The LNER Encyclopedia

I vaguely recall that my grandfather, Nicholas Christer, who I used to visit as a child from about 1952 to 1960, lived in Stanley, or near there. I also recall he used to work for the LNER or National Coal Board on the railway in some capacity, but I also remember something about him being a bank rider on the gravity line from Annfield Plain to Stella Gill.

However, I did come across the following article with another Christer ----

Tanfield Railway (The Bowes Incline)





Can you imagine the serenity of the countryside between Bowes Bridge and Lobley Hill being shattered by the noise of trucks clattering their way down through the fields, carrying their load of coal from the local mines of Marley Hill, Byermoor, Hobson, Dipton and Tanfield, on their way to the Staiths at
Dunston? A distance of some 7 miles.
This was the Bowes Incline, part of the Tanfield Railway which is the oldest railway in the world. Originally, in the 17th Century, coal was carried by horse-drawn wagons on wooden rails but by the 1950s a loco-hauled railway was in operation. From Bakers Head Bank, near Sunniside, the wagons were lowered down a self-acting incline with a gradient of 1:11. At the top were two kips, one on each side of a central track. The loaded wagons, with a Bank-rider on the back, travelled down the central track whilst coming up, the empty trucks with a Bank-rider riding on the front, were led alternatively to the left and right kips. There was a passing place near Frugal Bridge and then a single line to Watergate Colliery. The Brakes-man controlled the journeys from the Bank Cabin. Locomotives took over at the bottom of the incline and hauled the wagons to Lobley Hill where they were marshalled ready for the next incline.

.Brakesman Will Harrison


The line eventually closed on the 7th September 1962. The Bank-rider that day was Mr. Norman Christer and the Brakes-man was Mr. Will Harrison. Mr. Harrison had spent all his working life on the railway and he recorded some of his memories in 1997.
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Now - is this 'Norman' the same as my grandfather Nicholas, as I cannot find a relative with the name of Norma Christer, and my geneological research ahs been fairly extensive.

Is there anyone on this forum that could direct me towards any records with the LNER/NCB or whomever, to see if I can find out any more about my grandfather or Norma??

It may be relevant that the birth of George N Christer was registered in the Lanchester district (which included Stanley) in the third quarter of 1925. George would thus have been about 37 in 1962. What did N stand for? I don't know, but it could have been Norman!

(The marriage of Nicholas Christer (your grandfather?) and Barbara Golightly was registered in the Newcastle on Tyne district in the third quarter of 1924. The mother of George (above) was Golightly before her marriage. It is likely therefore that George N was actually George Nicholas, but you never know . . . Did you have an Uncle George?)

I appreciate your response and the research you seem to have done.

Actually, George Nicholas Christer was my father, and the family 'tradition' was apparently started to pass on the fathers Christian name as the sons middle name. Hence my middle name is my fathers Christian name - George. The rest of your info and the wonderful surname of Golightly matches my own research as well.

As far as I know my father never worked for the NCB or British Rail so it is unlikely he was the 'Norman' in the article - it is more likely to have been my grandfather, if at all.

Of course, I would really like to find out if the use of the name 'Norman' in the article, itself may have been a mistake, or else my grandfather, Nicholas, was nicknamed 'Norman'........strange things happened I guess in those times.

Hi, I realize I’m rather late to this thread but I just wanted to add that my grandmother Mary Ann Christer was born in Lanchester in 1906. My father, Norman Chamberlain, was born in 1937 in Stanley but moved to Reading as a young boy. I’m not sure where his name Norman came from but there must be a connection somewhere.
David