By Lyn Funnell
Trimdon, in County Durham, is divided into four; Trimdon Village, Trimdon Colliery, Trimdon Station and Trimdon Grange.
It is said that King Canute trimmed his beard and shaved his head here before donning a cloak and walking barefoot on a pilgrimage to St Cuthbert’s Shrine in Durham.
Trimdon Colliery opened in 1845. There was an explosion in the mine on the 16th February, 1882 which killed 74 people. The colliery closed in 1968.
The most famous (or infamous) resident of Trimdon was Tony Blair.
He lived in Trimdon Colliery with a permanent guard at the beginning of the lane, opposite some of the poorest houses in the UK.
I know because we owned one of them.
Tony Blair became the leader of the Labour Party in 1997.
The Conservative nominee was Pru Leith’s son.
In 2003 George Bush, the American President, stayed in the area as Blair’s guest.
It wasn’t a very popular visit locally. The whole town was cordoned off and nobody was allowed to have their car outside their house, or even in their drive. The cars had to be parked at Sedgefield Racecourse, several miles away.
One nurse who had to walk there in the cold and darkness to go to work wasn’t very happy with Blair and Bush.
The Dun Cow Inn, in Sedgefield was chosen as a typical English pub to play host to Blair and Bush for lunch and a lot of locals were invited to fill it up.
And apparently everyone left without paying their bills.
The Church of St Mary Magdalene is on a grassy hill in the centre of Trimdon Village. It dates back to Norman times.
Some time in the past, a lot of the graves were cleared out. They were used as the fence around the church.
On the path into the church is a flagstone which is where Tony Blair announced the news of Princess Diana’s death to the world.
When I was a child my Dad’s family lived in Durham. I remember it as dark and dirty, with coal mines working and huge slag heaps standing like giant mole hills all around.
Now all the mines have gone and the land has been successfully landscaped.
Instead of being black and depressing, it is now flat, green and beautiful.
