The Northern Echo | Durham Memories

Still the hub of city life after all these years...

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 17:01:04 +0100

The word ‘market’ first appeared in English in the 13th century, but for 1,000 years a market place has been at the heart of almost every village, town and city in England – and Durham City can boast one of the finest. Keith Proud looks back into its past.

A rather strange fish

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 16:07:08 +0100

Barnabe Barnes was buried at Durham in December 1609 but spent his life putting pen to paper and causing a few feuds on the way.

The poet and the portrait

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 16:14:38 +0100

It was the sort of love story that inspires writers, but the romance of famed poets Elizabeth Barrett Barrett and Robert Browning hid a dark secret.

Heart of the city

Fri, 20 May 2011 18:04:55 +0100

The Saxon word “aelfet-ee”, meaning “swan island”, has become corrupted over the years until it is now “Elvet”, and refers to the area of land across the River Wear, due west of the peninsula, on which Durhams cathedral and castle stand. There are two principal thoroughfares in the area – Old Elvet and New Elvet. The former was once regarded as the finest street in the city, along which horses used to be run by their owners to show them off when fairs were held there.

A star of Tow Law

Fri, 20 May 2011 15:54:51 +0100

The discovery of x-rays by the German Wilhelm Konrad Rontgen in 1895 caused a sensation in scientific and medical circles and created interest in the subject across the world, even in the unlikely setting of the small coal-mining town of Tow Law, in rural County Durham.

Men had starring roles to play at new university

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:51:42 +0100

Only three years after its foundation in 1832, the fledgling Durham University was beginning to reach for the stars, quite literally, to make itself a voice to be heard and listened to, both in and far beyond the confines of English higher education. Keith Proud reports.

The historian and the Lambton Worm

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 15:59:46 +0000

Robert Surtees was a wealthy young man when he began his epic history of County Durham, an undertaking that would take him a lifetime.

The duke’s piper

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 17:25:10 +0000

Jamie Allan, a celebrated musician and friend of the aristrocacy, but also thief, bigamist, and deserter, who died in a Durham prison cell awaiting deportation

Earl to old bishop

Thu, 03 Feb 2011 15:41:38 +0000

Bishop Hugh Pudsey’s legacy for the North-East was more than just a bridge over the River Wear and a few expensive projects.

Saint’s final journey

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 15:04:22 +0000

From Lindisfarne to Durham City and back again, St Cuthbert provided guidance to the monks who carried his body to his final resting place.