Rainton Meadows railway station

West Rainton is a village in the civil parish of West Rainton and Leamside, in County Durham, England. It is situated between Durham and Houghton-le-Spring. Leamside is about one-half mile (0.80 km) to the west, and the south-western end of the village is known by the separate name of Rainton Gate. The village straddles a ridge parallel to the A690 with extensive views to the west. At the 2001 census it had a population of 2,255, increasing to 2,316 at the 2011 Census.

Joe's Pond (formerly known as Nicholson's Pond) is a four hectare Site of Special Scientific Interest that lies to the east of, and adjacent to, the Rainton Meadows nature reserve in Tyne and Wear, England.

Rainton railway station briefly served the village of West Rainton, County Durham, England, in 1844 on the Leamside Line.

Middle Rainton was a small hamlet between West Rainton and East Rainton in the City of Sunderland, north east England. It was subject to a schedule D notice and hence ceased to exist in the 1970s. The site of Middle Rainton is now a Nature Reserve open to the Public. It lies on the A690 road, about 3 miles (5 km) east of the A1(M).

Rainton Gate is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated between Durham and Houghton-le-Spring, next to West Rainton.

East Rainton is a village found in the outskirts of Durham, in the City of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, in the north east of England. It is situated alongside the A690 road between Sunderland and Durham, near Houghton-le-Spring. The village is home to East Rainton cricket club, which was founded before 1851 and which has seen many successes throughout its long history. The 2nd XI are current North East Durham League champions. The village also boasts a football team: East Rainton FC, the second team from the village to bear the name. The village once had four pubs: 'The Rose and Crown', 'The Blacksmiths Arms', 'The Village Tavern' and the last-remaining 'The Olde Ships Inn' (previously known as 'The Travellers Rest' - a name derived from it being a staging post on the Durham to Sunderland coaching road which passed through the village). In 2016, the Olde Ships Inn was bought by new owners and became part of the 'Angelo's' restaurant chain, serving Italian cuisine to its customers rather than the traditional pub meals the building once sold. The Highfield Hotel bar is open to non-residents. Other village facilities include a small premier shop, East Rainton Primary School, the church of St Cuthbert, and the Methodist chapel. The village post office closed in 2011 and its space was used to expand the local shop. The village is located just by the outskirts of Durham on the area of high ground to the south of Houghton-le-Spring, and the name Rainton is thought to stem from the Anglo-Saxon - Rennington or Renn's settlement.

Leamside is a small village close to the city of Durham, County Durham, in England. It is situated to the west of West Rainton. It is part of the civil parish of West Rainton.

Fence Houses, or Fencehouses, is a small village within the parish of Houghton-le-Spring, on the edge of the City of Sunderland, England for the South with the North under the control of Durham County Council as part of County Durham. It came into existence when Napoleonic prisoners were housed on the outskirts of Houghton-le-Spring. The prisoners were used as labour to cut a path through the hill at Houghton-le-Spring in order to get the troops from Durham to the coast at Sunderland. Houghton Cut as it became known has now been expanded to carry a 4-lane road, the A690. The place the prisoners were housed was known as "The French Houses" and this later changed to "Fencehouses". This origin is highly debatable. A more likely origin was put forward by the late Houghton-le-Spring historian, C.A. Smith MA, in an article in the Official Houghton-le-Spring Urban District Handbook, 1962, as: Fence Houses derives its name from Biddick Fence which formed the southern boundary of South Biddick and included BurnmoorThe land was originally part of the Grange (a large local manor house). In about 1950, a modern housing estate was added to the village it, called the Grange estate. A railway line was built, bringing a 2-platform station providing services to Sunderland, Newcastle upon Tyne and Durham, and a stock yard from which local farmers shipped their cattle by train. The station opened in 1836, and the Post Office two years later as a Railway Sorting Office. The line closed to passengers in May 1964, apart from a one-day service for the Durham Miners Gala that year. In the 1960s. Fence Houses had the largest telephone exchange in the area (The Police house at Shiney Row 4 miles (6.4 km) away had the number "Fencehouses 55" in the 1940s). In the 1980s the Fence Houses exchange numbers became the Durham exchange numbers. The village is essentially a single main street cut in two by the path of the old railway line which also splits the village into control of two local authorities – Sunderland Council for the south of the village and Durham to the north). This is believed to be one of the only villages to split by local authorities in England with the North part of Fence Houses, County Durham and the South part of Fence Houses, Tyne & Wear.

Belmont Junction railway station was a railway station that served the civil parish of Belmont in County Durham, North East England, from 1844 to 1857. It was located at the junction between the main line and Gilesgate branch of the Newcastle & Darlington Junction Railway .

Leamside railway station served the villages of Leamside and West Rainton, in County Durham, England from 1844 to 1953 on the Leamside line.

Railway Wood is a woodland in County Durham, England, near the village of Fence Houses. It covers a total area of 4.83 hectares (11.94 acres). It is owned and managed by the Woodland Trust.

Fencehouses railway station served the village of Fencehouses, Tyne and Wear, England from 1841 to 1964 on the Leamside line.