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GRG26/5/4 Photographic Portraits of South Australian Soldiers, Sailors and Nurses who took part in World War One
Number 1339 SPURR, Raymond Upton Petro
Engineer Corps/Mining and Tunnelling Companies
Place of birth: Adelaide
Residence: Moorlands
SRSA ref: GRG26/5/4/1339
Moorlands is a settlement that developed around the Moorlands railway siding on the line to Pinnaroo. It was named after the woolshed nearby that belonged to the Moorlands Station.
Moorlands Community Hall erected in 1922–1923 on land donated by Mr Frederick William Jaensch who also laid the foundation stone. Mr Jaensch owned Moorlands Station, an extensive property in the Murray Mallee.
The hall was completely built with voluntary labour: and used for school during the week and church on Sundays.
Public meeting held 24 October 1923 - and decision made to affiliate the hall with the South Australian Institutes Association.
In 1955 hall extended with the addition of supper room.
*Moorlands Sept 5
Last Saturday [2 September] the foundation stone of an Institute was laid by Mr F W Jaensch, senior, in the presence of a large gathering. Several substantial donations were place on the stone, Mr Jaensch being the chief donor.
The building will cost about £500, of which £314 has been gathered. A programme of sport was gone through, followed by a concert in the evening.
The chief performers were the school children, under Miss Ford (teacher), Mrs Spurr, Misses Ford, Mrs Wilmshurst, Mrs H & A A Miatke, Miss Johns, and other.
The takings for the day amounted to about £60. [Ref: Observer 23-9-1922]
*Moorlands August 6
A successful concert was given by the school children on Saturday night. Mr H R Miatke presided.
The children performed under the direction of Miss Ford, the head teacher. About £4 was secured for the school funds. [Ref: Register 8-8-1923]
*Moorlands August 28
The townspeople have for years past been holding entertainments to raise funds for the erection of an institute hall.
At the end of last year sufficient money was in hand to commence building operations.
Mr F W Jaensch generously gave a piece of land near to the railway station. The building has been completed, and is now also used as a school.
Mr A J Spurr is secretary of the institute and Mr H R Miatke is chairman.
It was recently decided that a piano was urgently needed, and fetes and entertainments have been held to raise the money.
A concert was held last Saturday night, and proved highly successful. [Ref: Register 30-8-1923]
*Dance at Moorlands
A most enjoyable dance was held in the Moorlands Institute Hall on Saturday evening. Musical items were rendered by Messrs S Scorgie and P Colgan, and the music for dancing was performed by Messrs Jackson and Wilmshurst.
A delicious supper was arranged by the ladies. [Ref: Register 28-9-1923]
*Moorlands Oct 20
On Saturday, the annual sports meeting was held on grounds lent by Mr F W Jaensch.
A concert was given in the institute hall in the evening. Prizes were distributed. A dance followed: Mrs Johns, Miss Phillips and Messrs Golding, Wilmshurst, Jackson and Davies played. [Ref: Register 26-10-1923]
*Moorlands Oct 25
A ‘busy bee” was held yesterday to build a shelter at the rear of the institute hall.
The work was hindered by showers.
During the dinner hour a public meeting was held to inaugurate the institute, and the following were elected on the committee: Messrs R Miatke (President), A W F Wilmshurst (Vice-President), L Spurr (secretary and treasurer), Mrs H R Miatke, Miss L Ford, Messrs A F Miatke, A B Miatke, and R V Piggott. [Ref: Register 30-10-1923]
Pictured: HMS Albion’s embarked royal Marines from X Coy 45 Cdo RM operating in Estonia in the main amphibious element of Exercise Spring Storm 2023.
Royal Marines conduct beach raid in Estonia during NATO exercise.
Around 100 marines from 45 Commando conducted an exercise to stage an amphibious raid at a beach in Estonia, as part of a major NATO exercise Members of 45 Commando deployed from the Royal Navy amphibious assault ship, HMS Albion, under the cover of darkness on Saturday.
The commandos manoeuvred their Inflatable Raiding Craft, which can travel at speeds of up to 20knots, through the waves to close in on the beach at Kaberneeme, on the north coast of Estonia.
The beach raid is just the latest in a series of planned scenarios the UK Armed Forces are exercising as part of a 14,000-strong deployment from 11 NATO countries for Exercise Spring Storm.
The beach raid scenario saw 45 Commando facing off against Estonia’s Armed Forces, with an Estonian naval missile unit acting as the marines’ target.
Photo: LPhot Bill Spurr
Pictured: HMS Albion’s embarked royal Marines from X Coy 45 Cdo RM operating in Estonia in the main amphibious element of Exercise Spring Storm 2023.
Royal Marines conduct beach raid in Estonia during NATO exercise.
Around 100 marines from 45 Commando conducted an exercise to stage an amphibious raid at a beach in Estonia, as part of a major NATO exercise Members of 45 Commando deployed from the Royal Navy amphibious assault ship, HMS Albion, under the cover of darkness on Saturday.
The commandos manoeuvred their Inflatable Raiding Craft, which can travel at speeds of up to 20knots, through the waves to close in on the beach at Kaberneeme, on the north coast of Estonia.
The beach raid is just the latest in a series of planned scenarios the UK Armed Forces are exercising as part of a 14,000-strong deployment from 11 NATO countries for Exercise Spring Storm.
The beach raid scenario saw 45 Commando facing off against Estonia’s Armed Forces, with an Estonian naval missile unit acting as the marines’ target.
Photo: LPhot Bill Spurr
The Tarn (small lake) is on the roadside from Cockermouth to Lamplugh. It`s extent
is about a dozen acres ; and it is said to occupy the site of the ancient village
of Mockerkin. -
Sir Mochar, the dwarf, was a valiant knight,
And he dwelt in a noble old hall ;
He had forty stout yeomen well arm'd for the fight,
All ready to answer his call.
His hall was a castlet o'er top't by a tower.
Around it a moat wide and deep ;
A drawbridge and gateway evinced his power,
With dungeon below, and strong keep.
A sturdy old knight was Sir Mochar the dwarf.
Both active and self-willed was he ;
Courageous and fierce too as ever donn'd scarf.
Or hung up poor carle on tree.
With features sun-stained, and countenance grim.
His teeth all uneven and yellow ;
His hair and his beard all grizzled — not prim,
Himself a repulsive old fellow.
His shoulders were broad and his frame so strong.
His stature but four feet three ;
His legs were sliort, and his arms were long,
And he sat on his horse like a flea.
The long-handled axe was his favourite brand,
He could chop off a limb like a woodman ;
The stroke of his weapon came easy to hand.
Oh ! he was a fierce — not a good man.
His coal-black charger shone bright as his axe,
And of courage as high as his own ;
A pair so determined could seldom be match'd,
They could daunt nigh to death with their frown.
And all that Sir Mochar the dwarf undertook,
In battle, in foray, or chase ;
It was done in the saddle. His charger black Rook,
With Sir Mochar was still in his place.
The dark deeds of evil were Mochar's delight,
His horse could enjoy them as well ;
Whatever deed crossed the mind of the knight,
By instinct his horse it could tell.
And when he was called to the war by the king,
With his battle axe slung by his side ;
His forty bold yeomen with axe, bow, and sling.
And Rook in the height of his pride.
With the pageant of war so delighted was he,
At the prospect to kill and to slay ;
His heart v/ould beat quick, and he'd chuckle with
glee.
And Rook would like feeling display.
None knew where black Rook was bought, neither yet
where
He was bred, nor his pedigree told ;
Some said and believed he had dropt from the air,
And all wonder'd he did not wax old.
The knight had lost teeth — his hair iron-grey.
And he grew more morose as he ag'd ;
Whatever he said he would never unsay.
Right or wrong if he once it engag'd.
Black Rook shone like jet, and was active and strong.
Without a grey hair on his hide ;
He was swift as the wind, and endured it long,
When his Master appointed to ride.
And when in pursuit of the boar or the deer,
With twenty fierce hounds in full cry.
Black Rook he woald yell and Sir Mochar would cheer.
Their delight in the chase was so high.
No boar, neither deer, could escape the fleet pack,
With Rook and Sir Mochar in chase ;
For Rook never tired with Mochar on back,
And each always kept in his place.
No distance annoy'd them, nor speed cut their wind.
Nor up-hill nor down-hill flagg'd they ;
Nor halted nor swerv'd in the course from the find,
Till boar or stag turned at bay.
And then would Sir Mochar alight from his steed.
With bright hunting blade in his hand ;
And would strike with such nerve that he never had
need,
The stroke to repeat with his brand.
And then the strong Dwarf to Hall Mochar would
wend,
On the saddle before him his prey ;
But how it got there, or who did help lend,
No man but Sir Mochar could say.
Some thought he was wizard enough in himself,
Some thought his horse Rook would lie down;
Till the carcase was slung by the aid of an elf,
Or by strong gust of wind it was blown
To the front of the rider and there placed sure,
And some thought black Rook it could swing
From the ground with his teeth, and make it secure.
As if it were bound with a string.
How^ever 'twas done, it was always done well,
And quickly to homeward they'd veer ;
The huntsmen and yeomen seem'd under a spell.
So far they'd been left in the rear.
He had followers many, but friends he had few.
Neither wife nor yet children had he ;
His men were sent out their ofc search to renew.
Till they brought him fair damsels in — three.
From hearth-stones of comfort these fair ones were
torn.
And consenting or not 'twas the same ;
For he was their thane ; on his lands they were born,
They must go at the sound of his name.
And home they were brought him, as others before,
Unhappy and sorrowful all ;
To 'scape in his absence determined full sore.
