Horden

Horden is a village and electoral ward in County Durham, England. It is situated on the North Sea coast, to the east of Peterlee, approximately 12 miles south of Sunderland. Horden was a mining village until the closure of the Horden Colliery in 1987. Main features include the Welfare and Memorial Parks and St Mary's church. It is connected to the villages of Blackhall Colliery and Blackhall Rocks to its south by a spectacular rail viaduct which spans Castle Eden Dene near Denemouth. Horden Dene provides Horden's northern boundary with Easington Colliery.

1. History

The local manor house, Horden Hall, was built in the early 17th century by Sir John Conyers, 1st Baronet (d.1664). However, Horden village did not really begin to develop beyond a few farmhouses until the construction of Horden Colliery began in 1900. By 1920 Pitmen’s homes were built, initially in rows of houses named First to Thirteenth Streets. Horden has an Anglo-Saxon name that comes from an old word ‘horu’ meaning ‘dirty’ with the ‘den’ part of the name referring to the dene or valley. Horden is first mentioned in the eleventh century as ‘Horeden’, when there is also mention of a ‘Horetun’ (dirty farm). The first church in the village, St Hilda’s – now the church hall - was opened in 1904, and in 1913 St Mary’s church, built by local landowner Colonel Burdon, was consecrated. The village continued to grow strongly, reaching a peak population of 15,000 in 1951. By 1964 there were 3 cinemas, cricket, rugby and football pitches and also a bowling green. By 1970 the colliery was considered the "Jewel in the Crown" and expected to have a life of 30 years. Since closure of the mine in 1987, Horden’s population has fallen to around 8,500 (2001 census) and it now suffers high unemployment, higher than average health issues and problems with poor housing stock. In addition, Horden has gradually lost most of its services and amenities including Police and Fire Stations, secondary school, many local shops and cinemas. Its railway station reopened in June 2020. Primary and nursery schools remain, including Horden Nursery School, Cotsford Primary School, Yohden Primary School and Our Lady Star of the Sea Primary School. In political terms, Horden is split between the Horden North and Horden South wards of Durham County Council, both of which are part of the parliamentary constituency of Easington, represented since 2010 by Grahame Morris of the Labour Party.

1. Mining

Horden Colliery was one of the biggest mines in the country. From the beginning of construction in 1900 to nationalisation in 1947 it was owned and operated by Horden Collieries Ltd, who also operated mines at Blackhall, Castle Eden and Shotton. Following nationalisation the mine was operated by the National Coal Board. The mine was operated mainly for the purpose of working undersea coal, and had three shafts. At the height of operating in the 1930s it employed over 4,000 men and produced over 1.5million tonnes of coal a year. Large volumes of water and other geological issues meant that Horden Colliery failed to make a profit from the later-1970s onwards, and was finally closed in 1987. The only original sites left now are the medical centre (site now occupied by a gymnasium), the baths (now rebuilt into offices), the canteen (now occupied by a garage) and the ventilation office (now used by the local council). Rising minewater following the closure led to fears of contamination of drinking water. A minewater treatment plant was installed in 2004 by the Coal Authority to remove the majority of the iron and raise the pH level of the water. This was a temporary measure, prior to installation of a permanent passive mine water treatment system.

1. Regeneration

In recent years Horden has benefited from the removal of mining spoil heaps and the redevelopment of its Welfare Park (which houses Horden's rugby, cricket and football teams). The Welfare and Memorial Parks are both currently designated Green Flag Parks with the Welfare Park also recognised with the Green Heritage Award, one of only four in the North East of England. The Colliery Welfare Park was originally funded by the miners themselves in the 1920s who paid an amount of money from their wages. At one time there was a swimming pool filled with water pumped out from the mine, which swimmers were only allowed to use if they were able to swim a certain distance. Now there is a basketball court / tennis court, two children's play areas, a band stand, and gardens to walk round. Marra is a 2015 sculpture by Ray Lonsdale of a miner with his heart torn out, depicting the death of mining communities. The Durham Heritage Coast Partnership (previously the lottery funded Turning the Tide programme) is committed to the conservation, protection and enhancement of the coastline, which is home to a rich variety of flora and fauna.

1. Transport

The A1086 road is the main road through the village linking with Easington and the A19 to Sunderland in the north and Blackhall and the A179 to Hartlepool in the south; the B1320 links the village to Peterlee and Shotton in the west. The village is served by Horden railway station on the Durham Coast Line. This station, which opened on 29 June 2020, replaced Horden's earlier station which closed in May 1964. In 1987, the United Peterlee Panther bus service was launched between Peterlee and Horden/Horden Hall Estate. It stopped anywhere passengers wanted, except on Cosford Lane. The service is mirrored today in Go North East's services 209 and 210. A number of regular Arriva and Go North East services operate through the main streets of Horden.

1. Notable residents

John Alderson (television and film actor noted for playing the lead in the 1957–58 syndicated western television series, Boots and Saddles) Stan Anderson (professional footballer, born 1933) Eddy Ellwood (world champion bodybuilder and professional Strongman competitor) Alan Hammonds, founder member and lead singer of the cult British power pop band Incredible Kidda Band Dale Roberts, professional footballer Bob Taylor, professional footballer Tom Watson, professional footballer Peter Noble (darts player) who won through to the prize board on Bullseye television gameshow

1. References


1. External links

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Horden

Horden est un village anglais du comté de Durham.

