Spennymoor and District Time Line 2000-2024

Original Compiled by Eric Coombes

2000

• The Rothmans Factory at Green Lane Industrial Estate closed after a takeover by British American Tobacco with the loss of 464 jobs.
• The Millennium Mining Memorial was unveiled in Jubilee Park.
• Black and Decker were now employing 2,300 staff.
• Oughton Carriers, which began in 1920 and came into the possession of the George Harrison in 1946 and eventually grew to 14 vehicles of varying sizes. The business however became unprofitable and had to close.
• At the annual General meeting of the Tudhoe and Spennymoor History Society on the 16th October, the Chair, Joyce Urwin, stepped down and was replaced by Tony Smith.

2001

• A Memorial Plaque in memory of the two pilots killed above Tudhoe in 1942 was unveiled at York Hill Cemetery.
• Middlestone Moor Junior School closed on Friday 23rd July. The Head Teacher was Bill Hornsby.
• Work began on the new Spennymoor Police Station in Wesleyan Road on 8th January.

2002

• The Spennynews was relaunched.
• On 2nd May, the new Spennymoor Police Station opened and the old Police Station on Dundas Street was closed.
• North Road Junior School closed in August.
• Bessemer Park School opened in September.
• Moor Grange Hostel for the elderly was demolished in September.
• H. Raine and Sons Coachworks closed and was demolished in September.
• 950 jobs were lost with the partial closure of the Black and Decker Factory at Green Lane.
• Nelson’s sold on the Garage in Cambridge Street to Williams of Darlington.
• Tees Valley Group began building 18 Bungalows for the elderly on the former Coach Works site in King Street at a cost of £1,000,000.
• Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee, Parade of Golden Roses, Jubilee Park.

2003

• Dr John Corrigan (retired) Died on 21st April aged 90 having been in partnership with his wife and Dr Kenneth Duncan Wood in the town for many years.
• In May, Thorn Lighting at Merrington Lane made 95 of its 787 staff redundant.
• On 14th June Terry Robson, Town Clerk and local Solicitor went missing. He was found by Police in a Salvation Army Hostel in Edinburgh on 8th August and arrested on suspicion of theft.
• Newton Moor Construction in May 2003 applied for planning permission to build houses on the land occupied by the deserted North Road School. Demolition of the School began in July 2003 and the first house was opened in 2004.
• In September the Spennynews failed once again due to lack of funding and financial control.
• The Spennynews was relaunched and based and managed from Shildon.
• Spennymoor Cemetery Memorial Garden officially opened.

2004

• Spennymoor Salvation Army Hall in Dundas Street closed on 17th May after 126 years.
• Spennymoor Settlement’s Everyman Theatre was listed as an historic building.

2005

• The ‘Oaks’ school opened on West Terrace.
• Dr Kenneth Duncan Wood (retired) died on May 19th having been in partnership with Drs Corrigan for many years.
• Tudhoe Moor Nursing Home was burnt to the ground on September 12th after standing empty for three years.

2006

• In September Williams Garage and Petrol Station in Cambridge Street filed for bankruptcy and the business closed. The site was cleared in June 2008 and was later redeveloped for the LIDL supermarket.
• Spennymoor West Modern School was set on fire and had to be demolished.
• John Culine of Tudhoe was given an MBE.
• McCleans began building homes on the Tollerton Park Estate at Middlestone Moor.

2008

• On June 5th The British Legion building in Spennymoor was demolished.
• Spennymoor Settlement’s Everyman Theatre was refurbished and a new garden laid out.
• Woolworths Closing down sale began on Thursday 11th of December. On Wednesday 17th December it was announced that all Woolworth Shops nationally would close after the New Year.
• The Black and Decker Factory closed with the last 169 workers losing their jobs.
• The Electrolux Cooker Factory at Merrington Lane closed with the loss of 500 jobs.

2009

• LIDL opened a shop in Cambridge Street in February on the site previously occupied by the Williams Garage and Forecourt.
• The new Thorn Factory, ‘The Thorn Academy of Light’ on Green Lane Industrial Estate was completed and opened on Thursday 5th February costing £28,000,000 and later named UK Factory of the year 2009.
• On 1st April, a new Unitary Durham County Council came into existence. All previous District and County Services were absorbed into the new Authority, resulting in the simultaneous closure of the County and all seven District Councils. At the same time, Authorities like Spennymoor Town Council became second tier bodies with enhanced Service responsibilities. County Hall and Green Lane Offices were retained, together with some of the other Council’s premises.
• Several influential people from Spennymoor brought The Spennynews back to be edited, published and printed in Spennymoor.