Whenever that time should befal.
Aware of his doings in times not remote,
They dread his intentions of harm ;
The sorrow to others he'd formerly wrought.
Was sufficient to cause them alarm.
Of wrong he'd no thought, no compunction had he,
No regrets ever crossed his mind j
That his deeds were of evil he never could see,
Nor thought his base actions unkind.
To his sins quite oblivious ; to errors so blind ;
Unknown to all virtues or grace ;
No enjoyments had he of a praiseworthy kind,
Except in the wars or the chase.
He delighted in rapine, in plunder, in blood,
In revel and riot as well ;
And oft when the larder grew bare to the wood,*
His yeomen to horse would compel.
Then up mounted he, and away went the band.
Determined to harry the North ;
The best sheep or kine they could find on the land,
To homeward they'd hurry them forth.
Enwrapt in goat skins were hard bannocks — (their fare
During forays) and strapt on the back.
And oftentimes meagre and small was their share,
— In meal-ark f at home not a snack.
No eye had Sir Mochar nor yet had his men.
For aught save the plunder in view ;
The beauties of nature were outside the ken
Of both he and his hard-hearted crew.
The small crops of bigg and oats found on their route,
Served their horses for food as they went ;
The owners they thought would not find the thieves out,
Nor look to the reivers for rent.
In one of these raids, so successful were they
In lifting a score of good kine ;
And in getting them safely and quickly away.
Before the day on them did shine
And over the Border, and round Solway moss,
Over which not the boldest durst ride ;
Lest his horse and he sink — irretrievable loss,
As sure as if drowned in the tide.
And over the moors, and through the fierce streams,
Where bridges or roads were not found ;
And through the foul swamp where the wild-fire
gleams,
And o'er many an old battle-ground.
Escaping pursuit to Hall Mochar they wend,
All hungry and tired, man and beast \
Quick orders are issued that first they intend.
To slay and make ready a feast.
The fleshers are summoned the fattest to slay,
Ever ready to come at his call ;
The long oaken table must make its display,
Green rushes must carpet the hall.
Strong ale from the cellars was soon in request,
Sir Mochar ordained it to be;
The maidens were ordered to don in their best,
That night he would spend in high glee.
He'd accomplished his object, replenished his store.
Had harried the fair glen of Nith ;
He spoiled the Scots, whom no goodwill he bore,
To them, or their kin, or their kith.
They had forded the Annan and fierce rolling Esk.
The deep winding Eden they swam ;
They had crossed the Derwent in glen picturesque,
And all came in safely but Sam.
Now, Sam was a henchman, with countenance bright.
Of merry good nature and free ;
Sir Mochar had eyed him at morn and at night,
With jealousy fired was he.
The maidens encaged in that gloomy old hall,
Some innocent smiles would bestow ;
On the well-favoured youth, who was also in thrall,
So Sir Mochar resolved he should go.
Then mounted behind a stout yeoman was he,
And off to the raid he was sent ;
He was neither forewarned of what was to be,
Nor aware of Sir Mochar's intent.
The yeoman had orders — (forgot is his name,)
To unhorse the poor youth in the flood ;
And in crossing the Eden, that river of fame.
With the yeoman 'twas well understood,
That his horse was to curvette, and caper, and rear,
That the youth might be slipt off behind ;
So when the mid stream they had swam to or near,
All the Dwarf said was done to his mind.
For this yeoman got into the midst of the troop,
The cattle all swimming before ;
When his horse 'gan to plunge, and the yeoman to stoop.
As if he would help the lad more.
But he seized the youth's ankle with vigour replete,
And swinging him quickly around ;
Hitched him into the stream, and beneath the horse-feet
He Was kicked, and trampled, and drowned.
Sir Mochar grew merry and so did his men,
And fast flew the gibe and the joke ;
And round went the can and the drinking horn — then
Sir Mochar attention bespoke.
He told of his deeds in the chase and the wars,
Of the numbers he'd struck to the earth ;
He boasted his misdeeds and showed his scars,
Then made them his subjects of mirth.
He told what he had done, and what yet he would do,
When the beeves he had stolen were eat ;
He'd again cross the Border to shew what he could do,
And never would dream of being beat.
He dwelt on his deeds and more boisterous grew,
He thumpt with his fist on the table ;
And swore at his yeomen their horns to renew,
For drinking would no man disable.
And still as he spoke he took time to refresh.
And direct can and horn to go round ;
He'd never be baulked, he swore by all flesh
He'd have all he wished above ground.
And quick went the horn, and fresh orders sent out.
For the maidens to bring in more ale —
Three cans at a time, capacious and stout,
And they to appear without fail.
He had wine in his cellars and brandy from France,
And the maids should all drink of the best ;
They should sing of his deeds, with his yeomen should
If only they came fitly drest.
"So call in the maidens and bring up the wine,"
"And haste ye, I'll brook no delay"
"To revel in freedom let all now incline,"
"Or else, like the dogs, slink away."
"And hark ye, make room for the maidens I say,"
A woodcutter came to report ;
He had seen the three wenches steal softly away,
In the dark, while the rest were at sport.
Then up rose Sir Mochar in fury and rage —
Struck his silver cup flat on the board ;
He cursed the maidens and bann'd the dead page.
And roared in vengeful discord.
Some minutes before and the hall had resounded
With jollity, drunkenness, mirth ;
It now rang with vile imprecations unbounded,
To all which Sir Mochar gave birth.
He shouted — "To horse ye dark villains and ride "
"Take the pack and divide it in three "
"Scour the country at speed, and if the maids hide,''
"Bring them hither. I'll teach them to flee ! "
They saddled their horses, all tired as they were.
And rode on the search in the dark ;
The dogs were unkennelled and snufted the air.
Where the maidens had not left their mark.
They scoured the woods, and they skirted the mire,
They beat round the bush and the tree ;
They durst not delay nor too often enquire.
Though they wished the maidens were free.
Sir Mochar had thoughts that his men might neglect
To do his commands — or allow
The maids to escape ; or in some way protect,
Or show favour he did not know how.
So he mounted black Rook and rode furiously forth,
His axe slung his shoulders behind ;
Determined to ransack east, west, south, and north.
Resolved his maidens to find.
He heard the dogs bay in three separate arts,
As each maiden to homeward was aiming,
And fleeing in terror to different parts,
And aid from above ail were claiming.
The dogs Avere too true, and stuck close to their trail,.
The men were obliged to hark forward ;
For fear their stern master should suddenly hail
In the rear of them, southward or norward.
He did, and o'ertook them in Hodyoad ghyl,
As one man was clutching the victim ;
When up rode Sir Mochar and swore he would kill
Any one who dared thwart or restrict him.
And up went his axe to the stretch of his arm,
And down quick as thought on the maid ;
Her blood spirted up in his face, red and warm.
And a corse she was instantly laid.
A grey-headed man looked up at Sir Mochar,
And said, " Sir, you'll rue this when sober,"
He then in his arms attempted to lock her,
When Mochar, as sure as October,
Laid him dead at his feet. The maid was his daughter,
And both in grim death were now laid ;
The father had hopes if he join'd them and sought her,
He might save her from harm — so he prayed.
Sir Mochar enraged at himself for this deed,
Made Lamplugh echo his dread curses ;
He vow'd lie would save the fled twain if the speed
Of black Rook would but make him their nurses.
So homeward he rode in his fury ; a hound
Was again fiercely laid on the scent ;
The trail of the hunt the dog readily found,
He furiously following, went.
Crossing Black-beck with speed — over Pardshaw-crag
Heard the dogs in the dark keenly cry ; [dash'd —
Through the edge of MossRinghe flounder'd and splash'd,
Then found the ^Miite Causeway's path dry.
Then onward he hurried to Eaglesfield crag,
But there he arriv'd too late \
For the ban-dogs had seized the maiden, to drag
Her down to the earth to her fate.
And just as Sir Mochar rode up to the scene,
Her short dying shriek rent the air ;
The dogs had her throttled, with savageness keen,
Before he could bid them beware.
One moment he looked at his dogs as they tore
At the throat of the victim, her hair
Was unloosed and lay spreading and drinking her gore,
As it reeked from the throat of the fair.
Then up went his axe and with unfailing stroke
He clave a dog's skull — 'twas his best ;
He mangled and mauled some others, and broke
The ribs and the backs of the rest.
And there they lay howling and writhing in pain,
And rolling the victim upon ;
While he 'gan to curse and to blaspheme again,
For success on that night he had none.
He turned black Rook to homeward once more,
And bitterly spmTcd his flanks ;
Rook bounded and snorted, and swiftly he bore
Sir Mochar to other vile pranks.
Rook swift and untiring, soon brought him to home,
Where he learn'd the course of the third
Of his maidens, whose aim to the east was to roam,
And to flee his foul house like a bird.
To the eastward he followed in bitter remorse,
The fugitive hoping to save ;
But four of his yeomen approach'd with the corse
Of the maid from a watery grave.
She had heard the deep bay of the dogs on her track,
And she fled in all haste in the dark ;
The briers and thorns tore her dress from her back.
And on her fair skin left their mark.
Towards Loweswater lake she fled bleeding and sore.
Rushing fast down the hill in her fear ;
The dogs close behind when she stept on the shore —
The horsemen alarmingly near.
She stood for a moment — turned round on her foes —
Gave a shriek that echoed o'er the lake ;
Then headlong she plunged — brought her life to aclose,
And baulk'd the fell hounds of their take.
For a moment he thought o'er the ills of that day.
And the evils befaUing the night ;
And saw that in all he had made the chief play,
And that all had been done by his might.
