Yarm

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Coordinates: 54°30′18″N 1°20′53″W / 54.505°N 1.348°W / 54.505; -1.348

Yarm
Town Hall
Yarm  Yarm shown within North Yorkshire
Population	8,679 (2001 census)[1]
OS grid reference	NZ416124
Parish	Yarm
Unitary authority	Stockton-on-Tees
Ceremonial county	North Yorkshire
Region	North East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	YARM
Postcode district	TS15
Dialling code	01642
Police	Cleveland
Fire	Cleveland
Ambulance	North East
EU Parliament	North East England
UK Parliament	Stockton South
List of places: UK • England • Yorkshire

Yarm is a small town and civil parish in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees in North East England. It is on the south bank of the River Tees and for ceremonial purposes is in North Yorkshire. The bridge at Yarm marked the last crossing point of tidal section of the River Tees until the Tees Barrage was built in Stockton. The oldest part of the town around High Street is situated in a loop of the river and the newer parts of the town extends to the point where the River Leven meets the River Tees.

History

The name of the town is thought to be derived from the Old Norse word yarum meaning an enclosure to catch fish. Yarm was first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 and was originally a chapelry in the Kirklevington parish in the North Riding of Yorkshire; it later became a parish in its own right.^[2]

Bishop Skirlaw of Durham built a stone bridge across the Tees in 1400 which still stands. An iron replacement was built in 1805, but it fell down in 1806. For many years Yarm was the head of the tide and of navigation on the Tees.

On 12 February 1821 at the George & Dragon Inn, the meeting was held that pressed for the third and successful attempt for a Bill to give permission to build the Stockton & Darlington Railway, the world's first public railway.

At one point Yarm was a classed as a borough; this status did not persist. It formed part of the Stokesley Rural District under the Local Government Act 1894 and remained so until 1 April 1974 when, under the Local Government Act 1972 it became part of the district of Stockton-on-Tees in the new non-metropolitan county of Cleveland.^{[citation needed]} Cleveland was abolished in 1996 under the Banham Review, with Stockton-on-Tees becoming a unitary authority.^[3]

Governance

Borough Council (Yarm Ward)

The Yarm ward of Stockton (which includes Kirklevington) has three local councillors sitting on Stockton Borough Council, all of whom are Conservatives. The councillors were elected on 3 May 2007 and they are Jennie Beaumont, Jackie Earl and Andrew Sherris.

Town Council

The town has a town council which is responsible for certain aspects of the town's administration, including allotments and the cemetery. They meet once a month in the town hall.^[4]

Yarm Town Council has 11 seats. As of October 2009 these are held by eight Conservative and two Independent town councillors. One seat is currently vacant.

December 2008 by-election

A by-election was held for two vacant seats on the council after the resignation of one, and disqualification of another Conservative councillor. The Conservative Party fielded two candidates against two Independent candidates who stood under the banner "Former Councillor". The Labour Party and Liberal Democrats chose not to field any candidates, the former instead backing the Independents. Turn out for the election was low, with the Conservative candidates elected by a small margin.

October 2009 by-election

After the departure of a Conservative councillor a by-election was held on 15th October 2009 for one place on the town council. Peter Monck, a former town councillor and Liberal Democrat candidate for Stockton South in the 1997 general election stood as an independent candidate against Paul Smith, a Conservative party candidate.

Geography

Yarm is divided into five estates and the peninsular area where the town centre is situated. The estates are Willey Flatts, Layfield Farm, The Kebbell (locally known as Spitalfields), Leven Park and Levendale (occasionally referred to as Ingleby Grange).

A map of Yarm showing main roads and estates

Rivers

Yarm is bordered by two rivers. The River Tees is located to the north and the River Leven to the east. The Leven is a tributary of the Tees. In its past, Yarm was the highest port on the Tees, with merchant vessels travelling up the tidal river to Yarm from the North Sea to unload their cargoes.^{[citation needed]}

High Street

The small town hall, situated in High Street was built in 1710 by Thomas Belasyse who was Lord of the Manor. In a poll taken for the BBC's Breakfast programme on 19 January 2007 Yarm's High Street was voted the "Best High Street".^[5] The many Georgian-style old buildings, with their red pantile roofs, fronting High Street and its cobbled parking areas add to the visual appeal of the town.

The A67, which runs through High Street was previously classified as the A19 until a new dual carriageway was built in the 1970s - this is about three miles to the south of the town near the village of Crathorne.^{[citation needed]} When the A19 ran through High Street, the traffic was heavily congested and very busy. The road is still used by heavy goods traffic travelling both ways as a shortcut to Teesside Airport.^[6] The classification of the road as an 'A'-road means that it is not possible to place a ban on heavy goods vehicles; however the town council has made efforts to come up with voluntary agreements with many haulage firms.^[7]

The town has a mayor, a ceremonial role with rights to graze cattle on the riverbank and to participate in the opening ceremony of Yarm Fair. Local hotelier, Peter Moor currently holds the title. Elections are held every four years.

Churches

Yarm Parish Church is the Anglican parish church, dedicated to St Mary Magdalene. It is situated on West Street, where there has been a church on the site since at least the 9th century. The Catholic church of Ss Mary and Romuald is at the south end of High Street. Yarm Methodist Church was John Wesley's "favourite chapel"^{[citation needed]}. This unique octagonal church is to be found on Chapel Yard, on the east side of the town by the river.

