Durham is a cathedral city and civil parish in the county of Durham, England. It is the county town and contains the headquarters of Durham County Council, the unitary authority which governs the district of County Durham. The built-up area had a population of 50,510 at the 2021 Census.
Willington is a village 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.
Bishop Auckland is a market town and civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, England. It is 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Darlington and 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Durham.
County Durham, officially simply Durham (/ˈdʌrəm/), 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.
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.
Binchester is a small village in County Durham, England. In 2001 it had a population of 271. It is situated between Bishop Auckland, which is to the south, and a short distance to the west of Spennymoor. It has a community centre, swing park and football field, and is surrounded by countryside. Granville Terrace, the main road through the village, was relaid and renovated in 1991 for the BBC television series Challenge Anneka.
Witton-le-Wear is a village in County Durham, North East England. It is situated on the north bank of the River Wear, 6 km (3.7 mi) to the north-west of Bishop Auckland.
Leasingthorne is a hamlet and former pit village in County Durham, England. It is situated to the east of Bishop Auckland, near Coundon. Located in the Durham Coalfield, most of the former pit village of Leasingthorne was demolished in 1969 after the colliery closed, as Durham County Council's policy at the time preferred demolition over regeneration. There was also a brickworks in the village. In the 2001 census the village had a population of 41.
Coundon is an old mining village and former civil parish in the County Durham district, in the ceremonial county of Durham, England. The Boldon Book mentions a mine in Coundon in the twelfth century. In 2001 it had a population of 2611. In 2011 the ward had a population of 7139.
Newfield is a village and former civil parish in the County Durham district, in the ceremonial county of Durham, England. It is situated to the south of Willington, near Bishop Auckland. In the 2001 census Newfield had a population of 368.
Fir Tree is a village in County Durham, in England. It is west of Crook, near the River Wear.
Helmington Row is a small village in County Durham, England. It is situated between Crook and Willington, about 7 miles south-west of Durham and 3 miles north-north-west of Bishop Auckland.
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.
North Bitchburn is a small village in County Durham, England. It is situated 3 miles (4.8 km) north west of Bishop Auckland, near Howden-le-Wear. In the 2001 census North Bitchburn had a population of 135.
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.
Bishop Auckland is a constituency in County Durham that is represented in the House of Commons since 2024 by Sam Rushworth of the Labour Party.
The River Wear in Northern England rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland. At 60 mi (97 km) long, it is one of the region's longest rivers. The Wear wends in a steep valley through the cathedral city of Durham and gives its name to Weardale in its upper reach and Wearside by its mouth.
The Durham to Bishop Auckland Line was a railway line originally built by the North Eastern Railway (NER) to provide rail transport access to coal mines in West County Durham. It closed under the Beeching Axe to passenger traffic in May 1964, and freight in 1968. Today it forms the major part of the 9 miles (14 km) Brandon to Bishop Auckland rail trail.
Witton-le-Wear railway station is a railway station on the Weardale heritage railway serves the village of Witton-le-Wear in County Durham, North East England, and is the penultimate stop for most of line's eastbound passenger services. The current station platform is located on the opposite side of the track to the original railway station which was operation between 1847 and 1953.
