| Pity Me | |
|---|---|
 La Spada Ristorante in Pity Me | |
  Pity Me Location within County Durham | |
| OS grid reference | NZ265452 |
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | DURHAM |
| Postcode district | DH1 |
| Dialling code | 0191 |
| Police | Durham |
| Fire | County Durham and Darlington |
| Ambulance | North East |
| UK Parliament | |
Pity Me is a suburban village of Durham, England, located north of Framwellgate Moor and west of Newton Hall.
There are various theories on the origin of Pity Me's unusual name. Most likely, as speculated in the Oxford Dictionary of British Place Names, it is simply "a whimsical name bestowed in the 19th century on a place considered desolate, exposed or difficult to cultivate". [1] Alternatively it may be a shortened form of an earlier place name referring to a shallow lake or mere, such as Petit Mere (i.e. from Norman French), Petty Mere or Peaty Mere. [2] Related theories suggest that it comes from Pithead Mere, referring to an extended area of boggy waste ground onto which the outwash from minehead pumping engines was discharged,[ citation needed ] or that petite mer (French : small sea) is an ironic name for the settlement given the arid nature of the land.[ citation needed ]
However, the existence of several examples of other, lesser settlements, that share this name in Northumberland - particularly one north of Barrasford, near Hexham, and another outside Hartburn, west of Morpeth - suggests that it may be derived from some actual feature of the landscape, or former land-use, that has since been forgotten (one exotic suggestion for the North Tynedale example being the Ancient British term "Beddan Maes", meaning "burial ground" - although this suggestion has never been offered to explain the name of the Durham settlement. This form looks suspiciously like modern Welsh rather than any Brythonic name. As a Welsh name it makes no sense, although 'bedd' is 'grave', and 'maes' is 'open field').
More obvious folk etymologies include the story that the coffin of St Cuthbert was dropped near Pity Me on the way to Durham, at which point the saint implored the monks carrying him to take pity on him and be more careful; [2] or that coming to the location during a flight from a Viking raid, a group of monks sang the 51st Psalm, the Latin version of which includes the words "Miserere mei, Deus", which may be rendered in English as "Pity me, O God".[ citation needed ]
Pity Me is bypassed by the A167 which connects to Darlington and Newcastle via Chester-le-Street along the former route of the A1 through the region.
The Arnison Centre, an out of town retail park, is located on the edge of the village. [3] It is served by several frequent bus routes operated by Go North East; destinations include Newcastle, Sunderland, Durham and Sherburn Village.
There are various other instances of the place name "Pity Me" in the north of England: near Morpeth [ citation needed ] and Barrasford in Northumberland, near Bradbury in south County Durham and Pityme in Cornwall. [2]
Ordnance Survey grid references:
Other unusual place names in the North East include the village of No Place, believed to be a contraction of North Place, as marked on the original Ordnance Survey maps, and Bearpark, from Beaurepaire, French for "beautiful retreat" - the name of a nearby Norman priory.
Northumberland is a ceremonial county in North East England, bordering Scotland. It is bordered by the Scottish Borders to the north, the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, and Cumbria to the west. The town of Blyth is the largest settlement. Northumberland is the northernmost county in England.
Tyne and Wear is a ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne.
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Northumberland County Council is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Northumberland in North East England. Since 2009 it has been a unitary authority, having also taken over district-level functions when the county's districts were abolished.
Ashington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, with a population of 27,864 at the 2011 Census. It was once a centre of the coal mining industry. The town is 15 miles (24 km) north of Newcastle upon Tyne, west of the A189 and bordered to the south by the River Wansbeck. Many inhabitants have a distinctive accent and dialect known as Pitmatic. This varies from the regional dialect known as Geordie.
Longframlington is a small town in Northumberland, England, located on the A697, 11 miles (18 km) north-west of Morpeth and 5 miles (8 km) south-east of Rothbury. Longframlington is a former pit village and on the site of the pit now stands Fram Park, a log cabin holiday park. The village was previously the site of the Longframlington Music Festival.
John Green and Benjamin Green were a father and son who worked in partnership as architects in North East England during the early nineteenth century. John, the father was a civil engineer as well as an architect. Although they did carry out some commissions separately, they were given joint credit for many of their projects, and it is difficult to attribute much of their work to a single individual. In general, John Green worked on civil engineering projects, such as road and rail bridges, whereas Benjamin worked on projects that were more purely architectural. Their work was predominantly church and railway architecture, with a sprinkling of public buildings that includes their masterpiece, Newcastle's Theatre Royal.
Thomas Hair was a violinist and player of the Northumbrian smallpipes, who lived in Bedlington. This town, and the surrounding district of Bedlingtonshire, were until 1844 a detached part of County Durham, but were then made part of Northumberland.