Spennymoor

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Coordinates: 54°42′N 1°35′W / 54.70°N 1.59°W / 54.70; -1.59

Spennymoor
Spennymoor  Spennymoor shown within County Durham
Population	17,241 (2001) [1]
OS grid reference	NZ261340
Unitary authority	County Durham
Ceremonial county	County Durham
Region	North East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	SPENNYMOOR
Postcode district	DL16
Dialling code	01388
Police	Durham
Fire	County Durham and Darlington
Ambulance	North East
EU Parliament	North East England
UK Parliament	Bishop Auckland
List of places: UK • England • County Durham

Spennymoor is a town in County Durham, England. It stands above the Wear Valley approximately seven miles south of Durham. The town was founded over 160 years ago. The Town Council area, which includes the villages of Kirk Merrington, Middlestone Moor, Byers Green and Tudhoe, has a population of approximately 20,000.

Spennymoor Town

Like much of the former Sedgefield district, it has suffered severe economic depression since the decline of the coal mining industry. Local schemes funded by the Single Regeneration Budget are aiming to re-establish the area as a location of economic competitive advantage.

The main attractions in Spennymoor are the local leisure centre, and the Victoria Jubilee Park which was given to the people of the town by Queen Victoria to celebrate the jubilee of her reign, and is sited on land which was once part of the Whitworth Hall estate of the Shafto family. Until World War II there was a cannon from the Crimean War on display in the park, this was taken away to be melted down for munitions. A Millennium Arch was erected in the park.

The leisure centre houses a swimming pool, and offers swimming lessons, football coaching, martial arts tutoring, tennis lessons, badminton practice, a gymnasium and gymnastic workouts and is also home to a new 'state of the art' Regional Gymnasium Centre,made possible by funding from the National Lottery, Sport England and Sedgefield Borough Council, and is amongst the most modern in the country.

Spennymoor was where Henry Bessemer discovered and patented the Bessemer process which revolutionised the world we live in by allowing the mass production of steel and pig iron at a low cost^{[citation needed]}.

There are also plans for a new Regional Arts Centre to be added to the Leisure Centre, which stands at the junction of High Street and Cheapside in the town centre^[1].

Tudhoe Cricket Ground was the victim of a rogue V1 flying bomb during the Second World War. The bomb was possibly aimed at Manchester^{[citation needed]}, in which case it travelled over a hundred miles North East of its target, though other sources say that the bomb was intended for the docks at nearby Hartlepool, and this seems far more likely. Whichever it was, the blast was powerful enough to make a crater in the cricket ground, and blew out the windows of surrounding houses (including those of the local St. Charles' Church) as well as shaking a great many other buildings.

Town motto: Spe Nemo Ruet - With Hope No-One Shall Fail

Anne Wood, creator of the Teletubbies and In The Night Garden was brought up in Spennymoor.

Spennymoor Town F.C. are the main local football team.

Landmarks

Whitworth Hall

Dating from 1183, The Whitworth Hall estate was owned by and home to the Shafto family for over 300 years, including County Durham MP "Bonnie Bobby Shafto", made famous by the well known ballad and nursery rhyme. It is now the site of Whitworth Hall Hotel and the deer park for which the estate is famed is still well tended, as is the walled garden.

Spennymoor Settlement

A local arts community founded in the 1930s by Bill & Betty Farrell with the aid of the Pilgrim Trust, "To encourage tolerant neighbourliness and voluntary social services and give its members opportunities for increasing their knowledge, widening their interests, and cultivating their creative powers in a friendly atmosphere". The Settlement was home to the towns first library, and amongst famous local people who were a part of its history were Norman Cornish, 'the pitman painter. and Shildon born writer Sid Chaplin. The building is a centre for the arts- mostly drama and music, but other community events take place here.

Miner's Banner

A new banner was marched for the first time in the 2006 Durham Miners' Gala (The Big Meeting), representing 13 (former) local collieries. The banner was unfurled on the night before the Big Meeting, by MEP Stephen Hughes and long-time trade unionist Rodney Bickerstaffe, General Secretary of the trade union UNISON from 1995 to 2001. Its first outing on the following day began with visits to 'The Tubs', a miners memorial made from tubs once used underground in Ellington Colliery, Northumberland, which honours the memory of all of the men and boys who lost their lives in the mines of Spennymoor and district, then went on to two war memorials, the main cenotaph outside the Leisure Centre, and a smaller memorial in Tudhoe Cemetery.

Local Arts and Artists

• Norman Cornish
• Tom McGunnness
• Stephen Livingstone
• Eric Thompson
• The Spennymoor Settlement
• The Spennymoor Signs

External links

• St. Paul's Spennymoor - Parish Church
• Picture Spennymoor History - Historical Pictures & Information
• Spennynews - The Community Newspaper for Spennymoor & surrounding villages
• Spennymoor United Football Club (2006)
• Spennymoor Town Council
• Spennymoor Town Band

References