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Lee Hurley

@hleehurley.com

Sally's Joe...

Published in the Newcastle Chronicle on 27 January 1894.

In February, 1823, whilst the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the western terminus of which was originally at a colliery near Etherley, was in course of construction, a young man, to all appearances, gained work at one of the pits in the neighbourhood, giving the high-sounding name which appears in the register, and took up his residence in Toft Hill Lane, a continuation of the village of Etherley. “He” was then apparently about 20 years of age, and soon afterwards married a girl employed as domestic at the Black Bull Inn named Sally, and was known thenceforth, after the custom of the colliery villages of that day when an outsider married a girl born in the village, as “Sally’s Joe.” The birth of a son followed much earlier upon the marriage than was regarded as fitting by the gossips, but did not appear to affect the harmony of Sally and Joe, who lived contentedly and even happily together for thirty long years. Joe worked at the pits in winter, and in harvest and other field work in summer, being renowned as the fastest shearer in the district, and therefore in great demand at a time when all corn was reaped with the sickle. After thirty years Sally died, and Joe buried her with much, and apparently sincere, mourning. Joe had saved her from disgrace, and in return Sally had faithfully kept Joe’s secret through all the intervening years.

Whether advancing age had brought the reverse of wisdom to Joe is uncertain, but at all events “he” some time afterwards again entered the bonds of matrimony, this time with a widow. The union was not a happy one, and the pair soon separated. Village tradition has two accounts of the quarrel. One is that the widow roundly declared that her second husband was a woman, but that the story was scouted by those who had known Joe for so many years as a ridiculous fabrication on the face of it. The other version is that the pair parted friends, and that the “second wife kept her husband’s secret as faithful through life as Sally had done. Joe henceforward lived alone, at first in a little cottage attached to a turnpike gate, which gained him the cognomen of Joe Piker, by which “he” was invariably known and addressed in his later years, and eventually in a miserable two-roomed cottage in a courtyard. In the latter part of 1869 Joe fell ill, but steadfastly refused to allow any one to approach him. It was only when the kindly neighbours went on to perform the last offices for the body that Joe’s well-kept secret was revealed, and the twice-married pitman, who had gone in and out among the villagers for nearly 50 years, was discovered to be a woman. Joe is always claimed to hail from Berwick-on-Tweed, and spoke the strong Doric of the border district, but inquiries set on foot by the then rector, the Rev. W. B. Findlay, failed to throw the slightest light on either the history or the motives of the woman who called herself Joseph Josiah Charles Stephenson.

The above is from the “Auckland Chronicle.”

Forster Lee, Newcastle.

July 31, 2025 at 6:55 PM

Kieran - North East Heritage Library

@neheritagelib.bsky.social

Afternoon! Blimey, we’re so close to finishing up this years History Hike some 3 months later. A fleeting visit through Witton Park led me to Etherley Dene and this charming little pub - the Masons Arms.

September 24, 2025 at 3:54 PM

Lonely Tower Film & Media

@lonelytower.bsky.social

Next year the Stockton & Darlington Railway will celebrate its 200th birthday! It is important to remember that, although the railway is famous for steam locomotives, the first few miles were powered by stationary steam engines, gravity and horse power! All equally ingenious

Recreation of coal wagons travelling across the Gaunless Bridge in County Durham

A view up the Etherley Incline. One a railway, now a walking route flanked by trees and bushes

Railway accomodation bridge near the Brusselton Incline

A pond containing wather that was once used by the Brusselton stationary steam engine. The engine house is visible in the distance

December 3, 2024 at 11:49 AM

Malcolm Stoneman

@malcolmstoneman.bsky.social

Stockton & Darlington Railway
200th Anniversary #otd

• “Locomotion No.1”
• Former Mason’s Arms. From here the world’s first steam hauled public train departed - 27th September 1825
• Heighington Station - the world’s first railway station. 1826
#HistoricEngland Grade II* Listed Building

The Stockton & Darlington’s first locomotive “Active”, later named “Locomotion No.1”. Little of the original now remains.

The site of the tracks where the world’s first steam hauled public train departed. Wagons had been hauled from Etherley by horses & over two inclines by stationary steam engines.
Here other wagons & a carriage was attached.
The Stockton & Darlington’s first locomotive “Active” then hauled the train.

The Stockton & Darlington’s first locomotive “Active” was placed on the tracks here after being delivered from Robert Stephenson & Co factory in Newcastle.
The station & inn still has some of the cobbles from the first platform.
A Class 156 diesel train passes, itself soon to be history.

September 27, 2025 at 9:33 AM

Bishop Auckland Constituency Labour Party

@baclp.bsky.social

#ToftHill and #Etherley aren’t anyone’s pawns. Our villages deserve decisions made here, not handed down from Reform HQ. bishopaucklandlabour.org.uk/toft-hill-et...

Toft Hill & Etherley ‘Betrayed’ as Reform HQ Calls the Shots - Bishop Auckland Constituency Labour Party - Bishop Auckland Constituency Labour Party

A Durham county councillor has quit the Reform UK whip in a devastating attack on the party’s leadership — both in County Durham and right at the top of Reform UK nationally. In a four‑page resignatio...

bishopaucklandlabour.org.uk

February 13, 2026 at 11:56 AM

South West Durham News

@swdn.bsky.social

Remembrance display at Etherley Methodist Church

Etherley Methodist Church's Remembrance display, fixed on either side of the original church door, has been drawing favourable comments from the local community. "On one side is a World War...

swd.news

November 10, 2025 at 2:52 PM

IA Adventures

@ia-adventures.bsky.social

This 40ft high embankment in Etherley, County Durham is where the first train on the Stockton & Darlington Railway began its journey in 1825

November 21, 2024 at 8:43 AM

North East Jobs

@northeastjobs.bsky.social

Lunchtime Supervisor: Etherley Lane Nursery and Primary School are seeking to recruit a Lunchtime Supervisor
Contract Type: Permanent | Working Pattern: Part time - term time | Salary: £ 25,614 | Advert End Date: 09/10/2026 23:59 | #northeastjobs #nejobs #PublicSectorJobs

Lunchtime Supervisor

Etherley Lane Nursery and Primary School are seeking to recruit a Lunchtime Supervisor Contract Type: Permanent | Working Pattern: Part time - term time | Salary: £ 25,614 | Advert End Date: 09/10/2026 23:59 |

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