What a terrible thing to hear Malcolm. How sad.

Can you remember the coal Lines that came down from the coke ovens and passed Monkton Village & then passed the slag heap, the Tube Works & Jarrow Park then on to the Staiths?
That was the Pontop Line & the trucks all had the word BOWES on them.The photo shows the lines mentioned.
A Hebburn Lad called Rob Jameson lost his leg when he fell trying to get on the moving trucks along with his mates. A lad called Winlow also lost a limb (not sure if it was an arm).