South Moor is a village in

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is located to the south-west of

Stanley Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...

on the northern slope of the

Craghead Craghead is a former Pit village, mining village in County Durham, England. It is located at the bottom of the valley to the south of Stanley, County Durham, Stanley, on the main road between Stanley and Durham, and not far from the village of Ed ...

valley. It is a well-developed village, yet still semi-

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

, containing a main street (Park Road) of around twelve shops which survive despite their proximity to the front street of Stanley and its

Asda Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of York ...

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...

. There was a branch of Stanley Co-op at the bottom of Park Rd and a glove factory above it. On the opposite side in a walled garden stood the Colliery Offices for the district. A local meeting place for teenagers in the 1950s and 1960s was Boves café which had a

jukebox A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media. The classic jukebox has buttons, with letters and numbers on them, which are used to selec ...

and sold

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

and snacks. The proprietor also had an

icecream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as st ...

factory around the back of the shop and vans travel about to this day selling to the public. The café is now home to an award-winning Indian restaurant The Monju Tandoori, which has been established since 1987. There is a local church,

St. George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

s at the bottom of South Moor and "The Woodland Tavern" once was the Miners Hall.

South Moor Park

South Moor Park is located at the bottom of the valley between Oxhill, and the small village of

Quaking Houses Quaking Houses is a small village near to the town of Stanley in County Durham, in England. It may have been originally settled by Quakers, but during the Industrial Revolution it developed into a mining village with traditional terraced house ...

. Alongside the large gates which denote the entrance to the park are names of local people who died during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Two names, however, were deleted when it was discovered that the 'victims' had not actually died. South Moor Park, Co

A stream passes through the park. The section of the park adjacent to Park Road features a

bowling green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on ...

and a public, concrete

tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles matches. A variety of surfaces can be u ...

. Recent new development in the area has meant that the park is now undergoing refurbishment work. The west side of the

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

is completely wooded. The main path follows the course of the stream. The remains of the

bandstand A bandstand (sometimes music kiosk) is a circular, semicircular or polygonal structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts. A simple construction, it both creates an orname ...

is hidden by trees and growth and the remains of a previous paddling pool could be seen opposite the bandstand. This was well used in the thirties by locals.

External links

{{authority control Villages in County Durham Stanley, County Durham