Disappointed he swore that none of their kin,
Or his yeomen, should ever again
Break bread or tak^ shelter, his castle within,
While it on the earth should remain.
Now frantic with rage he spurr'd home with a will,
And finding his warder asleep ;
Blaspheming he swore every man he would kill,
If his castle sank twenty miles deep.
No sooner he said than a terrific peal
Of thunder the foundations shook ;
The lightnings gleam'd, and the turrets did reel,
And the knight and his steed black Rook,
With castle and all sank fearfully deep,
The waters rush'd up and around ;
And closed above them and laid them to sleep —
No more were they seen on the ground.
Thus perish'd Sir Mochar the dwarf in his sins —
A forfeit his lands to the crown ;
And thence the possession of Multon begins.
And Percies of ancient renown.
The stones of the tower may still be discerned,
When the tarn is tranquil and clear ;
About twenty feet deep, by those who are learned.
And have eyes of the wizard or seer.
On Michaelmas night if the stars are not brigiU,
Nor the mist on the water too dense —
No matter how windy or stormy that night
If th' observer possess a due sense
Of the power of his sight, and put faith in it all,
He may catch a mysterious sight
Of a something slow-floating, emerge from the tall
Reeds and rushes, jnore dark than the night.
And slowly and softly the tarn three times
So quietly voyaging round ;
And then with a sough of the wind's soft chimes.
Disappear with a lurch and a bound.
This phantom is thought to resemble black Rook,
On Avhom his grim master bestrides 3
And all may pronounce, who on it may look,
It's like nought in this world besides.
On fine Sunday mornings in summer they say.
Church bells may be heard ringing clear ;
By all who believe in this legend and lay.
And the sound always thrills them with fear.
And those whom the sins of Sir Mochar dragg'd down
(Who not of his sinning partook ;)
Wear each a white robe and a golden crown,
With a bishop's pastoral crook.
They dwell in a palace of crystal below,
Of hundreds of fathoms so deep ;
And this is the whole that we mortals may know
Till we rise from our last long sleep.
Pictured: HMS Albion’s embarked royal Marines from X Coy 45 Cdo RM operating in Estonia in the main amphibious element of Exercise Spring Storm 2023.
Royal Marines conduct beach raid in Estonia during NATO exercise.
Around 100 marines from 45 Commando conducted an exercise to stage an amphibious raid at a beach in Estonia, as part of a major NATO exercise Members of 45 Commando deployed from the Royal Navy amphibious assault ship, HMS Albion, under the cover of darkness on Saturday.
The commandos manoeuvred their Inflatable Raiding Craft, which can travel at speeds of up to 20knots, through the waves to close in on the beach at Kaberneeme, on the north coast of Estonia.
The beach raid is just the latest in a series of planned scenarios the UK Armed Forces are exercising as part of a 14,000-strong deployment from 11 NATO countries for Exercise Spring Storm.
The beach raid scenario saw 45 Commando facing off against Estonia’s Armed Forces, with an Estonian naval missile unit acting as the marines’ target.
Photo: LPhot Bill Spurr
Pictured: HMS Albion’s embarked royal Marines from X Coy 45 Cdo RM operating in Estonia in the main amphibious element of Exercise Spring Storm 2023.
Royal Marines conduct beach raid in Estonia during NATO exercise.
Around 100 marines from 45 Commando conducted an exercise to stage an amphibious raid at a beach in Estonia, as part of a major NATO exercise Members of 45 Commando deployed from the Royal Navy amphibious assault ship, HMS Albion, under the cover of darkness on Saturday.
The commandos manoeuvred their Inflatable Raiding Craft, which can travel at speeds of up to 20knots, through the waves to close in on the beach at Kaberneeme, on the north coast of Estonia.
The beach raid is just the latest in a series of planned scenarios the UK Armed Forces are exercising as part of a 14,000-strong deployment from 11 NATO countries for Exercise Spring Storm.
The beach raid scenario saw 45 Commando facing off against Estonia’s Armed Forces, with an Estonian naval missile unit acting as the marines’ target.
Photo: LPhot Bill Spurr
In contrast to the line beyond Nestoria across the Huron Mountains much of the old DSS&A east of Nestoria is a water level route. Here between Michigamme and Three Lakes the track runs along the Spurr River. The track is close enough that nearby in the days of steam a DSS&A passenger train jumped the track and ended up in the river with fatal results to some of the crew. May 26, 2015.
Cabinet Card by Ervin Willard Spurr circa 1888. He went from Decorah south to Waterloo, Iowa in 1905 and on to Pasadena, California in about 1920 where his now famous Hollywood photographer son Melbourne Spurr lived.
.
Unidentified sitters but certainly from Decorah
French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 77. Photo: Melbourne Spurr.
Pauline Frederick (1883-1938) was an American theatre and film actress. Frederick made a name for herself in the theatre and had already passed thirty when she became successful in Hollywood. In the period of the silent pictures she was one of the most powerful actresses in the film industry.
A glimpse behind the scenes of The Lyceum's 2019 Christmas production.
28 November 2019 - 4 January 2020
It's Christmas Carol with Edinburgh at its heart. City folklore tells us that when Charles Dickens was visiting Auld Reekie on a reading tour, a stroll through Congate kirkyard brought him to the tombstone of a gentleman by the name of Ebenezer Scroggie, and just like that Dickens' had the name for his infamously cantankerous inspiration struck and A Christmas Carol was born.
Writer and director Tony Cownie (The Venetian Twins, The Belle’s Stratagem) brings this famous festive story back to the city of its birth with a guest appearance from Edinburgh’s best loved Victorian – Greyfriars Bobby!
CAST in alphabetical order
Saskia Ashdown Mrs Thomson/ Bobby/ Fan
Ewan Donald Rab Crachit/ Rev Rednose/ Headmaster/ Auld Jock
Edie Edmundson (puppeteer) Tiny Tim/ Bobby
Belle Jones Mrs Cratchit/ Mrs Fezziwig/ Lottie Longbones
Crawford Logan Ebenezer Scrooge
Steven McNicoll Fezziwig/ Old Fergus/ Nouadays/ Collector
Taqi Nazeer Fred/ Ayont
Grant O'Rourke Charlie/ Jacob Marley/ Young Marley/ Policeman/ Businessman 2
Brian James O'Sullivan Young Ebeneezer Scrooge/ Dog catcher/ Firewood Man/ Businessman 1
Nicola Roy Mrs Busybody/ Mrs Bigchin/ Belle/ Rose
Eva Traynor Emma/ Mary Crachit/ Lang Syne
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer/ Director Tony Cownie
Designer Neil Murray
Lighting Designer Zoe Spurr
Sound Designer Pippa Murphy
Associate Director Becky Hope-Palmer
Movement Director Kally Lloyd-Jones
Puppet Director Edie Edmundson
Choir Mistress Louise Martin
Puppet Maker Simon Auton
Photography by Aly Wight
A panorama of Cook Inlet ... those distant mountains, the Alaska Range, are so high they never lose their snow, and are, indeed, a very long way off ... the framing of the shot is correct and level, it's just the receding angle of the island that makes the photo look cock-eyed ...
(Best viewed in large format)
1. Large ovoid vase with bamboo design. Hamada Shōji. Japan, 1894-1978.
Shōwa period (1926-89)
ca. 1930-50.
Stoneware with iron glaze and wax resist.
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Stephenn H. Spurr, 2003/2.16
2. Rectangular bottle with drip glaze pattern. Hamada Shōji.
Shōwa period (1926-89)
ca. 1967
Stoneware with iron and white glazes.
Gift of Dr. Shōji Hamada, 1967/2.10
University of Michigan Museum of Art.
November 22, 2020.
IMG_7761 WM
Okies, so I'm not going to connect this particular picture to my blog, it was more of a spurr of the moment boredom fixer...
In the picture:
Hair: Dive at: Analog Dog
Skin: :N:* A urora. 01/05/ - at Novita
Eyes: Hand drawn in
Facial Tattoo: Pois moderno at La Malvada Mujer
Tear Streaks: Hand drawn in
Necklace: (Modified) Collar me at Sisi
Facial Piercings: Prime Piercing at Twee
Body Piercings: Self-made
Top: Part of the corset at The Abyss.
Total spurr of the moment, motivated by the spurs of boredom in suburbia more than likely. Gina just called me up and told me she needed a different look
Peter Hillier, Karen Eilbmeier and Michael Spurr from the Canada Department of National Defence were on hand to commemorate the reopening of the P-3 wing line at Marietta, Georgia on March 4, 2015. More: lmt.co/1DQEBdx
Full album in free download here archive.org/details/Dawn_of_the_Damned_Gabriel_Pereira_Sp...
Also in handcrafted audio tapes limited edition here yoshiwaku.bandcamp.com/album/dawn-of-the-damned
There are few places I love like the crumbling Round Hill Cemetery. Despite many hundreds of burials, I've never encountered another visitor by chance. It's out along Highway 201, beyond an entrance easily missed, at the core of a community significantly smaller than its heyday. Just a collection of homes here, no shops or restaurants, and no churches since St. Paul's was demolished. A little community hall hosts some social life. I'm not drawn by civilization, never so much as the feeling of having the past and present to myself. Kicking around three bridges over Round Hill River, walking to the peninsula, crossing the old railway span, or hanging under the highway where most cars pass on through. Climbing the rolling slopes that give this community its name, up here with the dead or at the big rise by Spurr Road. Round Hill is near to a dream of a place, holding my heart through the gnarled tree history, the yellow-green exposure of a winter on pause. Taking it easy on me till white comes back.
