News, events & publications

Meetings

Bowburn Local History Society (LHS) organises various meetings to which everyone is welcome.

All normally take place at Bowburn Community Centre but these were cancelled at the start of the Covid10 pandemic.

They are starting again in 2022 but some meetings will be on-line. See below for how to join Zoom meetings.

Meetings in 2022

Monday 14th February:

David Butler,

Durham County Records Office:

"Great Pains and a Large Amount of Labour": the Building of Durham Viaduct

Zoom meeting*, starting at 7pm

Monday 14th March:

Mike Syer, Bowburn LHS:

Fatal Accidents at Bowburn Colliery

Zoom meeting*, starting at 7pm

Monday 11th April: Jack Turton, Coxhoe LHS:

Asylum: Winterton in words and pictures.

Bowburn Community Centre, starting at 7pm

All welcome. Admission free but donations welcome

Monday 16th May: AGM and members’ evening:

Family history? How and where people lived and worked locally? What are your local history interests?

Bowburn Community Centre, starting at 7pm

Monday 13th June: Members meeting

Planning further activities of Bowburn LHS

Bowburn Community Centre, starting at 7pm

New members welcome

Monday 18th July – Bowburn Schools

A summary of 113 years of formal education in Bowburn

(in Wylam Street, Surtees Avenue and now Crowtrees Lane)

will be followed by the sharing of memories by those who attended these schools.

Bowburn Community Centre, starting at 7pm

All welcome. Admission free but donations welcome

[No meeting in August]

Monday 12th September – My Life with The Doors, by Jimmy M !

Jimmy McGrath: “30 years working at Henderson’s Garage Doors”

(P. C. Henderson was one of Bowburn’s biggest employers after the closure of Bowburn Colliery.)

Bowburn Community Centre, starting at 7pm

All welcome. Admission free but donations welcome

Monday 10th October – The Changing Face of Bowburn

as shown on old maps and aerial photographs

Bowburn Community Centre, starting at 7pm

All welcome. Admission free but donations welcome

Monday 14th November – Crowtrees Tilery

Richard Annis, Senior Archaeologist, Durham University,

will describe what was discovered about Bowburn’s 19th century brick and tile works

by the dig in 2019.

Bowburn Community Centre, starting at 7pm

All welcome. Admission free but donations welcome

* For Zoom meetings, please e-mail bowburnlhs@gmail.com for the link or the Meeting ID and Passcode.

History & Heritage Room

Bowburn LHS has a room in Bowburn Community Centre which is dedicated to the history and heritage of the area.

Books, maps, photographs and artefacts of local historical interest have been collected here – thanks to donations that are being added to all the time – for the use of local research and interest.

Visitors are normally welcome every Wednesday, 1pm–3pm, or at other times by appointment.

Covid19 has changed this for the time being.

Please e-mail bowburnlhs@gmail.com to find out latest arrangements.

Publications

Our latest book, “Early Years of a Pit Village”, is now on sale.

With 394 pages, it lists hundreds of events in, or affecting, the village of Bowburn up to and including the year 1930.

Copies of the book are available, priced £5, from the History & Heritage Room in Bowburn Community Centre (when open – see above), or e-mail bowburnlhs@gmail.com or leave a message at the Community Centre for other arrangements.

Please add £3 for post & package, if books cannot be collected.

Cheques should be made payable to “Bowburn Local History Society”.

We are grateful to Bowburn & Parkhill Community Partnership and to the Co-operative Community Fund for funding this publication.

Without that, it would not have been possible to publish this book at this low price.