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Abstract
From the 1930s to the 1970s the contraction of the coal mining industry in County Durham in northern England was followed closely by plans to abolish many of the settlements that had supported the mining population. This article examines the development of the policies that were used to classify villages for demolition, the local resistance that developed in defence of the villages and the justifications provided in support of this policy. The bulk of the research is based on archived contemporary newspaper reporting of the events as they happened. Through this approach it is possible to document the course of popular opposition to planning policies. The policy was wide ranging, with 121 villages designated as category ‘D’, meaning that they were to be demolished. This paper examines the local response in specific case study localities, showing that the main tensions were between the economic concerns and aesthetic appraisal of policy makers and community‐based perceptions of social relations and the environment. The paper suggests that the legacy of the ‘D'‐village policy continued until relatively recently in the minds of planners and residents in Durham's ex‐mining localities.
Notes
* Gary Pattison is a Senior Strategic Planner at Dorset County Council and a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for International Social and Community Development at the University of Southampton. He has taught at several universities in the UK and in Turkey as an Associate Professor of Sociology. He also works as an Associate Lecturer for the Open University. He has worked on a wide range of research projects including baseline and evaluative research for area‐based initiatives covering both community development and large‐scale physical redevelopment, in both countries. Academic focused work has covered community, regional planning and race, ethnicity and identity. To date he has published one book and a number of papers and shorter pieces on various aspects of planning, community development and regeneration. His current interests cover community engagement in planning.
D. Senior, Growth points for Durham, pamphlet produced for Durham County Council, undated.
Ibid.
J. Barr, Durham's Murdered Villages. New Society (3 April 1969) 523–5.
Ministry of Labour, Reports of Investigations into the Industrial Conditions in Certain Depressed Areas (Cmd 4728). London: HMSO, 1934; M. Bulmer, Change, Policy and Planning since 1918, in M. Bulmer (ed.) Mining and Social Change: Durham County in the Twentieth Century. London: Croom Helm, 1978, pp. 167–70.
Royal Commission on the Distribution of the Industrial Population, Report (Cmd 6153). London: HMSO, 1940; M. Bulmer, ibid., p. 171.
J. R. Atkinson, Planning Problems in County Durham, in J. C. Dewdney (ed.) Durham County and City with Teesside. Durham Local Executive Committee of the British Association, 1970, pp. 433–42.
M. Bulmer, op. cit. [4], p. 173.
G. L. Pepler and P. W. MacFarlane, North‐East Area Development Plan, Interim unpublished report presented to the Minister of Town and Country Planning, 1949.
R. Hudson, Wrecking a Region: State Policies, Party Politics and Regional Change in North East of England. London: Pion, 1989, pp.127–92.
G. E. Cherry, George Pepler 1882–1959, in G. E. Cherry (ed.) Pioneers in British Planning. London: Architectural Press, especially pp. 137–9; M. Bulmer, op. cit. [4], p. 178.
R. Hudson, op. cit. [9], p. 228.
Durham County Council, County Development Plan: A preliminary statement of the basic principles governing the future development of the County. Durham: Durham County Council, 1950.
Durham County Development Plan. Durham: Durham County Council, 1951.
R. Hudson, op. cit. [9], pp. 235–6.
Durham County Council, Durham County Development Plan: First Review. Durham: Durham County Council, 1964.
R. Hudson, op. cit. [9], pp.262–3.
E. Thorpe, Modern Settlement, in J.C. Dewdney (ed.), op. cit. [6], pp. 392–416.
M. Bulmer, op. cit. [4], p. 183.
J. Barr, op. cit. [3].
J. R. Atkinson, op. cit. [6].
Durham County Council, Durham County Development Plan Amendment. Durham: Durham County Council, 1971.
M. Bulmer, The Growth of Factory Industry: Miners Become Textile Operatives, in M. Bulmer (ed.), op. cit. [4], p. 278.
M. Bulmer, op. cit. [4].
Is Hamsteels a Forgotten Village? Consett Chronicle (March 4, 1965).
Coun. J. Wilkie New Chairman at Brandon. Durham County Advertiser (May 26, 1961).
Village Fears Slum Clearance. Durham County Advertiser (October 13, 1963).
Ibid.
No Flattening our ‘Bleak, Neat Village’ Storm ‘This is Our Home’. Northern Echo (December 18, 1963).
Village Fears Slum Clearance ‘Axe’. October 13, 1963, Durham County Library Local History Section (Deerness Valley Cuttings), source not recorded.
Hamsteels to Fight ‘Death Blow’ Northern Despatch (October 30, 1963).
Unhappy Homes at Hamsteels Village Northern Echo (March 5, 1965).
Ibid.
Council's Silence May Spell Doom for Hamsteels. Durham County Advertiser (May 5, 1965).
Hamsteels Plea for Council Co‐operation. Durham County Advertiser (August 6, 1965).
Hamsteels Not Dead Yet: Villages may go to court to keep their homes. Durham County Advertiser, 1967 (Cutting in Durham County Library Local Archive, full date not recorded).
Brandon UDC Members Reply to Coun. Ellison Durham County Advertiser (November 24, 1962).
Op. cit. [35].
Hands off Hamsteels (Action). Durham County Advertiser (February 23, 1968).
Hamsteels Folk had a Promise. Durham County Advertiser (January 14, 1970).
Death of a Hamlet. Weekend Guardian (February 24–5, 1990).