January 11, 2025
Round Hill, Nova Scotia
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Pictured: HMS Albion’s embarked royal Marines from X Coy 45 Cdo RM operating in Estonia in the main amphibious element of Exercise Spring Storm 2023.
Royal Marines conduct beach raid in Estonia during NATO exercise.
Around 100 marines from 45 Commando conducted an exercise to stage an amphibious raid at a beach in Estonia, as part of a major NATO exercise Members of 45 Commando deployed from the Royal Navy amphibious assault ship, HMS Albion, under the cover of darkness on Saturday.
The commandos manoeuvred their Inflatable Raiding Craft, which can travel at speeds of up to 20knots, through the waves to close in on the beach at Kaberneeme, on the north coast of Estonia.
The beach raid is just the latest in a series of planned scenarios the UK Armed Forces are exercising as part of a 14,000-strong deployment from 11 NATO countries for Exercise Spring Storm.
The beach raid scenario saw 45 Commando facing off against Estonia’s Armed Forces, with an Estonian naval missile unit acting as the marines’ target.
Photo: LPhot Bill Spurr
Pictured: HMS Albion’s embarked royal Marines from X Coy 45 Cdo RM operating in Estonia in the main amphibious element of Exercise Spring Storm 2023.
Royal Marines conduct beach raid in Estonia during NATO exercise.
Around 100 marines from 45 Commando conducted an exercise to stage an amphibious raid at a beach in Estonia, as part of a major NATO exercise Members of 45 Commando deployed from the Royal Navy amphibious assault ship, HMS Albion, under the cover of darkness on Saturday.
The commandos manoeuvred their Inflatable Raiding Craft, which can travel at speeds of up to 20knots, through the waves to close in on the beach at Kaberneeme, on the north coast of Estonia.
The beach raid is just the latest in a series of planned scenarios the UK Armed Forces are exercising as part of a 14,000-strong deployment from 11 NATO countries for Exercise Spring Storm.
The beach raid scenario saw 45 Commando facing off against Estonia’s Armed Forces, with an Estonian naval missile unit acting as the marines’ target.
Photo: LPhot Bill Spurr
My plate of food showcasing the vegetarian selection at the barbecue we had on my granddad's 84th birthday.
Taken on a Praktica MTL 3
Pictured: HMS Albion’s embarked royal Marines from X Coy 45 Cdo RM operating in Estonia in the main amphibious element of Exercise Spring Storm 2023.
Royal Marines conduct beach raid in Estonia during NATO exercise.
Around 100 marines from 45 Commando conducted an exercise to stage an amphibious raid at a beach in Estonia, as part of a major NATO exercise Members of 45 Commando deployed from the Royal Navy amphibious assault ship, HMS Albion, under the cover of darkness on Saturday.
The commandos manoeuvred their Inflatable Raiding Craft, which can travel at speeds of up to 20knots, through the waves to close in on the beach at Kaberneeme, on the north coast of Estonia.
The beach raid is just the latest in a series of planned scenarios the UK Armed Forces are exercising as part of a 14,000-strong deployment from 11 NATO countries for Exercise Spring Storm.
The beach raid scenario saw 45 Commando facing off against Estonia’s Armed Forces, with an Estonian naval missile unit acting as the marines’ target.
Photo: LPhot Bill Spurr
Pictured: HMS Albion’s embarked royal Marines from X Coy 45 Cdo RM operating in Estonia in the main amphibious element of Exercise Spring Storm 2023.
Royal Marines conduct beach raid in Estonia during NATO exercise.
Around 100 marines from 45 Commando conducted an exercise to stage an amphibious raid at a beach in Estonia, as part of a major NATO exercise Members of 45 Commando deployed from the Royal Navy amphibious assault ship, HMS Albion, under the cover of darkness on Saturday.
The commandos manoeuvred their Inflatable Raiding Craft, which can travel at speeds of up to 20knots, through the waves to close in on the beach at Kaberneeme, on the north coast of Estonia.
The beach raid is just the latest in a series of planned scenarios the UK Armed Forces are exercising as part of a 14,000-strong deployment from 11 NATO countries for Exercise Spring Storm.
The beach raid scenario saw 45 Commando facing off against Estonia’s Armed Forces, with an Estonian naval missile unit acting as the marines’ target.
Photo: LPhot Bill Spurr
The first claim in the area was made in 1872 by two men named William "Billy" Spurr and James Bryant and called the Forest Queen. However, Spurr recorded the claim in his own name, but never worked it. The following year, James Bryant returned to the area with several other men and began looking in the area for other potential claims.
During this excursion, a silver outcropping was found that was called the Trapper Lode. After staking their claim in Bannack, Montana, the men began to work the mine taking the both silver and lead out by pack train and wagons to be loaded at the railroad at Corinne, Utah and sent to Denver for smelting.
Pictured: HMS Albion’s embarked royal Marines from X Coy 45 Cdo RM operating in Estonia in the main amphibious element of Exercise Spring Storm 2023.
Royal Marines conduct beach raid in Estonia during NATO exercise.
Around 100 marines from 45 Commando conducted an exercise to stage an amphibious raid at a beach in Estonia, as part of a major NATO exercise Members of 45 Commando deployed from the Royal Navy amphibious assault ship, HMS Albion, under the cover of darkness on Saturday.
The commandos manoeuvred their Inflatable Raiding Craft, which can travel at speeds of up to 20knots, through the waves to close in on the beach at Kaberneeme, on the north coast of Estonia.
The beach raid is just the latest in a series of planned scenarios the UK Armed Forces are exercising as part of a 14,000-strong deployment from 11 NATO countries for Exercise Spring Storm.
The beach raid scenario saw 45 Commando facing off against Estonia’s Armed Forces, with an Estonian naval missile unit acting as the marines’ target.
Photo: LPhot Bill Spurr
The parish church of St Mary and St Cuthbert is a Church of England church in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, England. The site has been used for worship for over 1100 years; elements of the current building are over 950 years old. The oldest surviving translation of the Gospels into English was done here, by Aldred between 947 and 968, at a time when it served as the centre of Christianity from Lothian to Teesside.
The church was established to house the body of Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, Bishop of Lindisfarne from 684 to 687. After his death he became one of the most venerated saints of the time, with a significant cultus and the Venerable Bede writing both a verse and prose biography of him. So when driven out of Lindisfarne by Viking raids in 875 the monks took St Cuthbert's coffin along with other valuable items. They wandered for seven years before eventually settling at Chester-le-Street (then called Cunecaster or Conceastre), at the site of the old Roman fort of Concangis, in 883, on land granted to them by Guthred.
They built a wooden church and shrine for St Cuthbert's relics, dedicating it to St Mary and St Cuthbert. Though there was no shortage of stone in the ruins of Concangis they did not build a stone church; it has been suggested they did not intend to stay for as long as they eventually did. It was built within the Roman fort, which although abandoned over five hundred years before may have still offered some protection, as well as access north and south along Cade's Road and to the sea by the River Wear.
This was also a cathedral as it contained the seat of the bishop, for the diocese (sometimes known as Lindisfarne and sometimes as Cuncacestre the Latin name for Chester-le-Street) stretching between the boundaries of Danelaw at Teesside in the south, of Alba at Lothian in the north and the Irish sea in the west. The bishop's authority was confirmed by Alfred the Great, and for the next 112 years the community was based here, visited by kings Æthelstan and Edmund, who both left gifts for the community, to add to the treasures brought from Lindisfarne.
Most notable among their treasures were the Lindisfarne Gospels, created in Lindisfarne around 715. While here they were translated from Latin into English, sometime between 947 and 968, by Aldred writing a gloss in Old English above the text, making them the oldest surviving English translation of the Gospels. The Gospels and St Cuthbert's coffin were here until 995, when renewed Viking raids drove the monks out, to Ripon before returning to the more easily defended Durham, where they eventually built a stone cathedral around St Cuthbert's remains. The wooden church remained in place until replaced by a stone church in the mid 11th century.
The oldest parts of the building that can be dated, to 1056 when a stone church was built to replace the wooden shrine to St Cuthbert, are the walls of the chancel and the two largest pillars now near the centre of the nave. The church then would have been a third shorter and much narrower, as wide as the chancel today. Lewis holes visible in two stones on a front buttress show that Roman stone was used in later construction.
The church was extended around 1267 with the nave, the lower part of the tower and east wall with sedilia all dating from this time. In 1286 it was made a collegiate church, with a dean, seven canons, five chaplains and three deacons, supported by tithes from extensive endowments throughout a large parish. Around 1383 an anchorage was added in one corner of the church, to be used by six (male) anchorites until 1547, when it was extended. It is now the Ankers House Museum. A 158 feet (48 m) spire and belfry and three bells were added in 1409, one of which is still in use.
The collegiate church was dissolved during the Reformation and the church became a parish church with reduced wealth and influence. In subsequent years much of the money for building came from donations, with those of the Lumley and Lambton families particularly notable. John Lumley contributed a set of family effigies that now lie along the north wall in 1595. A new south porch was added in 1742, while in 1829 a Lambton family pew by Ignatius Bonomi was added above a new vault (which once held the remains of John Lambton) with an external staircase.
In 1862 major restorations were undertaken, and the church became a rectory with the installation of an organ in 1865, later restored by Harrison & Harrison. To celebrate the church's millennium a screen was installed in 1883, along with other alterations. In 1927 a reredos, panelling and a bishop's throne by Sir Charles Nicholson and three panels, Journey of St Cuthbert's body, by his brother Archibald Keightley Nicholson were added. The church became a Grade I listed building in 1950, and doors were added to the South Porch in 1964.
