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Chilton
Chilton maps
Historic maps of Chilton and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Chilton maps
Chilton photos
We have no photos of Chilton, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Ferryhill| Newton Aycliffe| Aycliffe| Shildon| Coxhoe| Sedgefield| Bishop Auckland| Heighington| Willington| Brancepeth| Thornley| Wheatley Hill
Chilton area books
Displaying 1 of 3 books about Chilton and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Chilton
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County Durham memories
Happy Days
My gran came from Leasingthorne, moving to Cambridge in the late 1920s. She had a sister named Mary who lived in an end of terrace house near a corrugated tin 'social club', chickens were kept opposite. l can remember an Uncle 'Tiser'. Mary had two Yorkshire terriers, Dot and Daisy. From her yard you could see the mine where most of the men worked, l believe Sir Anthony Eden had an estate nearby.
Uncle John, his wife Margaret and daughter Jennifer(?) lived up the street a bit, l believe my gran had about five brothers, most of whom died in pit accidents. l think in the early 1960s the mine had closed and they bulldozed all the remaining houses in the street. My gran Margaret (known as Meg) followed her husband Jack/John down to Cambridge following the General Strike of 1926.
l also remember an Uncle Norman, his wife Eleanor and son Peter who lived near a railway line and had horses in a field opposite. More relations... Read more
My Familys Past
My mother and her family were born and bred in Leasingthorne, my grandfather was a miner at the pit, as were my two uncles. My grandparents were Robert and Ethel Wilson and had 5 children, Jack, Ruby, Lilly, Irene and Robert. My mother was Irene. I too was born there and returned to spend many holidays with my much loved grandparents, often visiting the pit with my grandfather to collect his pension. The last time I visited was for my grandmother's funeral and alas the villiage had been demolished leaving only the streets (my grandmother had been relocated to Leeholme several years before). Everyone in the village knew each other and the community spirit was very strong. In fact my first school was Leasingthorne Infants (which was still standing when I last went there).
My Mother Was Born in Leeholme
My mother, Madge Ward was born at 10 Windsor Road, 5th Jan 1904, daughter of William Ward (Builder) and Margaret (nee Morrison). Madge was christened in St James Church, Coundon 18th Feb 1904. Always thought that she was born in Ferryhill. However, when searching for her birth cert after her death in Norfolk in 1997 aged 93 years I found out that it was in fact Leeholme. We made a journey a couple of years later in 1999 and took a photo of the house for my family records.
Golden Days
It reminds me of the days when I used to visit my aunt.
Happy Days - What Happened?
I was born in Darlington in 1944, and in 1958 I moved to Newton Aycliffe with my mum, dad and two brothers. We moved into a lovely brand new 3 bedroomed house at 38 Macmillan Rd which was heaven compared to the two up - two down terraced house we lived in at Darlington. My mum ( Amy ) was the organist on the mighty Wurlitzer at the Working Man's Club, near the town centre, for a number of years. My mum is still alive and active, and lives just north of Newton Aycliffe, and although I now live 100 miles away on the east coast I still get back to Newton Aycliffe when I visit her.
When we moved to N/A it was still a in its early stages of development, with the town centre still being built, next to the development corporation offices in Churchill House, with its big town clock. I remember it was a bit of a bomb site with all the building work, but... Read more
Up The Wood
We had no TVs, and there was not much on the radios so we made our own entertainment. One activity was playing up the local wood. We had two woods close to East Howle. One was called the Side Wood and the other was known as the Middle Wood. We just did the usual things, like making camps, climbing trees, playing on rope swings, eating worms, just the sort of things that young lads did in those days. Most of the time we were in the side wood, because as the name implies, the middle wood was in the middle of a field and to get there we had to cross the farmer's field which in the summer was always planted with something, invariably corn of one type or another. It was always risky crossing the field because you never knew when the farmer would appear and chase you. If he was on foot he always seemed to have a shotgun with him which was quite scary. On reflection I... Read more
Boyhood Days
My aunts and uncles lived in East Howle and I was a regular visitor around and before 1950. The two families lived opposite one another in what I think may have been "railway cottages" and my cousins totalled 9. In those days you got off the ABC bus at the railway crossing and walked along a path towards the Jubilee Bridge. The track then carried on towards the Tar-beds and West Cornforth. My relatives lived in a square and there was no electricity down there, just coal fires, paraffin lamps, candles and battery-powered radio. The atmosphere at night was fantastic and the boyhood adventures amongst the woods, streams and railway around the "Rocks" area are still magical!
