Tudhoe & Spennymoor Local History Society
Tudhoe & Spennymoor Local History Society owes its existence to the late Joyce Urwin (1937-2014) who, in October 2010, became our second President. It was she who mounted an exhibition at the Tudhoe Show in September 1988 proposing the formation of a local history society in Spennymoor. On 16th December that same year she hosted the inaugural Committee meeting of the newly formed Society in her shop, Poppies, situated in King Street, Spennymoor. Since 1989, the Society's meetings have been held monthly, initially in Tudhoe Community Centre and later in St. David’s Parish Hall, Tudhoe, where attendances now regularly number around fifty.
At that meeting in 1988 it was resolved that William Fleming (1920-2014) - whose Great Grandfather had become the first Land Agent for the Croxdale Estate after travelling down from the Borders by stagecoach to take up the position on 2nd January 1844 - be elected the Society’s first President. Duncan MacIntosh was made Chairman while other appointments included Joyce Urwin as Secretary and Treasurer, Maureen McKellar as Meetings Secretary and John Banham and Tony Smith as Meeting Recorders.
Since that fledgeling Society was formed we have had just four Presidents – William Fleming (1989 – 2010); Joyce Urwin (2010 – 2014); Donaldson Rippon (2014 – 2019) and since then, Dr John Banham. Over the same period, there have been the same number of Chairmen – Duncan MacIintosh (1989 – 1990); Tony Coia (1990 – 1995); Joyce Urwin (1995 – 2000) and Tony Smith (2000-2023) who retired at the AGM in October 2023. Our new chairman is Keith Simpson (2023-date). By comparison, we have had only two Hon. Treasurers – Joyce Urwin (1989 – 1995) & John Banham (1995 – date). For the first two years, Joyce was also Hon. Secretary, before Mareen Mackellar (1990 - 1997) took over that role. She was followed by Sylvia Wright (1997 - 2015), and then Pat Watroba (2015-date) who has been the fourth and current holder of this vital position. Loyalty and longevity have been very much the order of the day, giving the Society a stability which thankfully continues to this day.
Mrs Sue Snowdon, HM Lord Lieutenant for County Durham, asked us to donate the fee from her talk in November to a local charity. We chose 1st Ferryhill Cubs, Beavers and Scouts at Dean Bank as some of their group had attended the talk. Keith Simpson, our chairman, presented them with the cheque at their Christmas party.
This morning, the 31 March, 2025, Tudhoe and Spennymoor Local History Society handed over to The Story their archive of photographs and other material comprising some 47 large and 14 small boxes of material.
Most of the material had been catalogued and stored prior to the Covid lockdown in 2020. Here are two photographs, one of which includes John, Nick and Tony, three of the committee members who completed this work. All those who took part in this huge task deserve the greatest praise for their hard work.