The Trust had a display of old photographs at the Consett and District Heritage Initiative’s open day in the Heritage Centre, Blackhill & Consett Park last Saturday.
[Click on an image to enlarge.]
Local people have been donating their photographic collections to scan into the Heritage Centre’s photographic archive and there are some interesting photos of Shotley Bridge. I intend putting a gallery of old photos of the village on this site later this year.
The Consett and District Heritage Initiative is holding another exhibition at the Heritage Centre in Blackhill Park on Saturday 9th April 2011, 12-4 pm.
The Trust is supporting the Initiative to help preserve the history of Shotley Bridge and will have a display table of old photographs at the event.
The research room at the Heritage Centre is open on a Wednesday, where old documents, artifacts and photographs can be looked at. Permanent displays about the history of the area are being created in the foyer.
The artifacts include some from the ‘Consett Steelworks Exhibition’, which used to be in the Shotley Bridge Heritage and Tourist Information Centre.
Please let me know if you have any artifacts or records of the area that you are willing to donate or loan to the Heritage Centre. In particular, the Centre is compiling a digital archive of old photographs and is appealing to borrow personal collections for scanning.
Sunday 12th September marks the 30th anniversary of the closure of Consett Steelworks.
In conjunction with Consett & District Heritage Initiative, the Friends of Consett and Blackhill Park are holding a free event, 2-5pm, to celebrate the history of Consett and Steel. The event will take place on the bandstand and in the Heritage Centre [former park keepers cottage] where there will be refreshments and historical exhibitions.
Shotley Bridge Village Trust will have an exhibition about the history of the village.
Durham Records Online is a service intended to help genealogists find their ancestors in County Durham, England. Shotley baptisms, marriages and burials have been recently updated.
All Shotley records are now instantly available:
• 1,612 baptisms covering 1675-1812
• 534 marriages covering 1670-1818
• 880 burials covering 1690-1812
In these records, the term “Shotley” can be misleading. There is no village named Shotley. The bridge over the River Derwent is the boundary between Shotley parish in Northumberland and Medomsley parish in County Durham. The old spa township of Shotley Bridge is on the Durham side, with a handful of houses on the Northumberland side before the road comes to The Snods. There is also a place called Shotley Field nearby in Northumberland. “Shotley” in the register is probably usually a shortened form of “Shotley Parish”, but sometimes it appears to be a shortened form of ”Shotley Field” or “Shotley Bridge”.
The Shotley Bridge conservation Area was originally designated in 1975 and the boundary has been amended three times since.
A Conservation Area Appraisal has been produced by Northumberland and Durham County Councils to assess the features and qualities of the Area that make it special, and consider how it can be effectively preserved and enhanced. The Village Trust was consulted on the draft version and the final version was adopted in December 2009.
The document explains the planning policy framework, history of development, buildings and materials of architectural interest. Nine character areas are described, issues and potential for improvement are discussed and management proposals outlined. There are some interesting maps and photographs as well as information on all the listed buildings and buildings of local interest.
Download a .pdf version of the document from the Conservation Area page.
Shotley Bridge Village Trust 