Heritage Filmmaker Captures Powerful Craftsmanship at Bowes Railway
As a heritage filmmaker, I’m always drawn to the kind of stories where tradition lives on through skilled hands.
This short film, one of three I created for new exhibition spaces at Bowes Railway Museum in Gateshead, focuses on the remarkable work of volunteer blacksmith John Jeffries. Filmed inside the historic forge known as the tup shop, the piece captures traditional techniques still used today to maintain and recreate the tools of the region’s industrial past.
Bowes Railway is a rare site of national importance and a remarkable survival from the early days of Britain’s railway age. Built in 1826 under the direction of George Stephenson, widely regarded as the “Father of Railways,” the line was a pioneering feat of engineering. It was part of the larger Hetton Colliery Railway system and used an innovative rope-haulage method powered by stationary engines to move coal wagons along inclines, a critical solution before the widespread use of locomotives. Stretching from the collieries around Mount Moor down to Jarrow Staithes on the River Tyne, the railway played a vital role in fuelling the North East’s coal export economy during the height of the Industrial Revolution.
Today, Bowes Railway remains the oldest working standard gauge rope-hauled railway in the world and is protected as a scheduled ancient monument. Located in Springwell, Gateshead, the museum occupies a portion of the original line and includes preserved workshops, winding houses, blacksmith forges, and historic wagons. For any heritage filmmaker, it offers a uniquely rich location—alive with the sounds, textures, and rhythms of the past. The site has been painstakingly restored by a team of volunteers who continue to maintain the machinery, buildings, and railway infrastructure. Their work ensures that Bowes Railway functions not just as a static exhibit, but as a living, breathing museum of North East industrial heritage.
Inside the Forge: Crafting the Past
The forge building known as the tup shop once served to build and maintain the coal tubs essential to the colliery system. One of its most distinctive features is a steel floor, designed to reduce friction so that workers could easily slide tub frames into position before the wheels were fixed. This small, clever detail tells us so much about the innovation of the time.
In the film, John Jeffries demonstrates how he forges new handles and wheels for a replica coal tub using time-honoured techniques. He heats metal rods to over 500°C using a fan-controlled flame, which can be adjusted depending on the precision needed. Using tools like the hardie, he cuts clean square ends before shaping the rod using a former. Later, he fabricates the wheels by carefully marking radii with dividers, drilling holes, and welding the components into place.
For a heritage filmmaker, capturing this kind of process is an opportunity to show the physicality of history. It’s not just about objects—it’s about the hands that shape them, and the spaces that still hold memory.
Volunteering at the Heart of Heritage
John’s work is not simply about recreation—it serves a direct purpose. The pieces he makes are either used in restoration or sold to raise funds, helping the museum stay operational. This balance of tradition, functionality, and sustainability lies at the heart of what makes Bowes Railway special.
As a heritage filmmaker, I believe stories like this need to be told. They speak to a kind of quiet resilience—the passing on of knowledge through action rather than words. John doesn’t narrate the history of Bowes; he enacts it, through every measured strike, weld, and curve of metal. The value of heritage is made real by people like him.
A Living Connection to the Industrial North East
Filming this project reminded me why I’m drawn to industrial heritage. Bowes Railway isn’t just a backdrop for storytelling—it’s part of the story itself. And it’s places like this, and people like John, that give heritage real meaning. Through this short film, I wanted to show how craft, care, and community continue to power the site—not just its preserved engines.
This film is part of my ongoing work as a heritage filmmaker and documentary videographer in Gateshead and across the North East. I collaborate with artists, historians, cultural institutions, and communities to uncover stories that are often overlooked but deeply resonant. Whether it’s forging iron or forging connection, these moments matter.
If you’d like to watch more of my work exploring community stories, creative resilience, and diverse subjects across arts, heritage, and the environment, you can explore all my films here:
👉 https://alanfentiman.co.uk/films-by-alan-fentiman/