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West Rainton is a village in the civil parish of West Rainton and Leamside, in County Durham, England. It is situated between Durham and Houghton-le-Spring. Leamside is about one-half mile (0.80 km) to the west, and the south-western end of the village is known by the separate name of Rainton Gate. The village straddles a ridge parallel to the A690 with extensive views to the west. At the 2001 census it had a population of 2,255, increasing to 2,316 at the 2011 Census.
The Durham Coast Line is an approximately 39.5-mile (63.6 km) railway line running between Newcastle and Middlesbrough in North East England. Heavy rail passenger services, predominantly operated Northern Trains, and some freight services operate over the whole length of the line; it provides an important diversionary route at times when the East Coast Main Line is closed. Light rail services of the Tyne and Wear Metro's Green Line also operate over the same tracks between a junction just south of Sunderland station and Pelaw Junction.
The Leamside Line, originally part of the Durham Junction Railway, is a disused railway line, located in the North East of England. The alignment diverges from the East Coast Main Line at Tursdale Junction, travelling a distance of 21 miles north through the Durham Coalfield and Washington, prior to joining the Durham Coast Line at Pelaw Junction. The Leamside Line closed to passenger traffic in 1964, under the Beeching cuts.
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.
Middle Rainton was a small village between West Rainton and East Rainton on the boundary of County Durham and the City of Sunderland, north east England. It was subject to a schedule D notice and hence ceased to exist in the 1970s. The site of Middle Rainton is now a Nature Reserve open to the Public. It lies on the A690 road, about 3 miles (5 km) east of the A1(M). The land on which Middle Rainton was built was originally owned by R Heaviside. John Buddle bought the land in 1820 to build houses for the miners working in the local pits. Wm Fordyce “History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham” Vol 2 notes that the village is “principally occupied by persons engaged in the collieries”. (1) A point reinforced by the Census Returns 1851 to 1891, which show that the vast majority of the males of working age being engaged as miners or other tasks associated with the mine Prior to 1815 Buddle on behalf of Londonderry had been closing Pits in the area but new mining technology had emerged which allowed for the exploitation of deeper coal seams. Between 1816 and 1824, 6 Pits were opened in the immediate area – Adventure (1816), Resolution(1816), Plain(1817), Hazard(1818), Meadows(1824), Alexandrina (1824). (2) In 1851 the Census notes there were 189 Dwellings with 449 males and 393 females a total population of 842. This appears to have been the time of peak occupancy. By 1871 only 155 dwellings were recorded as occupied with 15 as unoccupied and a total population of 726. By 1911 there were 102 dwellings, 277 males, 272 females a total of 549. The 1911 census reports that the Village had its own Police Station – with a resident policeman. The following streets are named at various times : Front Street West Row, Back Row, Lewis Street, Cross Street ,Chapel Row ,Slate Row, and in 1871 only, Pipewell Gate. Of these only Front street, was paved (3) The census at various times notes a variety of shops and 4 pubs Fox and Hounds, Rose and Crown, Hope and Anchor and Foresters Arms. The Village boasted a Salvation Army Hall and before that a Primitive Methodist Chapel. The 1851 census records that on Sunday 30 March 1851, 157 people attended the morning service, 150 the afternoon and 200 the evening service at the Methodist Chapel . In 1843 the Black American female Evangelist Zilpha Elaw claimed she preached to a large crowd at Middle Rainton in September 1843 one might assume that either this was an outdoor meeting or was held in the Chapel. (11) By 1896 The nearest Pit - the Meadows – was proving to be unprofitable and was closed (2) and this probably explains the drop in the population of the village. From the end of the 19th Century there are reports condemning the state of the houses and the sewage arrangements. In 1899 the Local Medical Officer of Health stated “The sanitary condition of the village of Middle Rainton is reported to be getting worse, Houses are becoming uninhabitable and falling into ruins, and the tenants are so poor that it does not pay the owners to keep them in repair. Four houses reported on by the sanitary inspector are in a very bad state, and it is recommended that they should either be immediately repaired or closed. The open channels at the Freehold, though repaired, are not satisfactory, for “ at the lower “ ends there are frequent accumulations which choke “ up the sinks and cause overflows near the houses “ there.” The scavenging is not satisfactorily performed, and some of the ashpits are reported to be never quite emptied”. (4) While one year later he stated “There is said to be no improvement in the sanitary condition of Middle Rainton, and a large number of the houses are unoccupied and the out-offices in a dilapidated state. The report states that steps are being taken by the R.D.C. to have the insanitary dwellings either closed or repaired. At the Freehold the open channels have been repaired and more attention given to