Dunston Staiths

Dunston Staiths silhouetted on a foggy Sunday morning. The staiths were used for loading coal from the North Durham coalfields onto ships. Trains arrived on the top deck and unloaded coal into ships berthed below. They closed to traffic in the 1980s and were restored as part of the 1990 Gateshead Garden Festival. Unfortunately a large section has been destroyed by several fires since then.