NORTH BITCHBURN is a small mining village of a couple of rows of hilltop houses, plus a cricket ground, to the south of Howden-le-Wear, but it is big enough to have its own local history society.
The North Bitchburn History Group has been meeting monthly since last summer and is now planning its first publication looking back over the last 150 years.
The group needs photographs and memories, so if you have anything you would like to contribute, please email northbburnhistory@gmail.com.
A little disappointingly, The Northern Echo archive only has a couple of old pictures of North Bitchburn, but they show that although the pub – The Red Lion – is unchanged over the decades, the old chapel that stood beside for a century has been demolished and replaced by modern housing.
And that distinctive roof to the right of the Lion – more of a ski slope, really. It must have a story – can anyone tell us?
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