Brandon United F.C.

Brandon Colliery railway station served the village of Brandon, County Durham, England from 1861 to 1964 on the Durham to Bishop Auckland Line.

Brandon is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated a short distance to the southwest of Durham. Brandon was originally one of the seven townships within the ancient parish of Brancepeth. It grew from a sparsely populated agricultural area into a populous mining district after the establishment of collieries and later coke and fireclay works. Until the 19th century Brandon village, formerly known as East Brandon, was one of the larger settlements in Brancepeth Parish.

Meadowfield is a small village in County Durham, England, situated approximately two miles south-west of Durham on the A690. It is situated within the civil parish of Brandon and Byshottles. The village consists mainly of one road of terraced housing that runs from Langley Moor in the north-east, to Willington and Crook in the south-west. Directly to the north, is the large village of Brandon. This was the site of a pit and also a brick works. The village has a small industrial estate, which was the scene of a relatively large fire in a nappy factory in 1991. One of the buildings of note in Meadowfield is the Anglican church of St John the Evangelist, one of the larger parish churches in County Durham. There is also a Royal British Legion social club, which occupies a wooden cabin, which was brought over from Canada. The centre of the street houses the large structure of council offices, which once was the village co-op. The building has recently been demolished and the site developed as a housing project. The village also has a sports centre and adjacent playing field. The field is home to many activities, such as being training pitch to the Durham Tigers rugby league side, and is also home to an annual sporting events and steam rallies. The steam rally consists of various tractors, traction engines, organs and other steam-propelled or operated machines. It occurs at the beginning of the summer, along with a small fair. From late 2004, building began on part of the sports ground to house the new council and police offices, and a tarmacadammed floodlight sportsground. The summer of 2005 saw the final touches being added to the new council offices.

Browney is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated to the south-west of Durham and adjoins Meadowfield. It is part of the parish of Brandon and Byshottles. The Browney Wesleyan Chapel was built in 1887, to seat 270, and cost £400. Browney Colliery (mining) officially closed in 1938. Browney British School (now Browney Academy) was built in 1881 by the colliery owners, and consisted of mixed and infants, with accommodation for 407 in all. The average school attendance was 309 in 1892. Literacy in Browney The Browney colliery reading room and library were provided by the owners of the now-closed colliery. The library comprised over 1000 books, and the reading room was supplied with popular newspapers. This was at a time when popular culture emphasised the benefits of literacy, via the Worker's Educational Movement. This movement supplemented a relentless drive for self-improvement, involving literacy connected with the Book of Common Prayer, and standard forms of Christian worship.

Broompark is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated some 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Durham city. It was once the site of the Broompark colliery, operated by North Brancepeth Coal company. The oldest remaining buildings in the village are Broom Farm guesthouse, built in 1711, and Broom Farm West, also built in the early 18th century. It was also the site of The Loves pub, which is now closed.

Langley Moor is an old pit village in County Durham, England. It is located approximately 2 miles south-west of Durham City. Langley Moor is within the civil parish of Brandon and Byshottles which is itself within the City of Durham constituency, as of 2019 represented by Mary Foy MP.

New Brancepeth is a village in County Durham, in England. It is about 3 miles (5 km) west of the centre of Durham, above the River Deerness. Its population is around 100–200. It is about 2.5 miles (4 km) north of Brancepeth village. It was the pit village for New Brancepeth Colliery.

The River Deerness in County Durham, England is a tributary to the River Browney, which is itself a tributary the River Wear. It rises near Tow Law and descends through the Deerness Valley for a distance of 11.6 miles (18.7 km), passing the villages of Waterhouses, Ushaw Moor and Esh Winning. Its confluence with the River Browney is near Langley Moor.Its tributaries include Stanley Beck, Crow Gill, Cuddy Burn, Hedleyhope Burn, Rowley Burn, Holburn Beck and Red Burn. and its overall catchment area is 53 square kilometres (20 sq mi).Its name is pre-Celtic and means 'rushing or roaring river'. It may be the oldest place-name in County Durham.A recent restoration project has improved the water quality and reduced barriers to fish migration along the Deerness.

Brandon and Byshottles is a civil parish and electoral ward in County Durham, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 17,774 increasing to 18,509 at the 2011 Census. The parish includes Brandon, New Brancepeth, Broompark, Langley Moor, Ushaw Moor, Meadowfield, Waterhouses and Esh Winning. Unusually, the parish shares jurisdiction over a quarry south of Esh Winning, with the neighbouring parish of Brancepeth. For electoral purposes the parish is divided into wards; Central Ward (includes Brandon) - elects four parish councillors East Ward (includes Langley Moor) - elects three parish councillors North Ward (includes New Brancepeth) - elects three parish councillors South Ward (includes Meadowfield and Browney) - elects three parish councillors Ushaw Moor Ward (includes Ushaw Moor and Broompark) - elects four parish councillors West Ward (includes Esh Winning and Waterhouses) - elects four parish councillorsCurrently, a majority of the Councillors were elected as Labour Party candidates. Brandon & Byshottles was established as a local government unit when it was also established as a Local Board District in 1882. Brandon & Byshottles was reconstituted as an Urban District through the Local Government Act 1894. The Brandon & Byshottles Urban District Council was abolished in 1974 when the area became part of the (now abolished) City of Durham local government area. The Brandon & Byshottles Parish is co-terminous with the pre-1974 UDC area.

Bearpark is a village and civil parish in County Durham in England. It is situated two and a half miles west of Durham, and a short distance to the north of Ushaw Moor. The name may be a corruption of the French term Beau Repaire – meaning "beautiful retreat". Half a mile to the north of the present village lies the ruins of Beaurepaire Priory, built in 1258 by the Prior of Durham, Bertram de Middleton, as a retirement residence. The building was extended in the subsequent three centuries, becoming a retreat for the Durham monks in a similar way to the nearby Finchale Priory. The manor was largely destroyed by the Scots in 1640 and 1644 during the British Civil War. In 1872, Theodore Fry was involved in founding the Bearpark Coal and Coke Company, which established a coal mine in Bearpark until 1984, when the mine was closed. Bearpark Community Centre is at the hub of the local village, a red brick building originally built in 1921 as a miners' welfare hall. An old pit wheel stands in front of the building, a memorial to the village's mining history. Bearpark featured on the BBC radio and television series Uncanny, citing the case of a Victorian boy haunting a house in the village.

Ushaw Moor railway station, was a station on the Deerness Valley Railway, south of the village of Ushaw Moor in County Durham, was opened on 1 September 1884 by the North Eastern Railway.The station closed to passengers on 29 October 1951 and freight on 28 December 1964. The stone and timber built station was demolished and few traces of it remain. The trackbed now forms part of the Deerness Valley Railway Path.

Aldin Grange for Bearpark railway station was located on the Lanchester Valley Railway that operated in County Durham, England. The railway station opened in 1883 as Aldin Grange, and was renamed Aldin Grange for Bearpark about a year later. In 1927 its name was changed to Bearpark. The station closed to passengers in 1939, although miners' gala excursions used the line until 1954, and freight then used the line until 1965.