Peterlee
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General information
Peterlee is unique among the new towns which came into being after the Second World War in that it was the only one requested by the people through their political representatives--though whether a majority of the people living in the surrounding colliery villages actually wanted the place to be built remains a moot point. It can certainly be argued that the building of Peterlee was at the expense of such nearby colliery villages as Thornley and Wheatley Hill where development was deliberately suppressed by the local council in favour of the new town.A deputation, mostly if not all working miners from the Easington District Council, met with the Minister of Town and Country Planning after the second world war to put the case for a new town in the district. The minister John Silkin responded by offering a half size new town of 30,000 residents. Subsequently, they came largely from the surrounding villages in the district of Easington, itself a pit village.
The Peterlee Development Corporation was established in 1948 under the direction of A V Williams. The original ambitious masterplan by Berthold Lubetkin was rejected and he resigned in 1950. George Grenfell Baines replaced Lubetkin and began to build quickly resulting in buildings of poor quality construction. In a bold move Williams invited an artist Victor Pasmore to be head of the design team for the landscaping. The Apollo Pavilion was completed in 1970 at centre of the Sunny Blunts estate and was named after the Apollo Space Programme. As well as a visual focus the structure acted as a bridge across a small lake. Nikolaus Pevsner provides a glowing commentary on the interation of the housing units and the Pavilion with the landscape. However the structure became a meeting point for unruly locals and was soon defaced with graffiti and a congregation area for drug users. In 1982 Pasmore agreed to the connecting stairs being removed.
In 1975, Artist Placement Group had contacted new towns to set up the terms for artists to propose projects . The Development Corporation of Peterlee New Town responded and in 1976, Stuart Brisley was appointed. The project contained three distinct parts:
- to develop an ongoing process of collecting and diseminating information under the title History Within Living Memory
- to establish a publicly available history of the Development Corporation made in association with the Sociology Dept of the University of Durham
- to introduce a community workshop which began in 1977
Some local residents and councillors have petitioned to have the Pavilion demolished, citing it as an eyesore. Some locals also refer to the Pavilion as 'the Monstrosity' and an application to have the structure listed was rejected. There have been various proposals to rehabilitate the structure including converting it into an exhibition space. In 2001 it was proposed to enlarge the lake so that a refurbished Pavilion could not be reached by vandals.
On a much more positive note, Peterlee holds a two day event called the Peterlee Show, which is held at the end of the summer holidays (usually the first weekend of September) on Helford Road Cricket Ground. The event contains a variety of attractions such as rides, loads of entertainment and also good music acts on the stage (some of the acts have made tributes to Abba, Tina Turner, the Bee Gees even The Jam played in front of a large audience). Peterlee show also has a parachutes display (weather permitting), usually held on the first day of the event. The Peterlee Show also holds flower and vegetable competitions and also Arts & Crafts stands amongst many other things. A fireworks display can be seen on one or both nights, concluding the show's entertainment.
Peterlee has seen a number of changes in the last several years, this includes a Bus Station and also a partial covering up of the shopping centre, which was given the name Castle Dene Shopping Centre. A new Asda store was built and the old Asda store has been utilised by various retail venues, a Wetherspoon's Pub named [The Five Quarter] and also a Bingo Hall. Very recently a new lift has been constructed and New Shops can be found in the town.
As far as Education goes, Peterlee offers potential for it's students via Peterlee College, which has future redevelopment plans. In addition there is also a drive and focus on Adult Education in the town and Learn East, situated in Peterlee Town Centre offers a variety of services in Peterlee and East Durham for people who want to learn new skills or build up their Literacy and Numeracy Skills. Learn East also offers computer courses, from learning the basics to learning about Digital Photography and Photoshop. Peterlee also has some excellent schools and Sixth Form College, which is part of St Bede's RC Comprehensive School.
There are talks at present about two schools closing down, with them being replaced by a brand new superschool in 2008. There are a great deal of issues about the closure of the two schools and combining both catchment areas into one, obviously issues being both positive and negative.
Although Peterlee, like any town does have areas that need attention as some of the areas are untidy; it is certainly not a concrete town and has plenty of open spaces, fields and trees plus some of the views near the A19 looking down towards the North Sea are wonderful. Some of the problem areas include parts of the woodland areas inside Peterlee (these were part of the Dene at one time), where ponds have been left to go stangnant and contain rubbish, in addition, gangs of people congragate in these areas and set fire to trees and leave the place in a right mess, it is rather shameful that these areas are treated like this as Peterlee can potentially be so much different. There are times when people fear walking through these woodland areas because of the gangs.
However on a positive note, Peterlee is situated next to [Castle Eden Dene] and is well worth a visit.
On the 29 January 2005, the celebrated north-east band Joe Byrne played a gig in aid of Tsunami relief at East Durham and Houghall Community College.
Since 1981, Peterlee has a town-twinning with the German town of Nordenham on the river Weser in Lower Saxony opposite to Bremerhaven.
Famous residents that lived in Peterlee during the 1970's include The Krankies and Roy Walker, the original presenter of Catchphrase.[[Citing sources citation needed]]
Schools and Colleges
Primary
- [Acre Rigg Infant]
- Acre Rigg Junior
- Dene House Primary
- Eden Community Primary
- Howletch Lane Primary
- Our Lady of the Rosary RC Primary
- Shotton Hall
- North Blunts Primary (Closed in 2003)
6th Form Facilities
College
- [EDHCC] (East Durham & Houghall Community College)
Adult Education
Government
External links
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