War Material built at NER Works, Gateshead, 1914-1918

Brown leather-bound photograph album, embossed on the front cover with the word “Photographs” and an image/portrait of a woman, with decorative gold tooling. The spine bears the handwritten reference “Misc/046” in white ink. The inside of the front cover bears a handwritten inscription in white ink, which reads: “North Eastern Railway. Greensfield Locomotive Works. Gateshead-On-Tyne. This album illustrates the efforts of the N.E.R. Gateshead Locomotive Works to assist the Government in the output of special Tools and Appliances in connection with the Great European War. Xmas 1916”. The inside of the front cover also bears a printed black-ink stamp reading “British Transport Commission Historical Relics”, accompanied by the handwritten identification number “2478/60”. The album contains monochrome photographic prints documenting work carried out at Gateshead Works in support of the war effort during the First World War. The photographs depict a range of items and equipment manufactured or commissioned at the works, including entrenching tools, mess tins, picketing pegs, steel ratchets, a travelling kitchen, various engines commissioned for war, sight brackets and drills. Notably, the album includes an image of a railway gun firing “somewhere in France” during the British advance on the Western Front. Each photograph is accompanied by a handwritten annotation or detailed description identifying the subject and, in some cases, providing additional information such as the quantity ordered, measurements and date of completion. All annotations have been made in white ink. The inside of the back cover bears a small square sticker which reads: “The Walton Album No. S 1296. W. Johnson and Sons, Makers, London”.