Everything about Stanley County Durham totally explained
Stanley is a former mining town in
County Durham,
England. Centred on a hill top between
Chester-le-Street and
Consett it's the second largest town of
Derwentside after Consett and lies south west of
Gateshead.
Stanley used to be divided into three — the main town of
Stanley and the mining villages of
East Stanley and
South Stanley. However, with the expansion of all three they've blended into one town and East and South Stanley are no longer officially used town names (although they're recognised colloquially). The village of
South Moor was historically referred to as West Stanley.
History
Stanley was first mentioned in
1211; however, some
neolithic and
Roman remains have been found in the area, its name is derived from the
Old English for 'Stoney Field'.
One of the worst
coal mining disasters in British history took place in Stanley at West Stanley Colliery on
February 16 1909 when over 160 people were killed in the
Burns Pit Disaster.
Over recent decades, Stanley has undergone hard times economically, with the loss of major employers at EverReady in Tanfield and British Steel and Shotley Bridge General Hospital in the neighbouring town of
Consett. The town centre was one of the hardest hit by the development of the giant Metro Centre shopping complex just 20 minutes away in Gateshead.
In 2005, the
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister granted permission to plans to form a Stanley Town Council. This followed a campaign by local people and a petition of over 2000 names. The petition only represented 10% of the population that would be covered by the Town council. The campaigners promise that the Town Council would increase the pace of the
regeneration of the town and will be established in 2008.
Urban layout
The town has no definite end and stretches right into what were formerly neighbouring villages and towns, this caused a lot of confusion in the past over which part of the council was responsible for certain areas especially around the
Durham-
Gateshead border.
In recent times 'old Stanley' has all but died with many local shops and pubs closing.
The main shopping area, Front Street, is pedestrianized, housing independent shops alongside large chains such as
Boots and
Woolworths. A
market is held on Front Street on Thursdays and Saturdays. There are also supermarkets such as
ASDA and
Netto.
Refurbishment of Stanley town centre in recent years has seen the opening of a solar-powered bus interchange and an extension to the Louisa Centre incorporating a new town swimming pool, and will see the opening of a new health centre and a Sure Start children's centre.
Politics
Politically the town is dominated by Labour, with all the town's council seats on
Durham County Council and all but 4 seats on
Derwentside being held by the party. The town lies in the North Durham Parliamentary constituency which it shares with Chester-le-Street and is represented by Labour MP,
Kevan Jones. Prior to 1983 the town formed part of the Consett constituency (now part of North West Durham).
Leisure and Education
The Coast to Coast
(C2C) Cycle Route bypasses Stanley.
As well as many
primary schools, Stanley contains two
secondary schools. These are:
The town is also served by St. Bedes Catholic School and 6th Form College, based in the nearby village of
Lanchester.
Stanley is also famous for its annual summer playscheme situated at Stanley Youth Centre. This has been running since 1972 and is organised and run by a group of local people and uses YAP (Youth Action for Peace) to recruit international volunteers. It runs for the first two weeks of the summer holiday and children participate in games, activities and trips to local venues.
Stanley Youth Centre also offers activities to young people Monday to Friday during school term as well as a summer programme. Located at the top of Tyne Road, facilities include a sports hall, pool table, table tennis, meeting rooms, coffee bar. Activities include DJing, volunteering,
Duke of Edinburgh Award, babysitting, first aid and youth work courses.
The first weekend in August see's a number of local, national and international Blue's Bands decend onto the Town for the Stanley Blues Festival
title
In 2005,
The Animals played a set which went down well with locals and visitors alike.
Famous people from Stanley
Hillary Clinton's Grandfather
The Horsley Brothers (David and William J), the founders of Hollywood as the centre of the US film industry.
Glenn McCrory, IBF World boxing champion 1989-1990.
Sarah Hemmingway worlds first sheep farmer to move to PortsmouthFurther Information
Get more info on 'Stanley County Durham'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://stanley__county_durham.totallyexplained.com">Stanley, County Durham Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