Bishops
Eardulf (883-900)
Cutheard (900-915)
Tilred (915-928)
Wigred
Utchred
Sexhelm (947)
Aldred
Elfsig
Aldune
Deans
Mervin
Waleran
Iolanus
Robert
Waleran
Robert le Bursar
Walter de Clifford
Magister Alan de Esingwalde
Rectors
William de Marclan
Roger de Gillyng
John de Sculthorpe
John de Kyngeston
John de Derby
Thomas de Hexham
John de Ashbourn
John de Newton
John Bawdwyn
John Balswell
Robert Chamber
Thomas Keye
Richard Layton
William Warren
Perpetual Curates
George Brome
William Massey
Bryan Adamson
Thomas Lyddall
Robert Willis
Robert Hunter
William Hume
Edmund Browne
Nicholas Conyers
Nathaniel Chilton
William Lambe
Francis Milbanke
Lewis Powell
John Nelson
William Nesfield (1789-1828)
Thomas Hyde Ripley (1828-1865)
Robert Kirwood (1865-1872)
Canon William Octavius Blunt (1872-1895)
Alrued Bayford de Moleyns (1895-1919)
Canon Frank Hilton Jackson (1919-1936)
Hubert Seed Wilkinson (1936-1940)
Canon Charles Reginald Appleton (1940-1958)
Anthony Spurr (1959-1971)
Patrick Allen Blair (1971-1977)
Ian Bunting (1978-1987)
Burials
John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham
Ralph de Lumley, 1st Baron Lumley
The Lumley effigies are reflected upon in Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poetical illustration The Aisle of Tombs to an engraving of a painting by Thomas Allom in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1836: 'All their meaner part hath perished, In the earth at rest; And the present hour hath cherished What of them was best.'
In 1883 the thousandth anniversary of the founding of the church was celebrated, from 18 July to 5 August. To mark the occasion the church was given a major facelift, with some new oak stalls and an oak screen for the chancel, a new dossal and other hangings from designs by C. E. Kempe, a new pulpit given by the Earl of Scarbrough, a new marble pavement and other improvements, many of them provided as gifts for the occasion. Many other events took place over the festival, and a book was published to mark the church's first thousand years. The Bishop of Durham, J. B. Lightfoot attended and took part in the celebrations, including holding a service for the dedication of the new bells.
The belfry at the church dates back over 600 years and originally housed three bells. A new ring of six was cast by John Taylor & Co of Loughborough in 1883; two of the original bells were melted down and the metal included in the new ring. In 1908 two further bells (again by Taylor's) were added to the front of the ring to give eight, hung for change ringing. One of the original bells from 1409 still survives as an "odd ninth" and is used as a service bell: it is recognised as having national historic importance. The bells are used before services on Sundays, with practice on Friday evenings.
Lindisfarne Gospels
A single page of illuminated manuscript in Latin.
Opening page the Gospel of Matthew from the Lindisfarne Gospels.
The Lindisfarne Gospels were kept at Durham until 1539, when during the Dissolution of the Monasteries St Cuthbert's shrine there was looted and they were taken to London. Today they are kept at the British Library, but a facsimile copy is kept at the church and can be viewed when the church is open.
Attached to the church is the former anchorage, one of the few surviving to this day and described as the most complete example of its kind in England. It was created by blocking off one corner of a church in the late 14th century, with an extra room added externally in the 16th century. Originally it was on two levels, but the floor was removed at some point to allow more space and light. From 1383 to 1547 it was occupied by six anchorites, each being walled in to the anchorage for life, able to watch services through a squint into the church which looks down onto a side altar, being fed through another slit to the outside.
It was used in this way until the reformation. The anchorage then became a place sporadically occupied by the poor or members of the church. In 1986 it became the Ankers House Museum, one of the smallest museums in the UK. It shows the conditions that an anchorite lived in when it was occupied, as well as containing Roman, Anglo-Saxon and medieval items found on the site.
Chester-le-Street is a market town in the County Durham district, in the ceremonial county of Durham, England. It is located around 6 miles (10 kilometres) north of Durham and is also close to Newcastle upon Tyne. The town holds markets on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. In 2011, it had a population of 24,227.
The town's history is ancient; records date to a Roman-built fort called Concangis. The Roman fort is the Chester (from the Latin castra) of the town's name; the Street refers to the paved Roman road that ran north–south through the town, now the route called Front Street. The parish church of St Mary and St Cuthbert is where the body of Anglo-Saxon St Cuthbert remained for 112 years before being transferred to Durham Cathedral and site of the first Gospels translation into English, Aldred writing the Old English gloss between the lines of the Lindisfarne Gospels there.
The Romans founded a fort named Concangis or Concagium, which was a Latinisation of the original Celtic name for the area, which also gave name to the waterway through the town, Cong Burn. The precise name is uncertain as it does not appear in Roman records, but Concangis is the name most cited today. Although a meaning "Place of the horse people" has been given, scholarly authorities consider the meaning of the name obscure.
Old English forms of the name include Cuneceastra and Conceastre, which takes its first two syllables from the Roman name, with the addition of the Old English word ceaster 'Roman fortification' The Universal etymological English dictionary of 1749 gives the town as Chester upon Street (and describes it as "a Village in the Bishoprick of Durham"). At some point this was shortened to the modern form.
There is evidence of Iron Age use of the River Wear near the town, but the history of Chester-le-Street starts with the Roman fort of Concangis. This was built alongside the Roman road Cade's Road (now Front Street) and close to the River Wear, around 100 A.D., and was occupied until the Romans left Britain in 410 A.D. At the time, the Wear was navigable to at least Concangis and may also have provided food for the garrisons stationed there.
After the Romans left, there is no record of who lived there (apart from some wounded soldiers from wars who had to live there), until 883 when a group of monks, driven out of Lindisfarne seven years earlier, stopped there to build a wooden shrine and church to St Cuthbert, whose body they had borne with them. While they were there, the town was the centre of Christianity for much of the north-east because it was the seat of the Bishop of Lindisfarne, making the church a cathedral. There the monks translated into English the Lindisfarne Gospels, which they had brought with them. They stayed for 112 years, leaving in 995 for the safer and more permanent home at Durham. The title has been revived as the Roman Catholic titular see of Cuncacestre.
The church was rebuilt in stone in 1054 and, despite the loss of its bishopric, seems to have retained a degree of wealth and influence. In 1080, most of the huts in the town were burned and many people killed in retaliation for the death of William Walcher, the first prince-bishop, at the hands of an English mob. After this devastation wrought by the Normans the region was left out of the Domesday Book of 1086; there was little left to record and the region was by then being run from Durham by the prince-bishops, so held little interest for London.
Cade's Road did not fall out of use but was hidden beneath later roads which became the Great North Road, the main route from London and the south to Newcastle and Edinburgh. The town's location on the road played a significant role in its development, as well as its name, as inns sprang up to cater for the travelling trade: both riders and horses needed to rest on journeys usually taking days to complete. This trade reached a peak in the early 19th century as more and more people and new mail services were carried by stagecoach, before falling off with the coming of the railways. The town was bypassed when the A167 was routed around the town and this was later supplanted by the faster A1(M).
The coal industry also left its mark on the town. From the late 17th century onwards, coal was dug in increasing quantities in the region. Mining was centred around the rivers, for transportation by sea to other parts of the country, and Chester-le-Street was at the centre of the coal being dug and shipped away down the Wear, so a centre of coal related communication and commerce. At the same time, the growth of the mines and the influx of miners supported local businesses, not just the many inns but new shops and services, themselves bringing in more people to work in them. These people would later work in new industries established in the town to take advantage of its good communications and access to raw materials.
One of the most tragic episodes in the town's history and that of the coal industry in NE England occurred during a miners' strike during the winter of 1811/12. Collieries owned by the Dean and Chapter of Durham Cathedral were brought to a standstill by the strike, causing much hardship amongst the people of the town. The strike was broken on New Year's Day, 1 January 1812, when the Bishop of Durham, Shute Barrington, sent a detachment of troops from Durham Castle to force a return to work. It is thought that this uncharacteristic act by Barrington was due to pressure from the national government in Westminster who were concerned that the strike was affecting industrial output of essential armaments for the Napoleonic Wars.
On the evening of 5 October 1936, the Jarrow Marchers stopped at the town centre after their first day's walk. The church hall was used to house them before they continued onward the following day.
From 1894 until 2009, local government districts were governed from the town. From 1894 to 1974, it had a rural district, which covered the town and outlying villages. In 1909, the inner rural district formed an urban district, which covered the town as it was at that time.
By 1974, the town expanded out of the urban district, during that year's reforms the urban and rural districts, as well as other areas formed a non-metropolitan district. It was abolished in 2009 reforms when the non-metropolitan county became a unitary authority.
The town has a mild climate and gets well below average rainfall relative to the UK. It does though experience occasional floods. To the east of the town lies the Riverside cricket ground and Riverside Park. They were built on the flood plains of the River Wear, and are often flooded when the river bursts its banks. The town centre is subject to occasional flash flooding, usually after very heavy rain over the town and surrounding areas, if the rain falls too quickly for it to be drained away by Cong Burn. The flooding occurs at the bottom of Front Street where the Cong Burn passes under the street, after it was enclosed in concrete in 1932.
Chester-le-Street's landmarks
A brick-red, elliptically curved arch, twice as wide as it is high, over an open area with a brick-red surface
Front of a three-storey building, six windows across, with a large-framed wood door at ground level and a painted sign with the words "THE QUEENS HEAD"
Square castle with square tower
A large railway viaduct made from red bricks, topped by railings and electric pylons
The general Post Office, the marketplace with the former Civic Heart sculpture (now demolished), the Queens Head Hotel on Front Street, Lumley Castle and Chester Burn viaduct
John Leland described Chester-le-Street in the 1530s as "Chiefly one main street of very mean building in height.", a sentiment echoed by Daniel Defoe.
