General Chat

hi, is there anyone from durham uk on here? the reason i ask is i'm trying to find out about a place in west rainton, durham. i dont know if it still exists or not. the place is: lackey's yard, 86 south street, wwest rainton, durham. it belonged to my family and it was where they ran the family boot and shoe making business from. any help greatful. amy

have you tried it under sunderland only it rings a bell just one of my thoughts lol am prob wrong lol

West Rainton is about 4 miles east of Durham City on the read to Sunderland. You could try to have a look at an OS map online and see if its still there But here is a bit of history about it lol To the north of Belmont is the village of WEST RAINTON, which was once an important coal mining area where former colliery owners included John Duck, `Durham’s Dick Whittington’ and the third Marquess of Londonderry who had a reputation as a very hard hearted employer. The spire of the Victorian church at Rainton is a very prominent feature and can be seen from miles around. It was donated to the church by a local M.P called Sir George Eliott in 1877. A large granite tablet records the donation of the spire by the M.P - this tablet being of special interest in that it is a piece of stone taken from the great pyramid of Ghizeh in Egypt. It was removed from the pyramid with the permission of the Khedive of Egypt. Just over a mile to the west of West Rainton across the other side of the River Wear are the ruins of FINCHALE PRIORY which is one of the most historic sites in the district of Durham City. Finchale is mentioned as early as A.D 792 when it was the site of a synod for the Northumbrian Church held to discuss church discipline. The meeting was followed by another two in A.D 798 and in 810, which suggests that Finchale was a place of considerable importance. In about 1104 Finchale became the site of a hermitage belonging to SAINT GODRIC who lived here for sixty years. Godric was born in Norfolk in the year 1065 and in his early years lived the life of a pedlar but later became a sea captain and travelled extensively throughout Europe. In the middle part of his life he went on a pilgrimage to Compostella in Spain where he made the decision to return home to England to live the life of a hermit.

Try this site it is West Rainton history group, you could always send them an e-mail and see if there would help find what you are looking for. www(.)communigate(.)co(.)uk/ne/historygroup/page2(.)phtml take off brackets regards roger

hi, can you give me the rest of the web address, it doesnt come up as a site with just what you put. thanks

Present day South Street shows up on a Google search. If you add the words... Lackeys Yard... there is a link to family history information, which may be of interest. Gwyn