The original toll-house stood at the southern end of the bridge at the entrance to what is now the station car park, but in about 1902 this was replaced by a new Toll House (18) at the north end, next to River House.
On December 2nd 1936, one hundred years after its construction, and after a long campaign by the Parish Council and local residents, the bridge was acquired by the County Council and freed from tolls. (See plaques at the bridge ends). Little of the original bridge of 1836 remains, and the timber superstructure of the old bridge was replaced by steel and timber in the late 1890’s after the waggonway rails had been removed, and again in 1942, 1960 and 2007 the decking was reconstructed. The stone supporting piers have also had to be rebuilt and their foundations protected several times – the last being during the floods of 1957 when the bridge was in danger of collapse.
At the southern end of the bridge lies the railway station (19) now one of the oldest in the world still in regular use by passengers.
The two-storey Tudor-style stationmaster’s house, together with the small extension incorporating the booking office, are the oldest parts of the building and date back to the opening of the railway in 1835. The house was described at that time as being of ‘neat, rustic design’. The single-storey waiting rooms were added a few years later.
From the eastern end of the station platform, a private path leads up to Wylam Manor (20), formerly known as Castle Hill, the country branch of Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary and now developed into private apartments. Originally built in 1878 by Newcastle architect, Archibald Dunn, as his own residence. He had been born at nearby Castle Hill Farm. The Dunns were a prominent Catholic family and his father, Matthias, a famous colliery viewer, became one of the first Government Inspectors of Coal Mines in 1850. The house was bought c1900 by F. Stirling Newall of the Gateshead firm of wire rope and submarine cable manufacturers. Following his death and that of his wife, the house and grounds were presented to the RVI by their son G. S. Newall in November 1933.
Bradley Hall Farm (21), the birthplace in 1795 of Nicholas Wood, an eminent mining engineer and lifelong friend of the Stephensons, lies in a somewhat isolated position south of the village. To find it, follow a road past the station, cross the county boundary at Bradley Burn, and fork right at the next junction along Sled Lane. Three hundred yards on the right is Daniel Farm. A footpath runs westwards across the front of the farmhouse; keep to this path along the edge of successive fields for ½ mile, and the first farm you reach is Bradley Hall Farm. (If short of time, you may omit No. 21 from your itinerary).
Return back to the village across the bridge. On the green at the southern end of the bridge stands the elegant village War Memorial commemorating those who gave their lives in Two World Wars. Then turn into the former North Wylam station yard (22) now laid out as a car park. In 1881 it was used for displaying sixteen ‘modern locomotives’ which took part in a procession from Newcastle to Wylam as part of the celebration to mark the centenary of Stephenson’s birth, and this event was perhaps the highlight in the story of the Scotswood-Newburn-Wylam railway.