Building on a 20-year Visioning programme and Masterplanning for the City of Durham which began in 2003, consultants The Chambers worked with local people to identify innovative future opportunities to improve life for City and village residents and other users. Issues which arose time after time included the desire for more access to the river, the immediately surrounding countryside, and many hitherto private places, and for activities and paths linking the villages to the city centre. The needs of young people and families came under particular focus.
The historic City of Durham and its circling ring of twelve ex-mining villages are loosely linked through the line of River Wear, which captures Durham City’s World Heritage Site peninsula in a “pendant jewel” on the “necklace chain” of the river. The surrounding countryside (much of it in private ownership or trust) likewise represents deep veins of overlapping social and industrial heritage, held in a landscape rich with ecological meaning while fragile underfoot.
In this context it was decided to investigate the creation a light-touch, community-driven 12-mile long linear park, stretching initially from Finchale Priory to Sunderland Bridge, enabled through public pathways and bridleways and through deals with private landowners.
The working title is now The Necklace Park and teams of local people of all ages, agencies, landowners and other interest groups have begun to look at sites within the park area to develop projects, activities and events within this remarkable setting. Current community-driven projects under investigation include the restoration of Belmont Viaduct as a pedestrian crossing and place for installation art, creating new crossings to allow for circular walks, a skateboarding track using disused real tracks, trials for temporary shacks for young people to meet, large ceramic mural at welcome points, heritage walks near Finchale Priory and outdoor performances “watched” by an online audience. Equally there is considerable local interest in developing the Virtual Park as an online “destination”, encouraging virtual visiting from around the world while keeping the need for interpretation and signposting in the park at a minimum.
Ongoing heritage projects and locally treasured sites included in the Necklace Park area are wide-ranging: such as the World Heritage Site Management Plan, the Riverbanks Management Plan, the Bailey Gardens, Finchale Priory, Belmont Viaduct, the Freemen-held Sands, the various unused railway lines and abandoned mineshafts, the Durham University sports fields, East Durham and Houghall College’s Farm, the Shincliffe walks and woods, and the three Sites of Special Scientific Interest.
A Necklace Park team, based within Durham County Council, begins work later in July. The Park Manager is Claire Lancaster, the Assistant Manager Becky Dodds. Their role is to enable local projects within environmental, sustainability, heritage and regional image guidelines, while ensuring that all landowners also benefit from park participation. They will also be pursuing funding for major and minor projects connected with the Park, while working with local business to establish what light-touch commercial potential is possible to drive revenue into Durham. They will be looking to build youth empowerment through projects created and driven by local young people, and working to enable the construction and populating of the Virtual Park.
The first Necklace park projects will begin on the 2006 August Bank holiday weekend, and in Spring 2007 the park will formally launch with a three-day, twenty-team public mapping event trialing innovations in sensory recording methods. This event will be filmed and will become part of the Design of the Times (DOTT 07) Showcase later in the year as part of the UK’s first such projects in design sponsored by the DCMS and carried out regionally by One Northeast and Culture 10.