2010

• The new Fire Station at Enterprise Way was built in 2009/10 and officially opened on 9th October.
• Adan House Surgery was destroyed by fire in March, started by two young boys aged 9 and 10. On September 28th work began to demolish the burnt out building.
• At the Tudhoe and Spennymoor Local History Society’s AGM in October, Joyce Urwin was elected the Society’s second President.
• Taylor Wimpey began building 222 homes on the Moorcroft Estate off Grayson Road at Middlestone Moor.
• Zion Chapel in Oxford Street was demolished under a Compulsory Purchase Order to make way for the new main road. Prior to its demolition the congregation were first moved into a new church building nearby which officially opened on 23rd April but which had been in use for several months prior to that date.
• In March work began to build a new surgery on the site of the previous one and was to be a larger two-story building. It was opened on 17th October and given a new name, St Andrews Medical Practice.
• The first exhibition at Spennymoor Town Hall Art Gallery opened in June. It was curated by Bob Abley who asked for volunteers to run regular exhibitions at the Gallery.
• Iceland opened a shop in Spennymoor on 21st July.
• On 4th August work began to replace the 95 year old roof on the Town Hall and install new Solar Panels.
• On 2nd November Sedgefield Borough Homes changed its name to ‘Livin’.

2012

• Yuill began building houses estate at Durham Gate.
• Tudhoe Grange Schools both closed down in July 2012 and the pupils transferred to Spennymoor Comprehensive School.
• The Remploy Factory at Merrington Lane Industrial Estate closed down.
• Susan Snowdon {nee Hanselman} was appointed by the Queen as the 30th and first female Lord Lieutenant of Durham on 18th December. The family lived in Osbourne Road, Spennymoor, and her Father had a Wet Fish Shop in the High Street.

2013

• Susan Snowden began her duties as the Lord Lieutenant on 8th March.
• JD Wetherspoon bought the old Arcadia building and after extensive refurbishment it opened on 28th March as ‘The Grand Electric Hall.’ (The building had previously been used as a Bingo Hall which closed in 2010.)
• Barratts began building 365 houses at the Merrington Park Development formerly the site of industrial units. Expected completion date was 2019.

2014

• Joyce Urwin, Tudhoe and Spennymoor Local History Society’s founder, first Secretary and Treasurer, third Chairman and second President died on 16th March.
• Bob Abley, Teacher, Historian, Publisher and Curator, died in June while planning the Spennymoor’s Great War Exhibition which was held at the Town Hall during August to commemorate the centenary of the start of World War One. Bob’s colleagues, John Banham, John Grainger and Harry Fairish completed the exhibition with support from Spennymoor Town Council and Tudhoe & Spennymoor Local History Society. The exhibition featured the work of Kate Maxey from Spennymoor who served as a nurse in France for most of the war and who was severely wounded in a German air raid in March 1918.
• Norman Stansfield Cornish, Spennymoor’s most famous artist, who was born in Bishops Close Street on 18th November 1919, died on 1st August at the age of 94.
• The last member of his family in Tudhoe, William Fleming of Roseneath, Tudhoe Village died on 26th August at the age of 94. Toward the end of the Second World War he had flown Spitfires, Hurricanes and Mustangs, the last in escorting Big Wing bomber Squadrons of up to 1,000 aircraft-mainly, Lancasters-on raids over Germany. After a short spell continuing the work of his Mother, Father, Grandfather and Great Grandfather as Agent to the Croxdale Estate, he moved to work for the Coal Board upon Nationalisation in 1947. He was very active in many areas of the local community, including being President of Tudhoe & Spennymoor Local History Society for 22 years from the date of its inception.
• Tudhoe Grange School on St. Charles Road was demolished in September.
• At the Tudhoe & Spennymoor Local History Society’s AGM in October, Don Rippon was elected the Society’s third President.

2015

• The former Alderman Wraith School on Durham Road was demolished in February/March.
• Tony Coia, Tudhoe and Spennymoor Local History Society’s second Chairman and former Headmaster of St. Charles RC Primary School, died in March.
• In October work began on the building of 21 luxury houses on the Eve Lane estate at Durham Gate. Prices started at £324,995 for a three bedroom house with double garage.
• At the Tudhoe & Spennymoor Local History Society’s AGM in October, Pat Watroba was elected the Society’s fourth Secretary following the resignation of Sylvia Wright.

