Railway Paths Around Spennymoor
The walking routes around Spennymoor and the surrounding towns and villages are influenced by the town's industrial heritage. Mining is the industry which shaped the landscape more than any other. For one thing, it is responsible for the build up of settlements in the area. Prior to the mines opening, Spennymoor was essentially moorland (although some of its surrounding localities such as Whitworth, Kirk Merrington, Tudhoe Village and Binchester have more ancient settlements). I will have a lot more to say about this area's relationship with mining in subsequent posts. Here I want to discuss one particular outcome of that relationship: the railway path. Now there are several railway paths around Spennymoor and its nearby towns and villages. By "railway path" I mean a former railway line which no longer carries trains but where there is now a path serving as a designated right of way. The reason mining was so integral to the proliferation of railway lines (and conseque