the cleansing of them, “although covered sewers and sinks to each house “ would be beneficial as regards the health of the “ village.” The scavenging of the district is stated not to have been altogether satisfactory, and the cartmen’s attention frequently had to be called to their neglect of duty.” (5) In 1904 it was reported “The report again refers to the condition of Middle Rainton, where more houses are vacant and going to ruin, and where most of the insanitary conditions are due to the bad habits of the low-class population living there” (6) Again in 1907 “In the report of the Inspector of Nuisances it is mentioned that ………….At Middle Rainton 36 notices were served upon the owners of property, and, as a result, some of the houses were voluntarily closed and others have been repaired”(7) By 1946 it is clear that the Village is not considered worth saving “The remaining houses in Middle Rainton, however, all drain into a sewer which eventually discharges into a ditch next, the Meadows Colliery. There are a few water-closets installed in these houses and owing to the ditch becoming silted-up, and a restricted flow in dry weather, this method of sewerage disposal has been a source of complaint from time to time. The houses concerned are old and the majority substandard, in fact they might reasonably have been dealt with under the Slum Clearance scheme which eliminated the remainder of this small village, and the installation of an elaborate sewerage system would hardly appear to be justified at the present time” (8) By the 1950s the population was down to 113 with 31 dwellings and John Harvey, an ex-resident, notes that houses were cleared about five at a time and the residents moved to other settlements. Many seem to have moved to the new council estate in East Rainton but others moved to West Rainton and the new town at Peterlee.(3)
The Stanhope and Tyne Railway was an early British mineral railway that ran from Stanhope to South Shields at the mouth of the River Tyne in County Durham, England. It ran through the towns of Birtley, Chester Le Street, West Stanley and Consett. The object was to convey limestone from Stanhope and coal from West Consett and elsewhere to the Tyne, and to local consumers. Passengers were later carried on parts of the line.
Rainton Meadows is a nature reserve just to the west of East Rainton, County Durham, north-east England. The reserve, which covers 60 ha, and the adjacent Joe's Pond Site of Special Scientific Interest, are managed by Durham Wildlife Trust.
Ordsall Lane railway station is a closed railway station on the Liverpool to Manchester line.
Ferryhill railway station was located in Ferryhill, County Durham, Northeast England. It was located on what became the East Coast Main Line between Darlington and Durham, close to the junctions with several former branches, including the extant freight-only Stillington Line to Norton-on-Tees and Stockton.
The Brandling Junction Railway was an early railway in County Durham, England. It took over the Tanfield Waggonway of 1725 that was built to bring coal from Tanfield to staiths on the River Tyne at Dunston. The Brandling Junction Railway itself opened in stages from 1839, running from Gateshead to Wearmouth and South Shields. Wearmouth was regarded at the time as the "Sunderland" terminal.
Birkenhead Grange Lane was a railway station in Birkenhead, England. On opening, the station was the northern terminus of the Chester and Birkenhead Railway. The station was opened in 1840, and closed to passengers in 1844 but the site remained in use for goods until the 1970s.
Penshaw railway station served the village of Penshaw, Tyne and Wear, England from 1840 to 1964 on the Leamside line.
Leamside railway station served the villages of Leamside and West Rainton, in County Durham, England from 1844 to 1953 on the Leamside line.
Belmont Junction railway station was a railway station that served the civil parish of Belmont in County Durham, North East England, from 1844 to 1857. It was located at the junction between the main line and Gilesgate branch of the Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway.
Washington railway station served the town of Washington, Tyne and Wear, England from 1835 to 1963, initially on the Stanhope & Tyne Railway and later the Leamside line.
Fencehouses railway station served the village of Fencehouses, Tyne and Wear, England from 1841 to 1964 on the Leamside line.
Sherburn Colliery railway station served the village of Sherburn, County Durham, England from 1844 to 1959 on the Leamside line.
Durham (Gilesgate) railway station served the Gilesgate area of Durham City in County Durham, North East England from 1844 to 1857 as the terminus of the Newcastle & Darlington Junction Railway Durham Branch passenger service. Its life as a passenger station was short and it was quickly converted to goods station, a role which it played for more than a century.
Rainton railway station briefly served the village of West Rainton, County Durham, England, in 1844 on the Leamside Line.
Springwell railway station served Springwell Village, Tyne and Wear, England, from 1844 to 1871 on the Durham Coast Line.
References
- ↑ "Disused Stations:Rainton Meadows Station". Disused Stations. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
- ↑ Quick, M E (2002). Railway passenger stations in England, Scotland and Wales - a chronology. Richmond: Railway and Canal Historical Society. p. 357. OCLC 931112387.