Labour Lost Three at Brandon. Durham County Advertiser (May 12, 1961).
A Limit to Knowledge at Brandon. Durham County Advertiser. Cutting in Durham County Library Local History Section, full date not recorded.
Fears that Hedley Hill Houses may be Demolished, July 28 1961, Durham County Library Local History Section (Deerness Valley Cuttings), source not recorded.
Coun. J. Wilkie New Chairman at Brandon. Durham County Advertiser (May 26, 1961).
Brandon Councillors Defend Planning Policy: Accusation that criticism could be “death blow” to new industry hopes Durham County Advertiser (September 29, 1961).
Householders Have Right to Grants. Durham County Advertiser (November 24, 1962).
Tag Again on East Hedley Hope Agenda, Durham County Advertiser (June 18, 1967).
Brandon UDC Members Reply to Coun. Ellison. Durham County Advertiser (November 24, 1962).
Independents – ‘Brandon Council Exceeds Duty’: Give owners “improvement” grants before property is slum scheduled. Durham County Advertiser (August 18, 1961).
Desolation – from 1960, 1963, Durham County Library Local History Section (Deerness Valley Cuttings), source and full date not recorded.
Redundant Miners' in Printing Plant. Durham County Advertiser (January 18, 1963).
Category D needs to be removed says Mrs Holliday. Durham County Advertiser (May 1, 1964).
Independent Bid Failed. Durham County Advertiser (May 29, 1964).
Ultimatum from Brandon Council to Owners of Derelict Property. Durham County Advertiser (June 5, 1964).
Ibid.
Newsagent Retires. Durham County Advertiser (August 6, 1965).
New Brandon Chairman Speaks of Bright Hopes on the Industrial Front. Durham County Advertiser (June 2, 1967).
Brandon Council's Slum Clearance Scheme. Durham County Advertiser (February 25, 1968).
J. Barr, op. cit. [3].
CROVAC Enters ‘Category D’ Fight. Durham County Advertiser (March 29, 1968); Skeffington Committee, People and Planning: Report of the Committee on Public Participation in Planning. London: HMSO, 1969.
Council at ‘War’ over ‘D’ Village Housing Plan. Northern Echo (August 13, 1968).
Plea for Revitalisation of Langley Moor. Durham County Advertiser (November 29, 1968).
D Village Review Electioneering Says Independent. Durham County Advertiser (December 3, 1968).
Claim that Brandon Area is Dying is refuted at Urban Council Meeting. Durham County Advertiser, 1968. Cutting in Durham County Library Local History Section, full date not recorded.
Op. cit. [63].
Minister Reverses County Council Decision (February 3, 1969), Durham County Library Local History Section (Deerness Valley Cuttings), source not recorded.
M. Bulmer, op. cit. [4], p. 191.
J. Barr, op. cit. [3], p. 523.
Langley Moor Residents Object to Inclusion in Category D List. Durham County Library Local History Section (Deerness Valley Cuttings), source not recorded.
Villages may get Homes if D‐rating Goes (December 2, 1969). Durham County Library Local History Section (Deerness Valley Cuttings), source not recorded.
Labour Faces Category D County Poll. Durham County Advertiser (July 11, 1969).
Inspector says yes, but Minister Vetos Brandon Fight for New Houses (November 14, 1969). Durham County Library Local History Section (Deerness Valley Cuttings), source not recorded.
‘Closed Doors’ Despite Plea, op. cit [66].
J. Barr, op. cit. [3], p. 524.
Ibid.
Ibid.
M. Bulmer, op. cit. [4], p. 192.
Ibid.
Still Hope for ‘D’ Villages. Durham County Advertiser (January 9, 1970).
D‐Day for the Villages. Durham County Advertiser (January 14, 1970).
A New Front Opens in Fight for D Villages. Northern Echo (April 18, 1970).
Call for Talks on ‘Squalor Homes’. Durham County Advertiser (October 23, 1970).
Op. cit. [79].
Half Metal Bridge is Demolished. Durham County Advertiser (April 9, 1971).
D‐minus for the Planners. Sunday Times (December 19, 1971).
C. Ward, When We Build Again: Let's have housing that works. London: Pluto, 1985.
Get Rid of Category D Orders. Durham County Advertiser (June 1, 1973).
D Tag again on East Hedley Hope Agenda (Deerness Valley Cuttings), source not recorded.
Hedley Hope PC Discusses ‘D’ Tag. Durham County Advertiser (September 17, 1976).
Reprieve for the Pit Villages? Durham County Advertiser (December 3, 1976).
Kiss of Life Plan for D Villages. Durham County Advertiser (June 17, 1977).
Village Waits to Bury its Legacy. Durham County Advertiser (March 22, 1979).
H. Beynon, R. Hudson and D. Sadler, A Tale of Two Industries: The contribution of coal and steel to the North East of England. Buckingham: Open University Press, 1991.
M. Bulmer, op. cit. [22], pp. 264–84.
N. Dennis, Public Participation and Planners' Blight. London: Faber and Faber, 1972.
East Durham Task Force, Programme for Action. Durham: Durham County Council, 1991, p. 17.
G. Pattison, Restructuring Culture: identification of difference and the regulation of change in exmining communities. Aldershot: Ashgate, 1999.
R. Hudson, Production, Places and Environment: Changing Perspectives in Economic Geography. Harlow, Pearson, 2000; H. Beynon, R. Hudson and D. Sadler, op. cit. [93].