BISHOP AUCKLAND has a very moving war memorial - quite literally, but the suggestion in our Remembrance Sunday articles that it memorial moved in 1973 raised many eyebrows.
That was because it was wrong.
The memorial was first unveiled on September 13, 1922, in Station Approach at the top of Newgate Street. This was thought an appropriate location because many of the men of Bishop left by train for the front.
However, in the 1960s, services at the station were reduced and its goods yard was earmarked for development. In 1972, there was a suggestion that the memorial should be moved to Westfield Park in Cockton Hill Road – which is known as Tittybottle Park.
It wasn’t until the Morrisons supermarket development began in 1986 that the memorial was moved, its final location being in the Market Place.
John Askwith has found a cutting from the Echo from July 10, 1986, showing the memorial being lowered into place by contractors CH Clarey.
Graham Peat has kindly sent in a number of pictures that he took showing how the move unfolded. He was trying to use up a reel of film so he could get his holiday snaps developed – something completely unknown in our digital age.
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