Belmont, County Durham

Belmont is a suburb of the city of Durham and civil parish in the County Durham district, in the county of Durham, England. It was formerly a separate village. It was initially a coal mining village and is situated to the north-east of the city centre, just east of the A1(M) motorway. The flats at Minster Court (at the south side of Buckinghamshire Road) were built on land formerly belonging to Ravensflatt Farm. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 8,939, decreasing to 8,881 at the 2011 Census.[1]

Belmont
Belmont
Location within County Durham
Population8,881 (2011)
OS grid referenceNZ305435
Civil parish
  • Belmont
Unitary authority
  • County Durham
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townDURHAM
Postcode districtDH1
Dialling code0191
PoliceDurham
FireCounty Durham and Darlington
AmbulanceNorth East
UK Parliament
  • City of Durham

The parish covers a number of settlements:

The civil parish was created in 1894 from the northern and eastern parts of Durham's St. Giles Parish and extends down to Kepier in the west. There were minor boundary changes in 1896, 1935 and 1958.

For electoral purposes the parish is divided into three wards, each electing five members of the parish council:

  • Belmont (Population (2011) 6,159)[2]
  • Carrville
  • Gilesgate Moor

The Parish Council is currently controlled by the Liberal Democrats, who gained control from Labour in the 2003 local elections taking 14 of the 15 seats.

The Council has offices at the Belmont Community Centre, Sunderland Road, Gilesgate Moor.

Facilities
Church of St Mary Magdalene, Belmont

The secondary school located here Belmont Community School was originally planned to be turned into an academy. However, a large portion of the staff & local people, including parents, protested against this, causing the school to stay the same.

Cheveley Park Shopping Centre

The village is on the bus route from Sunderland to Durham. There is now just one pub (The Belmont, formerly the Sportsmans), two school sites and a church, St Mary Magdalene. It also contains Cheveley Park shopping centre which includes shops such as Sainsburys Cooplands and other food establishments.

Sport

Since 2014 Belmont has been the site of New Ferens Park, home of FA Women's Championship club Durham Women's F.C..

On the site of present day housing south of Broomside Lane and on the east side of the cemetery was Belmont Stadium, which existed as a greyhound racing stadium from 1940 until 1969.[3]

  • Get Carter - the house "Beechcroft" situated on Broomside Lane was used as a location in the 1971 film as the home of character Cliff Brumby. It was here that Michael Caine as Jack Carter delivered the oft-quoted line "You’re a big man, but you’re out of shape."[4] Despite a sustained campaign to preserve it, the house was demolished in December 2008.[5]

References
  1. "Parish population 2011". Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  2. "Ward population 2011". Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  3. Barnes, Julia (1988). Daily Mirror Greyhound Fact File. Ringpress Books. ISBN 0-948955-15-5.
  4. "The fight for Get Carter house". Retrieved 7 July 2008.
  5. "Get Carter house demolished". Sunderland Echo. 19 December 2008. Retrieved 17 March 2009.
  6. "Remember When - 1954". Greyhound Star. 2013.

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