Peterlee

Peterlee est une ville anglaise située dans le comté de Durham, au Royaume-Uni. En 2011, sa population était de 20 164 habitants.

Easington Colliery

Easington Colliery est une ville anglaise située dans le comté de Durham, au nord-est du pays. En 2011, sa population était de 5 022 habitants. Easington Colliery, was one of the most modern and productive mines in Europe but at 4.20am the picks of the coal cutting machine cutter, which was working in the Duck Bill district of the Five Quarter seam, struck pyrites causing sparks which ignited firedamp causing an explosion which brought down 120 yards of roof and entombed 81 men. The explosion took place 900 feet below ground. 38 men were coming to the end of their shift and were to be replaced by 43 men who were working the fore-shift. The cause of the explosion was the ignition of firedamp triggered by the picks of a coal cutting machine, operating on a retreating longwall face, when they struck pyrites. The explosion spread through 16,000 yards of roadway and caused the deaths of 81 persons. Two persons died in the ensuing rescue operations. The Inquiry was opened at the Easington Colliery Welfare Hall, Easington, on 30th October and terminated on 15th November. Evidence was taken on 13 days and 75 witnesses were examined. The death toll rose when two rescue men were killed, taking the death toll to 83. They were Henry Burdess, 43, a Deputy, from Brancepeth Colliery, and John Wallace, 26, Back Overman. Rescue Worker Casualties John Young Wallace, a fully trained rescue man of 26 and an overman at Easington, was acting as the captain of a rescue team when he met his death. About half an hour after leaving the fresh air base the team was exploring the West Materials Road in the neighbourhood of No. 10 Stenton when, without any previous signal of distress, Wallace sank to his knees, said a few words from the side of his mouth about sweating, sat down and then fell over unconscious. Probably he died almost at once as his jaw would sag when he lost consciousness and the lethal external atmosphere leaking past the mouth piece would prove fatal within a few moments. Apparently the team had been walking rather more quickly than is usual or prudent in rescue operations and they had had to negotiate a number of obstructions, but they had travelled only about 700 yards from the base and no other member of the team was distressed. According to the evidence, when Wallace collapsed his mouth-piece and nose clip were in place; air was flowing normally into the breathing bag from the liquid air pack; and he\ had not previously spoken. Wallace undoubtedly died from carbon monoxide poisoning. A post-mortem examination revealed in both lungs a degree of emphysema sufficient to cause breathlessness on heavy physical exertion, especially if such exertion were undertaken whilst wearing self-contained breathing apparatus under conditions of both mental and physical stress. In answer to questions by Mr. T. A. Jones and myself, Dr. W. C. Sharp, H.M. Medical Inspector of Mines, expressed the opinion that as a consequence of his exertions Wallace might have experienced sufficient difficulty in breathing to cause an involuntary opening of the mouth; that this would allow the outside atmosphere to leak past the mouth-piece; and that with the high concentration of carbon monoxide existing—probably of the order of three per cent. - even a slight leakage would induce a sufficient quantity into the breathing circuit to cause him to collapse. Three days after the death of Wallace, Henry Burdess, a trained rescue man, died in somewhat similar circumstances. About 35 minutes after leaving the fresh air base, Burdess signalled to his captain that he was in distress. His breathing bag was inflated and functioning normally and his nose-clip and mouth-piece were in place. Although the team had only travelled between 600-700 yards and the other members were quite cool and comfortable, he was sweating heavily.. His captain and another man tried to help him out but after going ten to 12 yards he collapsed. Eventually he was carried out on a stretcher, but on arrival at the fresh air base was found to be dead. Examination and tests of the apparatus carried out by Mr. Calder showed that the automatic relief valve was set at 2.6 inches water-gauge instead of 3.5 inches water-gauge, and that one of the teeth grips of the mouth-piece was torn. Otherwise the apparatus was in order. The effect of the relief valve being set at 2.6 inches water-gauge would be to bring down the volume of air in the breathing bag to rather less than the six litres normally held when the valve is set at 3.5 inches. This, however, should not have had any adverse effect as the quantity of air produced by the Aerophor apparatus is much in excess of that normally required; to quote Mr. Calder, "I would not expect it to affect a man’s breathing in any way other than to reduce the resistance against breathing". As regards the torn teeth grip, it is impossible to say when the damage took place. It may have happened before or after Burdess collapsed, but in any event I do not think it had any particular significance. This view was confirmed in part at least when the apparatus, re-charged but otherwise as it was taken from Burdess’ body, successfully passed one test in which the wearer walked for two hours at four miles per hour and a second test of two hours in which various operations were carried out in an irrespirable atmosphere.

Easington (Durham)

Easington est une ville du comté de Durham, en Angleterre. Elle est située sur la côte de la mer du Nord, à une quinzaine de kilomètres au nord-est de la ville de Hartlepool. Administrativement, elle se compose de deux paroisses civiles : Easington Village et Easington Colliery. La première correspond au village d'origine, tandis que la seconde est une ancienne ville minière. Au moment du recensement de 2011, elles comptaient respectivement 2 171 et 5 022 habitants.

Hesleden

Hesleden est un village du comté de Durham, en Angleterre.