As already mentioned, there is a strong bias on local railway features: so where do staiths and narrow gauge railways fit in?

Most people are aware of the East Coast Main Line (ECML) that runs through Alnmouth and the branch to Alnwick, continuing to Wooler and Cornhill, but over the years there have been a number of other lines in the area.

To the south of Alnwick, around the village of Shilbottle, there were coal mine shafts in at least four different locations that had some form of tramway or railway system.

In 1809 a waggonway ran from what is now Colliery Farm to Alnwick, running along Wagonway Road to a point next to what would eventually be the terminus station of the NER Alnwick Branch.

Another tramway or ropeway ran from the Longdyke Pit to the old gasworks in the town (partly now occupied by Kitson Windows and Central Tyres).

Shilbottle Grange Colliery (1925-1982) had a National Coal Board (NCB) operated line that was linked to the ECML south of Alnmouth station. Another NCB line ran from the ECML south of Warkworth station westwards to Whittle Colliery, a drift mine located next to the A1 trunk road near Newton on the Moor.

At Hare Crag Quarry, again to the south of Alnwick, Northumberland County Council ran a 2ft gauge line to transport granite to a stone processing plant next to the A1. It operated from about 1920 until 1969, using Simplex diesels that were replaced with four wheeled Hunslets. There was also another short narrow gauge line on the other side of the A1 trunk road at a tile works, but little is known about it.

Further west at Breamish, near Powburn, the County Council also ran another 2ft line which was used for transporting gravel. Most of the rolling stock was transferred to Hare Crag in the early 1960's.

The harbour town of Amble, 15 miles south east of Alnwick, boasted a staiths facility for loading coal onto coastal ships. Situated at the end of a branch from the ECML at Chevington, the line closed in 1969.

And for the bravest of modellers, how about a model of the Whittle and Longframlington Ropeway...