The viaduct to the northwest of the town centre was completed in 1868 for the North Eastern Railway, to enable trains to travel at high speed on a more direct route between Newcastle and Durham. It is over 230m long with 11 arches, now spanning a road and supermarket car-park, and is a Grade II listed structure.
Lumley Castle was built in 1389. It is on the eastern bank of the River Wear and overlooks the town and the Riverside Park.
The Queens Head Hotel is located in the central area of the Front Street. It was built over 250 years ago when Front Street formed part of the main route from Edinburgh and Newcastle to London and the south of England. A Grade II listed building, it is set back from the street and is still one of the largest buildings in the town centre.
Chester-le-Street Post Office at 137 Front Street is in Art Deco style and replaced a smaller building located on the corner of Relton Terrace and Ivanhoe Terrace. It opened in 1936 and is unusual in that it is one of a handful[30] of post offices that display the royal cypher from the brief reign of Edward VIII.
Main article: St Mary and St Cuthbert, Chester-le-Street
St Mary and St Cuthbert church possesses a rare surviving anchorage, one of the best-preserved in the country. It was built for an anchorite, an extreme form of hermit. His or her walled-up cell had only a slit to observe the altar and an opening for food, while outside was an open grave for when the occupant died. It was occupied by six anchorites from 1383 to c. 1538, and is now a museum known as the Anker's House. The north aisle is occupied by a line of Lumley family effigies, only five genuine, assembled circa 1590. Some have been chopped off to fit and resemble a casualty station at Agincourt, according to Sir Simon Jenkins in his England's Thousand Best Churches. This and Lumley Castle are Chester-le-Street's only Grade I listed buildings.
The Bethel United Reformed church on Low Chare
The small United Reformed Church on Low Chare, just off the main Front Street, was built in 1814 as the Bethel Congregational Chapel and remodelled in 1860. It is still in use and is a Grade II listed building.
The Riverside Ground, known for sponsorship reasons as the Seat Unique Riverside, is home to Durham County Cricket Club which became a first class county in 1992. Since 1999, the ground has hosted many international fixtures, usually involving the England cricket team. The ground was also host to two fixtures at the 1999 Cricket World Cup, and three fixtures at the 2019 Cricket World Cup. The town also has its own cricket club, Chester-le-Street Cricket Club based at the Ropery Lane ground. They are the current Champions of the North East Premier League, won the national ECB 45 over tournament in 2009 and reached the quarter-final of the national 20/20 club championship in 2009.
Chester-le-Street Amateur Rowing Club is based on the River Wear near the Riverside cricket ground and has been there for over 100 years. During the summer months the club operate mainly on the river, but in the winter move to indoor sessions during the evenings and use the river at weekends.
The club has over 160 members of which 90 are junior members, with numbers increasing annually. The club are well thought of by British Rowing as a lead club for junior development with many juniors now competing at GB level, and some competing for GB at international events.
Medieval football was once played in the town. The game was played annually on Shrove Tuesday between the "Upstreeters" and "Downstreeters". Play started at 1 pm and finished at 6 pm. To start the game, the ball was thrown from a window in the centre of the town and in one game more than 400 players took part. The centre of the street was the dividing line and the winner was the side where the ball was (Up or Down) at 6 pm. It was played from the Middle Ages until 1932, when it was outlawed by the police and people trying to carry on the tradition were arrested. Chester-le-Street United F.C. were founded in 2020 and compete in the Northern Football League Division Two. In the 2022/23 season they finished above their local rivals Chester-le-Street Town F.C. who were founded in 1972 and compete in the Northern Football League Division Two and based just outside Chester-le-street in Chester Moor.
Chester-le-Street railway station is a stop on the East Coast Main Line of the National Rail network between Newcastle and Durham; it opened in 1868. The station is served by two train operating companies:
TransPennine Express provides services between Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Piccadilly, Leeds, York, Durham and Newcastle;
Northern Trains runs a limited service in early mornings and evenings; destinations include Newcastle, Carlisle and Darlington.
The station is managed by Northern Trains.
The town is mentioned in the 1963 song "Slow Train" by Flanders and Swann:
No churns, no porter, no cat on a seat,
At Chorlton-cum-Hardy or Chester-le-Street.
Chester-le-Street's bus services are operated primarily by Go North East and Arriva North East; routes connect the town with Newcastle, Durham, Middlesbrough and Seaham.
The town is the original home of The Northern General Transport Company, which has since grown into Go North East; it operated from the Picktree Lane Depot until 2023 when it was demolished. It also pioneered the use of Minilink bus services in the North East in 1985.
Front Street first carried the A1 road, between London and Edinburgh, through the town. A bypass was built in the 1950s, which still exists today as the A167. The bypass road itself was partly bypassed by, and partly incorporated in, the A1(M) motorway in the 1970s.
The northern end of Front Street was once the start of the A6127, which is the road that would continue through Birtley, Gateshead and eventually over the Tyne Bridge; it become the A6127(M) central motorway in Newcastle upon Tyne. However, when the Gateshead-Newcastle Western Bypass of the A1(M) was opened, many roads in this area were renumbered; they followed the convention that roads originating between single digit A roads take their first digit from the single digit A road in an anticlockwise direction from their point of origin. Newcastle Road, which was formerly designated A1, is now unclassified. The A6127 was renamed the A167. Car traffic is now banned from the northern part of Front Street and it is restricted to buses, cyclists and delivery vehicles.
Education
Primary schools
Cestria Primary School
Bullion Lane Primary School
Woodlea Primary School
Lumley Junior and Infant School
Newker Primary School
Red Rose Primary School
Chester-le-Street CE Primary School
St Cuthbert's RCVA Primary School
Secondary schools
Park View School
Hermitage Academy
Notable people
Michael Barron, footballer
Aidan Chambers, children's author, Carnegie Medal and Hans Christian Andersen Award winner
William Browell Charlton, trade union leader, Durham County Colliery Enginemen's Association, National Federation of Colliery Enginemen and Boiler Firemen
Ellie Crisell, journalist and television presenter
Ronnie Dodd, footballer
Danny Graham, footballer
Andrew Hayden-Smith, actor and presenter
Grant Leadbitter, footballer
Sheila Mackie, artist
Jock Purdon, folk singer and poet
Adam Reach, footballer
Bryan Robson, former England football captain, and his brothers Justin and Gary, also footballers
Gavin Sutherland, conductor and pianist
Colin Todd, football manager and former England international player
Olga and Betty Turnbull, child entertainers of the 1930s who performed for royalty
Kevin "Geordie" Walker, guitarist of post-punk group Killing Joke
Peter Ward, footballer
Bruce Welch of pop group The Shadows
It is twinned with:
Germany Kamp-Lintfort in Germany.
County Durham, officially simply Durham is a ceremonial county in North East England. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne and Wear to the north, the North Sea to the east, North Yorkshire to the south, and Cumbria to the west. The largest settlement is Darlington, and the county town is the city of Durham.
The county has an area of 2,721 km2 (1,051 sq mi) and a population of 866,846. The latter is concentrated in the east; the south-east is part of the Teesside built-up area, which extends into North Yorkshire. After Darlington (92,363), the largest settlements are Hartlepool (88,855), Stockton-on-Tees (82,729), and Durham (48,069). For local government purposes the county comprises three unitary authority areas—County Durham, Darlington, and Hartlepool—and part of a fourth, Stockton-on-Tees. The county historically included the part of Tyne and Wear south of the River Tyne, and excluded the part of County Durham south of the River Tees.
The west of the county contains part of the North Pennines uplands, a national landscape. The hills are the source of the rivers Tees and Wear, which flow east and form the valleys of Teesdale and Weardale respectively. The east of the county is flatter, and contains by rolling hills through which the two rivers meander; the Tees forms the boundary with North Yorkshire in its lower reaches, and the Wear exits the county near Chester-le-Street in the north-east. The county's coast is a site of special scientific interest characterised by tall limestone and dolomite cliffs.
What is now County Durham was on the border of Roman Britain, and contains survivals of this era at sites such as Binchester Roman Fort. In the Anglo-Saxon period the region was part of the Kingdom of Northumbria. In 995 the city of Durham was founded by monks seeking a place safe from Viking raids to house the relics of St Cuthbert. Durham Cathedral was rebuilt after the Norman Conquest, and together with Durham Castle is now a World Heritage Site. By the late Middle Ages the county was governed semi-independently by the bishops of Durham and was also a buffer zone between England and Scotland. County Durham became heavily industrialised in the nineteenth century, when many collieries opened on the Durham coalfield. The Stockton and Darlington Railway, the world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, opened in 1825. Most collieries closed during the last quarter of the twentieth century, but the county's coal mining heritage is remembered in the annual Durham Miners' Gala.
Remains of Prehistoric Durham include a number of Neolithic earthworks.
The Crawley Edge Cairns and Heathery Burn Cave are Bronze Age sites. Maiden Castle, Durham is an Iron Age site.
Brigantia, the land of the Brigantes, is said to have included what is now County Durham.
There are archaeological remains of Roman Durham. Dere Street and Cade's Road run through what is now County Durham. There were Roman forts at Concangis (Chester-le-Street), Lavatrae (Bowes), Longovicium (Lanchester), Piercebridge (Morbium), Vindomora (Ebchester) and Vinovium (Binchester). (The Roman fort at Arbeia (South Shields) is within the former boundaries of County Durham.) A Romanised farmstead has been excavated at Old Durham.
