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Crook is a market town in the Durham County Council unitary authority and ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is located on the edge of Weardale and sometimes referred to as the "Gateway to Weardale".[ citation needed ]
Crook lies about 9 miles (14 km) south-west of the historic city of Durham, 5 miles (8.0 km) north-west of Bishop Auckland and 2 miles (3.2 km) from Willington. The A689 road from Durham leads up through Wolsingham and Stanhope into the upper reaches of Weardale. Until 1974, the town was in Crook and Willington Urban District and had a parish council.
Crook first appeared as an agricultural village around 1795 although its surrounding districts; Billy Row, Stanley, White Lea and Helmington Row, were established much earlier. [2] In these days Crook was predominantly farmland; however, it also had an Inn and a blacksmith shop, consequently the primary field of employment was within the agricultural industry. 40 years later; Crook became a mining village, and thrived as the coal was very close to the surface [2] and soon there were over 20 mines around the Crook area. By the end of the nineteenth century the town had developed rapidly, in population and economy. However, the local population declined in the following century, as the coal mines and industries closed. With at one point over 34% of the population being unemployed. [2]
Crook's football team, Crook Town F.C., have won the FA Amateur Cup five times, most recently beating Enfield F.C. in 1964, before the cup was abolished in 1974. This record is second only to Crook's near neighbours, Bishop Auckland F.C. The club have also reached the third round of the FA Cup and formed a key role in the development of FC Barcelona, playing a number of friendly matches in the 1910s and 1920s.
There is a World War I and World War II War Memorial in Crook's town centre. [3]
An erratic, originally part of the Borrowdale volcanic group and found at Dowfold Hill, is situated in Crook's market place. [3]
The centre of Crook, a designated conservation area, features a variety of shops and businesses with the market held on Tuesday mornings and a few stalls on a Saturday. There are prominent churches, the centrally located St Catherine's CE and Our Lady Immaculate & St Cuthbert's RC on Church Hill. Grade 2 listed St Andrew's Church is an LEP between URC and Methodist Churches. On top of the hills to the east sits Crook Golf Club.[ citation needed ]
Crook was home to the first purpose built cinema in the north of England, built as the Electric Palace and opened on 21 November 1910. Some of the building's original interior features remain. [4]
Crook Nursery is an average-sized school that serves the immediate area. [5] [6]
Crook Primary School was opened formally in 1950. A larger than average community school that shares a site with Crook Nursery School [7] , it has a pupil capacity of 371. [8] [9]
Marilyn Tempest – a teacher – retired after thirty years of employment on 30 April 2014 and received a standing ovation from the then current pupils and teachers. During an interview with The Northern Echo, she said "I have had the most wonderful time here, teaching is the best job in the world.". [10]
A smaller than average primary academy, it has a pupil capacity of 210. [11] [12]
An average-sized primary academy, with a pupil capacity of 210. [13] [14]
Empire Electric Palace Theatre stage events including pantomimes. [15]
Crook Carnival is held in early July and features a parade, rides, stalls and live music.[ citation needed ] Crook's annual Winter Light Parade is held at the end of November and culminates with switching on the town's Christmas lights. [16]
Crookfest is a one day music festival held on the Sunday of the early May Bank Holiday weekend, across three stages, within Crook AFC's ground. [17]
Crook has a relatively large number of public houses and eateries for a town of its size. Is this verifiable from a source or just someone's opinion? Indeed, what exactly are 'eateries'?[ citation needed ]
Bus
To the north a once a day Crook to Consett service 765. A once an hour Arriva North East service 1 runs to Tow Law Monday to Saturday.
Towards Willington and Durham the Arriva North East X46 services runs every 20 minutes Monday to Saturday and every 30 minutes on Sundays.
Towards the south (Bishop Auckland and Darlington) Weardale Travel run every hour to Bishop Auckland with their service 101 and Arriva North East service 1 runs every 30 minutes during the day Monday to Saturday.