Woodland

The Rookery

Yarm has multiple areas of woodland. Most of these woodlands are part of private estates.

The Rookery is a public area of woodland next to the River Tees situated at the bottom of Goose Pasture. The ash, sycamore and lime woodland is estimated to be about 200 years in age and is owned by Yarm Town Council.^[8] In 2002 a walkway was constructed around the wood to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. Within the woodland, close to the river, BMX riders have created numerous dirt ramps which are regularly used during summer months.

Viaduct and railway stations

The imposing 2,280 ft long railway viaduct was built between 1849 and 1851 for the Leeds Northern Railway Company. Its designers were Thomas Grainger and John Bourne. It comprises 7 million bricks and has 43 arches. The original Yarm railway station, now closed, was situated on the Eaglescliffe side of the river at the north end of the viaduct.^{[citation needed]} The current un-manned modern station, opened in 1996, is located to the south of Yarm, off Green Lane.

Location

• Road access: The A67 leading to Durham Tees Valley Airport and Darlington in the north west, the A135 leading to the A66 and Stockton in the north, the B1265 leading to the A167 and Northallerton in the west, the A1044 leading to the A174 and Middlesbrough in the east, the A67 leading to the A19 and Thirsk in the south.
• Rail access: Yarm Station also Eaglescliffe railway station
• Nearest airport: Durham Tees Valley Airport (MME)

Bus services

Arriva North East is the main operator serving Yarm and operate the following services:

Service 7:Yarm Willey Flatts-Eaglescliffe-Stockton Service 12AYarm-Hartburn-Stockton-Teesdale-Middlesbrough Service X6Yarm-Ingleby Barwick-Middlesbrough

WP & M Hutchinson operate one route serving Yarm:

Service 82 Yarm-Hutton Rudby-Stokesley

Leven Valley Coaches is the other operator, running the following services:

Service 507: Yarm-Hilton-Maltby-Thornaby-Stockton Service 551: Willey Flatts-Eaglescliffe-Stockton-Billingham-Low Grange Service 577:Yarm Willey Flatts-Eaglescliffe-Stockton

Events

This section requires expansion.

Many events are held in the town each year such as a fair and a 5 km fun run.

Fair

Yarm Fair 2006

A fair is held in High Street in the third week in October. It starts on the Tuesday evening and lasts until Saturday night. It was once a commercial fair that traded in cheese and livestock, but is now primarily a funfair. Travellers still attend the fair and ride horses up and down the street on the Saturday. The travellers have to wait outside the town until 6:00 pm on the Tuesday, at which point they are allowed to cross the bridge over the River Tees into the town.^{[citation needed]}

Fun run

Yarm has an annual fun run. The 5 km run starts at Conyers School and ends on Snaith's Field. It used to end outside Yarm Parish Church, but this changed some time around 1998.^{[citation needed]} The 2008 Fun Run took place on Sunday the 20th of April.

Charities fair

Yarm and District Lions Club run a charities fair in High Street every year. This mostly takes a market-like approach.

Lighting of the Christmas tree

A ceremony takes place each Advent to light up the town's Christmas tree. Carols are sung to a band and High Street is temporarily closed for the event. It is free to attend the event.

Education

There are three primary schools in the town: Levendale (Single form entry), Yarm Primary (Two form entry), and Layfield School.

Conyers School is a mixed comprehensive school and also has a sixth-form. It was founded in 1590 as "the Free Grammar School" by Thomas Conyers. Following the change to comprehensive education it was renamed to reflect its founder. Conyers is a specialist school for maths and computing.^{[citation needed]}

The town is home to the private Yarm School, the senior school being situated at the Friarage and the preparatory school, pre-prep and nursery at the old Yarm Grammar School. The school was formed some time after the redesignation of the original grammar school. The school had plans to move within the next decade to a site near to their playing fields on Green Lane, south of the town. However, planning permission was not granted by the local council and Yarm School is no longer planning to move, instead choosing to renovate and improve the current site.^{[citation needed]}

Notable people

People associated with the town include John Wesley, founder of Methodism and Tom Brown, hero in the Battle of Dettingen.

It is home to professional footballers such as Middlesbrough and Holland international George Boateng and former Valencia and Spain International Gaizka Mendieta. Former England boss Steve McClaren also regularly visits the town,^[9] as his family home is situated in the neighbouring village of Aislaby. Iron Maiden guitarist Janick Gers lives here. West End playwright and international screenwriter Graham Farrow also lives in Yarm.

Over the years many famous people have visited Yarm. They include Diana, Princess of Wales and Sir John Major. Diana's son, Prince Harry, also visited the town on Tuesday 7 August 2007, while making a week-long army visit to RAF Leeming. He was spotted drinking with friends in the Black Bull pub and later moving onto The Keys nightclub.^[10] Rock band Oasis famously drank in the Black Bull in the mid-1990s.^{[citation needed]}

Twinned towns

Yarm is twinned with two other European towns:

• Schwalbach am Taunus, Germany
• Vernouillet, France

There is also an agreement with Olkusz, in Poland.^[11]

On 2 July 2005, two trees were planted to the north of the town hall to mark the 20th anniversary of the twinning between Yarm and the two towns. The trees were marked with plaques.^{[citation needed]}

Photo gallery

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Yarm

Viaduct seen across the River Tees in 2003

View of Yarm including viaduct

References