Remains of the Anglo-Saxon period include a number of sculpted stones and sundials, the Legs Cross, the Rey Cross and St Cuthbert's coffin.
Around AD 547, an Angle named Ida founded the kingdom of Bernicia after spotting the defensive potential of a large rock at Bamburgh, upon which many a fortification was thenceforth built. Ida was able to forge, hold and consolidate the kingdom; although the native British tried to take back their land, the Angles triumphed and the kingdom endured.
In AD 604, Ida's grandson Æthelfrith forcibly merged Bernicia (ruled from Bamburgh) and Deira (ruled from York, which was known as Eforwic at the time) to create the Kingdom of Northumbria. In time, the realm was expanded, primarily through warfare and conquest; at its height, the kingdom stretched from the River Humber (from which the kingdom drew its name) to the Forth. Eventually, factional fighting and the rejuvenated strength of neighbouring kingdoms, most notably Mercia, led to Northumbria's decline. The arrival of the Vikings hastened this decline, and the Scandinavian raiders eventually claimed the Deiran part of the kingdom in AD 867 (which became Jórvík). The land that would become County Durham now sat on the border with the Great Heathen Army, a border which today still (albeit with some adjustments over the years) forms the boundaries between Yorkshire and County Durham.
Despite their success south of the river Tees, the Vikings never fully conquered the Bernician part of Northumbria, despite the many raids they had carried out on the kingdom. However, Viking control over the Danelaw, the central belt of Anglo-Saxon territory, resulted in Northumbria becoming isolated from the rest of Anglo-Saxon Britain. Scots invasions in the north pushed the kingdom's northern boundary back to the River Tweed, and the kingdom found itself reduced to a dependent earldom, its boundaries very close to those of modern-day Northumberland and County Durham. The kingdom was annexed into England in AD 954.
In AD 995, St Cuthbert's community, who had been transporting Cuthbert's remains around, partly in an attempt to avoid them falling into the hands of Viking raiders, settled at Dunholm (Durham) on a site that was defensively favourable due to the horseshoe-like path of the River Wear. St Cuthbert's remains were placed in a shrine in the White Church, which was originally a wooden structure but was eventually fortified into a stone building.
Once the City of Durham had been founded, the Bishops of Durham gradually acquired the lands that would become County Durham. Bishop Aldhun began this process by procuring land in the Tees and Wear valleys, including Norton, Stockton, Escomb and Aucklandshire in 1018. In 1031, King Canute gave Staindrop to the Bishops. This territory continued to expand, and was eventually given the status of a liberty. Under the control of the Bishops of Durham, the land had various names: the "Liberty of Durham", "Liberty of St Cuthbert's Land" "the lands of St Cuthbert between Tyne and Tees" or "the Liberty of Haliwerfolc" (holy Wear folk).
The bishops' special jurisdiction rested on claims that King Ecgfrith of Northumbria had granted a substantial territory to St Cuthbert on his election to the see of Lindisfarne in 684. In about 883 a cathedral housing the saint's remains was established at Chester-le-Street and Guthfrith, King of York granted the community of St Cuthbert the area between the Tyne and the Wear, before the community reached its final destination in 995, in Durham.
Following the Norman invasion, the administrative machinery of government extended only slowly into northern England. Northumberland's first recorded Sheriff was Gilebert from 1076 until 1080 and a 12th-century record records Durham regarded as within the shire. However the bishops disputed the authority of the sheriff of Northumberland and his officials, despite the second sheriff for example being the reputed slayer of Malcolm Canmore, King of Scots. The crown regarded Durham as falling within Northumberland until the late thirteenth century.
Following the Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror appointed Copsig as Earl of Northumbria, thereby bringing what would become County Durham under Copsig's control. Copsig was, just a few weeks later, killed in Newburn. Having already being previously offended by the appointment of a non-Northumbrian as Bishop of Durham in 1042, the people of the region became increasingly rebellious. In response, in January 1069, William despatched a large Norman army, under the command of Robert de Comines, to Durham City. The army, believed to consist of 700 cavalry (about one-third of the number of Norman knights who had participated in the Battle of Hastings), entered the city, whereupon they were attacked, and defeated, by a Northumbrian assault force. The Northumbrians wiped out the entire Norman army, including Comines, all except for one survivor, who was allowed to take the news of this defeat back.
Following the Norman slaughter at the hands of the Northumbrians, resistance to Norman rule spread throughout Northern England, including a similar uprising in York. William The Conqueror subsequently (and successfully) attempted to halt the northern rebellions by unleashing the notorious Harrying of the North (1069–1070). Because William's main focus during the harrying was on Yorkshire, County Durham was largely spared the Harrying.
Anglo-Norman Durham refers to the Anglo-Norman period, during which Durham Cathedral was built.
Matters regarding the bishopric of Durham came to a head in 1293 when the bishop and his steward failed to attend proceedings of quo warranto held by the justices of Northumberland. The bishop's case went before parliament, where he stated that Durham lay outside the bounds of any English shire and that "from time immemorial it had been widely known that the sheriff of Northumberland was not sheriff of Durham nor entered within that liberty as sheriff. . . nor made there proclamations or attachments". The arguments appear to have prevailed, as by the fourteenth century Durham was accepted as a liberty which received royal mandates direct. In effect it was a private shire, with the bishop appointing his own sheriff. The area eventually became known as the "County Palatine of Durham".
Sadberge was a liberty, sometimes referred to as a county, within Northumberland. In 1189 it was purchased for the see but continued with a separate sheriff, coroner and court of pleas. In the 14th century Sadberge was included in Stockton ward and was itself divided into two wards. The division into the four wards of Chester-le-Street, Darlington, Easington and Stockton existed in the 13th century, each ward having its own coroner and a three-weekly court corresponding to the hundred court. The diocese was divided into the archdeaconries of Durham and Northumberland. The former is mentioned in 1072, and in 1291 included the deaneries of Chester-le-Street, Auckland, Lanchester and Darlington.
The term palatinus is applied to the bishop in 1293, and from the 13th century onwards the bishops frequently claimed the same rights in their lands as the king enjoyed in his kingdom.
The historic boundaries of County Durham included a main body covering the catchment of the Pennines in the west, the River Tees in the south, the North Sea in the east and the Rivers Tyne and Derwent in the north. The county palatinate also had a number of liberties: the Bedlingtonshire, Islandshire and Norhamshire exclaves within Northumberland, and the Craikshire exclave within the North Riding of Yorkshire. In 1831 the county covered an area of 679,530 acres (2,750.0 km2) and had a population of 253,910. These exclaves were included as part of the county for parliamentary electoral purposes until 1832, and for judicial and local-government purposes until the coming into force of the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844, which merged most remaining exclaves with their surrounding county. The boundaries of the county proper remained in use for administrative and ceremonial purposes until the Local Government Act 1972.
Boldon Book (1183 or 1184) is a polyptichum for the Bishopric of Durham.
Until the 15th century, the most important administrative officer in the Palatinate was the steward. Other officers included the sheriff, the coroners, the Chamberlain and the chancellor. The palatine exchequer originated in the 12th century. The palatine assembly represented the whole county, and dealt chiefly with fiscal questions. The bishop's council, consisting of the clergy, the sheriff and the barons, regulated judicial affairs, and later produced the Chancery and the courts of Admiralty and Marshalsea.
The prior of Durham ranked first among the bishop's barons. He had his own court, and almost exclusive jurisdiction over his men. A UNESCO site describes the role of the Prince-Bishops in Durham, the "buffer state between England and Scotland":
From 1075, the Bishop of Durham became a Prince-Bishop, with the right to raise an army, mint his own coins, and levy taxes. As long as he remained loyal to the king of England, he could govern as a virtually autonomous ruler, reaping the revenue from his territory, but also remaining mindful of his role of protecting England’s northern frontier.
A report states that the Bishops also had the authority to appoint judges and barons and to offer pardons.
There were ten palatinate barons in the 12th century, most importantly the Hyltons of Hylton Castle, the Bulmers of Brancepeth, the Conyers of Sockburne, the Hansards of Evenwood, and the Lumleys of Lumley Castle. The Nevilles owned large estates in the county. John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de Raby rebuilt Raby Castle, their principal seat, in 1377.
Edward I's quo warranto proceedings of 1293 showed twelve lords enjoying more or less extensive franchises under the bishop. The repeated efforts of the Crown to check the powers of the palatinate bishops culminated in 1536 in the Act of Resumption, which deprived the bishop of the power to pardon offences against the law or to appoint judicial officers. Moreover, indictments and legal processes were in future to run in the name of the king, and offences to be described as against the peace of the king, rather than that of the bishop. In 1596 restrictions were imposed on the powers of the chancery, and in 1646 the palatinate was formally abolished. It was revived, however, after the Restoration, and continued with much the same power until 5 July 1836, when the Durham (County Palatine) Act 1836 provided that the palatine jurisdiction should in future be vested in the Crown.
During the 15th-century Wars of the Roses, Henry VI passed through Durham. On the outbreak of the Great Rebellion in 1642 Durham inclined to support the cause of Parliament, and in 1640 the high sheriff of the palatinate guaranteed to supply the Scottish army with provisions during their stay in the county. In 1642 the Earl of Newcastle formed the western counties into an association for the King's service, but in 1644 the palatinate was again overrun by a Scottish army, and after the Battle of Marston Moor (2 July 1644) fell entirely into the hands of Parliament.
