Bedlington Ironworks

Iron making in Bedlington began by the River Blyth in 1736 with smelting furnaces using wood as fuel with local iron ore and mainly producing nails. Developments, including a change to coal fired furnaces, allowed production of anchors and other heavy forgings for ship building and the company grew under various owners.  

In 1809 the works were bought by a London company Gordon and Biddulph, and Michael Longridge became manager and oversaw major changes over the next 30 years. The works had a rolling mill and began making iron bars, hoops and cables. However, it was the production of malleable rolled wagonway rails that proved important. Cast rails were in use but rolled rails were cheaper and more resilient but heavier. Modifications to the design by Longridge's colleague John Birkinshaw allowed a reduction in weight without affecting performance. George Stephenson chose the malleable rail for the main lines of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, and the Bedlington Iron Company delivered for that railway 1,200 tons of malleable iron rails at 12 pounds and 10 shillings a ton. The rail was used in most of the great early railway developments in Britain and abroad. The company also made parts for some of George Stephenson's early engines.  

Longridge then founded a locomotive factory on the Bedlington site in 1836. In the next 15 or so years R.B.Longridge and Co. built over 150 engines for railways in Britain, Italy, Holland, Germany and Belgium, but then business declined and the railway works closed in 1855. Towards the middle of the 19th century the site employed nearly 2,000 men and had an international reputation for the reliability of their engines and the quality of their rolled iron. 

After Longridge retired from Bedlington Ironworks in 1853 and the business was never the same. The works were bought by Mounsey and Dixon in 1861 and the Bedlington Coal Company in 1865, but finally closed only two years later. 

Written by Ian Winship