Chester-le-Street

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Chester-le-Street (postally but incorrectly 'Chester le Street') is the main town in the Chester-le-Street district of County Durham, England. It has a history going back to Roman times when it was called Concangis. The town is located 8 miles west of Sunderland on the River Wear. The Parish Church of St Mary and St Cuthbert is where the body of St Cuthbert was laid to rest for some 113 years before being transferred to Durham Cathedral, and is the site of the first translation of the Bible into English. The Riverside Ground at Chester-le-Street is home to Durham County Cricket Club which became a first class county in 1992.The Riverside Ground is overlooked by Lumley Castle an impressive fortified mansion house, which is currently used as a hotel, and is next door to Chester le Street golf course which is not connected to the hotel.

Famous sons of the town include former England football captain Bryan Robson as well as football manager and former England international, Colin Todd. Jock Purdon, the folk singer and poet, lived in the town for most of his life, although he was born in Scotland Bruce Welch of pop group The Shadows was brought up in the town.

Older football version

An old version of Football was once played in the town. The game was played until 1932 between the "Upstreeters" and "Downstreeters". Play started at 1pm and finished at 6pm. To start the game, the ball was thrown from the Queen's Head hotel in the centre of the town and in one game more than 400 players took part. The centre of the street was the dividing line and the winner was the side where the ball was (Up or Down) at 6pm. The game was finally stopped in 1932, when a number of players were fined under the Highways Act for obstructing the highways and causing an annoyance to pedestrians!

Cricket

Chester-le-Street is the home of Durham County Cricket Club.

Transport

At the time of the football matches 'Front Street' was actually the A1 road from London to Edinburgh. A bypass was built in the 1950's which still exists today as the A167 this road itself was bypassed by the A1(M) motorway in the 1970's

Today car traffic is banned from the bottom part of Front Street and it is restricted to buses only.

See also

• List of bands/musicians from North East England

External links

• [Concangis]
• [Parish Church of St Mary and St Cuthbert]
• [Durham County Cricket Club]
• [Chester-le-Street Town Football Club]
• [Chester-le-Street Railway Station]
• [Chester-le-Street shops]
• [Chester-le-Street District Council Website]
• [Red Rose Primary School]

 

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