In 1614, a Bill was introduced in Parliament for securing representation to the county and city of Durham and the borough of Barnard Castle. The bishop strongly opposed the proposal as an infringement of his palatinate rights, and the county was first summoned to return members to Parliament in 1654. After the Restoration of 1660 the county and city returned two members each. In the wake of the Reform Act of 1832 the county returned two members for two divisions, and the boroughs of Gateshead, South Shields and Sunderland acquired representation. The bishops lost their secular powers in 1836. The boroughs of Darlington, Stockton and Hartlepool returned one member each from 1868 until the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885.
The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 reformed the municipal boroughs of Durham, Stockton on Tees and Sunderland. In 1875, Jarrow was incorporated as a municipal borough, as was West Hartlepool in 1887. At a county level, the Local Government Act 1888 reorganised local government throughout England and Wales. Most of the county came under control of the newly formed Durham County Council in an area known as an administrative county. Not included were the county boroughs of Gateshead, South Shields and Sunderland. However, for purposes other than local government, the administrative county of Durham and the county boroughs continued to form a single county to which the Crown appointed a Lord Lieutenant of Durham.
Over its existence, the administrative county lost territory, both to the existing county boroughs, and because two municipal boroughs became county boroughs: West Hartlepool in 1902 and Darlington in 1915. The county boundary with the North Riding of Yorkshire was adjusted in 1967: that part of the town of Barnard Castle historically in Yorkshire was added to County Durham, while the administrative county ceded the portion of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in Durham to the North Riding. In 1968, following the recommendation of the Local Government Commission, Billingham was transferred to the County Borough of Teesside, in the North Riding. In 1971, the population of the county—including all associated county boroughs (an area of 2,570 km2 (990 sq mi))—was 1,409,633, with a population outside the county boroughs of 814,396.
In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 abolished the administrative county and the county boroughs, reconstituting County Durham as a non-metropolitan county. The reconstituted County Durham lost territory to the north-east (around Gateshead, South Shields and Sunderland) to Tyne and Wear and to the south-east (around Hartlepool) to Cleveland. At the same time it gained the former area of Startforth Rural District from the North Riding of Yorkshire. The area of the Lord Lieutenancy of Durham was also adjusted by the Act to coincide with the non-metropolitan county (which occupied 3,019 km2 (1,166 sq mi) in 1981).
In 1996, as part of 1990s UK local government reform by Lieutenancies Act 1997, Cleveland was abolished. Its districts were reconstituted as unitary authorities. Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees (north Tees) were returned to the county for the purposes of Lord Lieutenancy. Darlington also became a third unitary authority of the county. The Royal Mail abandoned the use of postal counties altogether, permitted but not mandatory being at a writer wishes.
As part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England initiated by the Department for Communities and Local Government, the seven district councils within the County Council area were abolished. The County Council assumed their functions and became the fourth unitary authority. Changes came into effect on 1 April 2009.
On 15 April 2014, North East Combined Authority was established under the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 with powers over economic development and regeneration. In November 2018, Newcastle City Council, North Tyneside Borough Council, and Northumberland County Council left the authority. These later formed the North of Tyne Combined Authority.
In May 2021, four parish councils of the villages of Elwick, Hart, Dalton Piercy and Greatham all issued individual votes of no confidence in Hartlepool Borough Council, and expressed their desire to join the County Durham district.
In October 2021, County Durham was shortlisted for the UK City of Culture 2025. In May 2022, it lost to Bradford.
Eighteenth century Durham saw the appearance of dissent in the county and the Durham Ox. The county did not assist the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715. The Statue of Neptune in the City of Durham was erected in 1729.
A number of disasters happened in Nineteenth century Durham. The Felling mine disasters happened in 1812, 1813, 1821 and 1847. The Philadelphia train accident happened in 1815. In 1854, there was a great fire in Gateshead. One of the West Stanley Pit disasters happened in 1882. The Victoria Hall disaster happened in 1883.
One of the West Stanley Pit disasters happened in 1909. The Darlington rail crash happened in 1928. The Battle of Stockton happened in 1933. The Browney rail crash happened in 1946.
The First Treaty of Durham was made at Durham in 1136. The Second Treaty of Durham was made at Durham in 1139.
The county regiment was the Durham Light Infantry, which replaced, in particular, the 68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) and the Militia and Volunteers of County Durham.
RAF Greatham, RAF Middleton St George and RAF Usworth were located in County Durham.
David I, the King of Scotland, invaded the county in 1136, and ravaged much of the county 1138. In 17 October 1346, the Battle of Neville's Cross was fought at Neville's Cross, near the city of Durham. On 16 December 1914, during the First World War, there was a raid on Hartlepool by the Imperial German Navy.
Chroniclers connected with Durham include the Bede, Symeon of Durham, Geoffrey of Coldingham and Robert de Graystanes.
County Durham has long been associated with coal mining, from medieval times up to the late 20th century. The Durham Coalfield covered a large area of the county, from Bishop Auckland, to Consett, to the River Tyne and below the North Sea, thereby providing a significant expanse of territory from which this rich mineral resource could be extracted.
King Stephen possessed a mine in Durham, which he granted to Bishop Pudsey, and in the same century colliers are mentioned at Coundon, Bishopwearmouth and Sedgefield. Cockfield Fell was one of the earliest Landsale collieries in Durham. Edward III issued an order allowing coal dug at Newcastle to be taken across the Tyne, and Richard II granted to the inhabitants of Durham licence to export the produce of the mines, without paying dues to the corporation of Newcastle. The majority was transported from the Port of Sunderland complex, which was constructed in the 1850s.
Among other early industries, lead-mining was carried on in the western part of the county, and mustard was extensively cultivated. Gateshead had a considerable tanning trade and shipbuilding was undertaken at Jarrow, and at Sunderland, which became the largest shipbuilding town in the world – constructing a third of Britain's tonnage.[citation needed]
The county's modern-era economic history was facilitated significantly by the growth of the mining industry during the nineteenth century. At the industry's height, in the early 20th century, over 170,000 coal miners were employed, and they mined 58,700,000 tons of coal in 1913 alone. As a result, a large number of colliery villages were built throughout the county as the industrial revolution gathered pace.
The railway industry was also a major employer during the industrial revolution, with railways being built throughout the county, such as The Tanfield Railway, The Clarence Railway and The Stockton and Darlington Railway. The growth of this industry occurred alongside the coal industry, as the railways provided a fast, efficient means to move coal from the mines to the ports and provided the fuel for the locomotives. The great railway pioneers Timothy Hackworth, Edward Pease, George Stephenson and Robert Stephenson were all actively involved with developing the railways in tandem with County Durham's coal mining industry. Shildon and Darlington became thriving 'railway towns' and experienced significant growths in population and prosperity; before the railways, just over 100 people lived in Shildon but, by the 1890s, the town was home to around 8,000 people, with Shildon Shops employing almost 3000 people at its height.
However, by the 1930s, the coal mining industry began to diminish and, by the mid-twentieth century, the pits were closing at an increasing rate. In 1951, the Durham County Development Plan highlighted a number of colliery villages, such as Blackhouse, as 'Category D' settlements, in which future development would be prohibited, property would be acquired and demolished, and the population moved to new housing, such as that being built in Newton Aycliffe. Likewise, the railway industry also began to decline, and was significantly brought to a fraction of its former self by the Beeching cuts in the 1960s. Darlington Works closed in 1966 and Shildon Shops followed suit in 1984. The county's last deep mines, at Easington, Vane Tempest, Wearmouth and Westoe, closed in 1993.
Postal Rates from 1801 were charged depending on the distance from London. Durham was allocated the code 263 the approximate mileage from London. From about 1811, a datestamp appeared on letters showing the date the letter was posted. In 1844 a new system was introduced and Durham was allocated the code 267. This system was replaced in 1840 when the first postage stamps were introduced.
According to the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1911): "To the Anglo-Saxon period are to be referred portions of the churches of Monk Wearmouth (Sunderland), Jarrow, Escomb near Bishop Auckland, and numerous sculptured crosses, two of which are in situ at Aycliffe. . . . The Decorated and Perpendicular periods are very scantily represented, on account, as is supposed, of the incessant wars between England and Scotland in the 14th and 15th centuries. The principal monastic remains, besides those surrounding Durham cathedral, are those of its subordinate house or "cell," Finchale Priory, beautifully situated by the Wear. The most interesting castles are those of Durham, Raby, Brancepeth and Barnard. There are ruins of castelets or peel-towers at Dalden, Ludworth and Langley Dale. The hospitals of Sherburn, Greatham and Kepyer, founded by early bishops of Durham, retain but few ancient features."
The best remains of the Norman period include Durham Cathedral and Durham Castle, and several parish churches, such as St Laurence Church in Pittington. The Early English period has left the eastern portion of the cathedral, the churches of Darlington, Hartlepool, and St Andrew, Auckland, Sedgefield, and portions of a few other churches.
'Durham Castle and Cathedral' is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Elsewhere in the County there is Auckland Castle.
Thurlow Spurr and the Spurrlows.. Oakland Auditorium. $1.50 donation. "A New World of Sight and Sound."
660118
File name: 10_03_001998a
Binder label: Tobacco / Cigarettes
Title: Chew: Horse-head tobacco [front]
Created/Published: St. Louis : Compton
Date issued: 1870 - 1900 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 print : chromolithograph ; 12 x 9 cm.
Genre: Advertising cards
Subject: Horses; Smokeless tobacco
Notes: Title from item. Retailer: Spurr, Washburn & Holmes, Boston
Statement of responsibility: Dausman Tobacco Co.
Collection: 19th Century American Trade Cards
Location: Boston Public Library, Print Department
Rights: No known restrictions.