Coal Staithes, Rosedale

The end of the line of the Rosedale branch railway. The railway was built by the North East Railway Co. to service the ironstone industry but the railway also brought in goods for the villages of the dale. The Rosedale Goods Station was just 100 feet above the small community of Daleside Road and a couple of miles from the main village of Rosedale Abbey. The goods depot comprised a row of cottages, long since demolished, the goods shed, still standing, and these coal staithes where coal brought in by the railway would be stored until sold. I’ve termed them staithes, normally a nautical word but one I’ve seen used in this context before. It is derived from the Old Norse word for a landing stage ‘stǫth‘.