2016

• Work began on major renovation of the 153 flat-roof houses on the York Hill Estate including new interiors, exteriors and pitched roofs.
• The remains of the old Black and Decker factory were demolished, and Taylor Wimpey began building 131 houses on the site at Durham Gate.
• Following a full refurbishment of St. David’s Church, Tudhoe, which included incorporation of the two stained glass windows saved from the former Holy Innocents Church in 1987, the building was blessed by the 74th Bishop of Durham, the Rt. Revd. Paul Butler on 17th April.
• Work began on building 70 two, three- and four-bedroom houses on the Acorns estate at Durham Gate.
• Work began on building 46 two, three- and four-bedroom houses on the Thornvale Estate, off South View, on land that was once Middlestone Moor School’s playing field.

2018

• On 5th May, the final issue of Spennynews - issue 365 was published, failing again through lack of funding. On Saturday 4th August a new management team distributed the first issue of a new, free, fortnightly, Community Newspaper, the Spennymoor News in colour.
• Alisha Cowie, a 19 year old law student from Spennymoor was crowned ‘Miss England’ on 4th September.
• On 21st October, a century after Spennymoor Town Hall welcomed back those who had served in the First World War, the premiere of a new film about medical services in that war will be held.
  Behind the lines celebrates the service of four people from Spennymoor who returned to the town at the end of the war after saving lives on the Western Front. Foremost among these was Sister Kate Maxey, a nurse who served in casualty clearing stations and hospitals in France for three and a half years before being wounded in a German air raid in 1918. She carried on directing her nurses despite serious injuries and was awarded the Military Medal for her bravery.
  The film also tells the stories of two coal miners, Samuel Bott and Joseph Willis, who joined the Royal Army Medical Corps and who both won the Military Medal saving wounded soldiers on the battlefield in 1916. In contrast, Spennymoor Maths Teacher John Leckie was a conscientious objector who joined Ambulance Train 11 to evacuate wounded from the Somme battles. These different strands of Spennymoor's Great War heritage are woven together in a 62-minute film, which, thanks to Spennymoor Town Council, is to be shown for the first time to an invited audience in the Town Hall where many "Welcome Home" events took place in 1918 and 1919.
  The film has been financed by the Heritage Lottery Fund, commissioned by Tudhoe & Spennymoor Local History Society and made by Lonely Tower Film and Media. It features the families of Kate Maxey and her colleague Sister Edith Appleton, experts on World War 1 nursing and conscientious objection and music played by Spennymoor Town Band. The film soundtrack includes a newly commissioned piece of music - The gallant sister - recorded by the Town Band, finalists in this year's National Brass Band Championships.
  For more details go to Behind the Lines, Kate Maxey

2019

• The Norman Cornish Trail opened on 6th April. Interested persons can now walk in his footsteps to 10 key locations around the town. For more details go to Norman Cornish trail.
• Mark Solon Founder of the Solon Connor Fawcett Family Cancer Trust was awarded a Points of Light award by Local MP Helen Goodman on 22nd March on behalf of the Prime Minster for his work in helping County Durham families affected by Cancer.
• The refurbished John Gibson Arch at the Town Hall was opened on Friday 25th April. New automatic doors have been added at both ends and there are illuminated copies of Norman Cornish paintings throughout its length.
• In the General Election the Conservatives won the Bishop Auckland seat with a majority of almost 8000 and Dehenna Davison became MP for Bishop Auckland and Spennymoor.

2020

• In January Gleeson Builders began preparations for building 2, 3- and 4-bedroom houses at Middlestone Moor on land which will be known as Middlestone Meadows.
• Morrison’s moved into premises previously occupied by McColls on the 23rd February.
• Farm Foods Supermarket on Spennymoor Precinct closed its doors for the last time at the end of business on Friday 31st January.
• On 7th February Spennymoor Town Council elected its first ever Conservative Councillor, Gemma Abley, who won the seat with 405 votes. Lib Dems 255, Labour 220 and Independent 141.
• Work began to demolish King William Court and King William Grange in August, to be replace with 11 two-bedroom bungalows due for completion July 2021. The work is to be carried out by Tolent for Livin Housing who are based in Spennymoor.

2021

• Demolition of some of the Precinct (Festival Walk) began on 4th January. MGL Group based in Durham had the contract to carry out this work. Hellens Group refurbished the remaining units.

2023

• George Teasdale, a photographer who started The Studio in Spennymoor High Street in 1964, died in February. Many of the photographs in our photo archive were contributed to the history society by George.