Crook has a backdrop of traditional and modern buildings. The hills surround the town on all sides apart from the south side of the town. The tallest hill stands at 300 metres above the town, about 980 ft. The highest point in the town is on West Road where the height is 210 metres (about 690 ft).
Approximately 2 miles to the west of Crook on the A689, back towards Wolsingham and Weardale is the surviving World War II Harperley POW Camp 93.
Willington is a town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Greater Willington, in County Durham and the ceremonial county of Durham, England. Willington stands in the foothills of the Pennines and near the River Wear close to Crook, Bishop Auckland and Durham.
Wear Valley was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district in County Durham, England. Its council and district capital was Crook.
The Weardale Railway is an independently owned British single-track branch line heritage railway between Bishop Auckland, Witton-le-Wear, Wolsingham, Frosterley and Stanhope. Weardale Railway began services on 23 May 2010, but decided to run special trains rather than a scheduled service for the 2013 season. The line was purchased by the Auckland Project in 2020 with a view to restarting passenger services. In 2021, a bid was submitted to the Restoring Your Railway fund. In October 2021, the Department for Transport allocated funding for the development of a business case.
Bishopton is a village in the borough of Darlington and the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is situated to the west of Stockton-on-Tees. It originated as a farming community with rows of cottages and several farms forming a long wide village street, with an adjacent green. St Peter's Church stands at the centre of the village. The hamlet of Little Stainton and the town of Great Stainton were formerly part of the parish of Bishopton.
St John's Chapel is a village in the civil parish of Stanhope, in County Durham, England. It is situated in Weardale, on the south side of the River Wear on the A689 road between Daddry Shield and Ireshopeburn. The 2001 census reported a population of 307.
Wolsingham is a market town in Weardale, County Durham, England. It is situated by the River Wear, between Crook and Stanhope.
Weardale is a dale, or valley, on the east side of the Pennines in County Durham, England. Large parts of Weardale fall within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) – the second-largest AONB in England and Wales. The upper dale is surrounded by high fells and heather grouse moors. The River Wear flows through Weardale before reaching Bishop Auckland and then Durham, meeting the sea at Sunderland.
Escomb is a village and former civil parish on the River Wear about 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) west of Bishop Auckland, in the County Durham district, in the ceremonial county of Durham, England. In 2001 it had a population of 358. In 2011 the ward had a population of 3323.
Stanhope is a market town and civil parish in the County Durham district, in the ceremonial county of Durham, England. It lies on the River Wear between Eastgate and Frosterley, in the north-east of Weardale. The main A689 road over the Pennines is crossed by the B6278 between Barnard Castle and Shotley Bridge. In 2001 Stanhope had a population of 1,633, in 2019 an estimate of 1,627, and a figure of 1,602 in the 2011 census for the ONS built-up-area which includes Crawleyside. In 2011 the parish population was 4,581.
North West Durham was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.
The A689 is a road in northern England that runs east from the A595, 3.1 miles (5.0 km) to the west of Carlisle in Cumbria, to Hartlepool in County Durham.
Bishop Auckland is a railway station that serves the market town of Bishop Auckland in County Durham, North East England, 11 miles 77 chains (19.3 km) north-west of Darlington. The station is the Western terminus of the Tees Valley Line, which links it to Saltburn via Darlington. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.
Wolsingham School is a coeducational secondary school located in Wolsingham, County Durham, England.
Eastgate railway station, also known as Eastgate-in-Weardale, served the village of Eastgate in County Durham, North East England from 1895 to 1953 as a stop on the Wear Valley Line.
Wear Valley Junction railway station primarily served as an interchange between the Wear Valley Line and the Weardale Extension Railway (WXR) between 1847 and 1935. It was the closest railway station to the village of High Grange in County Durham, North East England.
Etherley railway station served the village of Witton Park in County Durham, North East England, from 1847 to 1965 on the Wear Valley line. It was briefly reopened during the summers of 1991 and 1992 as Witton Park.