil onto the road {1}. 30 metres of raised causeway, 4.7m wide and 0.7m high at the north end. Metalling on both sides at various places {2}. The Roman road approaches from the south on a causeway 90 feet long, 26 feet wide, of large metalling, and stops abruptly 10 feet above the Leyburnhold Gill stream. On the north are two mounds, both of which could have been abutments (probably at different dates) to take the road north and north-west {3 and 4}. Coach and Horses Public House has been extended at north-east end and grounds are landscaped. No trace or knowledge of road {5}.