THE Durham Plan is once again in the news, but what do you make of this Durham Plan? It has been recently rediscovered by Michael Richardson of the Gilesgate Archive, and we believe these three drawings featured in the Durham Advertiser – sister paper to The Northern Echo – in 1927.

The plan then was remarkable. It was to rip out at least two sides of the Market Place. On the west side, St Nicholas' Church and the Town Hall were to survive, but then a wide bridge would have been built over to Milburngate where a new free library and bus station was to be built on the riverside.

Much of the south side appears also to have been earmarked for clearance, so wide, grassy slopes could be made to approach the castle and cathedral.

And much of the east side – where the High Street is now – would also have been demolished so a new covered market could be built.

These plans, as is so often the case with plans, never left the drawing board – although, to be fair, the new bridge concept was ahead of its time. It was just then when it came to be built in the 1960s, it was moved a couple of hundred yards north and so the integrity of the market square was not compromised.

The other pictures here come from The Northern Echo's photo-archive. If you have any information or thoughts about them, please let us know. Email: chris.lloyd@nne.co.uk