Railway Wood (County Durham)

Railway Wood is a woodland in County Durham, England, near the village of Fence Houses. It covers a total area of 4.83 hectares (11.94 acres). It is owned and managed by the Woodland Trust.

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Fencehouses railway station

Fencehouses railway station served the village of Fencehouses, Tyne and Wear, England from 1841 to 1964 on the Leamside line.

Landmark Train

Fence Houses, or Fencehouses is a village in the City of Sunderland in Tyne and Wear, England. It came into existence when Napoleonic prisoners were housed on the outskirts of Houghton-le-Spring. The prisoners were used as labour to cut a path through the hill at Houghton-le-Spring in order to get the troops from Durham to the coast at Sunderland. Houghton Cut as it became known has now been expanded to carry a 4-lane road, the A690. The place the prisoners were housed was known as "The French Houses" and this later changed to "Fencehouses". This origin is highly debatable. A more likely origin was put forward by the late Houghton-le-Spring historian, C.A. Smith MA, in an article in the Official Houghton-le-Spring Urban District Handbook, 1962, as: Fence Houses derives its name from Biddick Fence which formed the southern boundary of South Biddick and included Burnmoor The land was originally part of the Grange (a large local manor house). In about 1950, a modern housing estate was added to the village it, called the Grange estate. A railway line was built, bringing a 2-platform station providing services to Sunderland, Newcastle upon Tyne and Durham, and a stock yard from which local farmers shipped their cattle by train. The station opened in 1836, and the Post Office two years later as a Railway Sorting Office. The line closed to passengers in May 1964, apart from a one-day service for the Durham Miners Gala that year. In the 1960s. Fence Houses had the largest telephone exchange in the area (The Police house at Shiney Row 4 miles (6.4 km) away had the number "Fencehouses 55" in the 1940s). In the 1980s the Fence Houses exchange numbers became the Durham exchange numbers. The village is essentially a single main street cut in two by the path of the old railway line which also splits the village into control of two local authorities – Sunderland Council for the south of the village and Durham to the north). This is believed to be one of the only villages to split by local authorities in England with the North part of Fence Houses, County Durham and the South part of Fence Houses, Tyne & Wear.

Neighbourhood

Woodstone Village

Woodstone Village is a hamlet in the civil parish of Little Lumley, in the County Durham district, in the ceremonial county of Durham, England. It neighbours the larger villages of Fencehouses and Burnmoor. The local towns are Chester-le-Street and Houghton-le-Spring. It originally was named Little Lumley, being only a short journey from Great Lumley and consisted of 5 streets of houses, Finchale Terrace, High Row, Middle Row, Lower Row and Woodstone Terrace, which were built as housing for the now disused '6 pit' mine, in the area. Recently the addition of a large estate built by a housing company on the site of the former brick works has expanded the village. The only amenities in the village are the Athena beauty salon, and the Fencehouses community centre which contains a gym as well as childcare and nursery facilities. The village also includes an industrial estate from which several companies such as Par petroleum, County coaches and Leisure caravans operate out of. The village is served by the 78 bus which runs between Sunderland and Consett and the 71 bus which runs between Seaham and Chester-le-Street.

Community Centre Industrial

Joe's Pond

Joe's Pond (formerly known as Nicholson's Pond) is a 4-hectare (9.9-acre) Site of Special Scientific Interest that lies to the east of, and adjacent to, the Rainton Meadows nature reserve in Tyne and Wear, England.