Houghton-le-Spring

St Michael and All Angels' Church is the parish church of Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear, England. The church dates from the late 12th century and contains the tomb of Bernard Gilpin.

Kepier School is a coeducational secondary school located in Houghton-le-Spring, England.Kepier School offers GCSEs, BTECs and OCR Nationals as programmes of study for pupils. The school also operates a five-year football academy programme for gifted young players.

Rainton Meadows is a nature reserve just to the west of East Rainton, County Durham, north-east England. The reserve, which covers 60 ha, and the adjacent Joe's Pond Site of Special Scientific Interest, are managed by Durham Wildlife Trust.

Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground (often shortened to Eppleton CW) is a football ground located in Hetton-le-Hole in the City of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. It was created as part of the miners' welfare in order to provide recreational facilities to the coal miners at the Eppleton Colliery. It featured facilities for both cricket and Association football. It became the home ground of Eppleton CWFC in 1929. The team folded in 2005. The ground was redeveloped in 1993 at a cost of £3m after Eppleton CWFC reached the Northern League Division One. The main stand was rebuilt, incorporating a cantilever roof and seating for 250.In 2007, Sunderland Reserves moved to Eppleton CW after leaving New Ferens Park in Durham. It continues to be the home ground of Sunderland U23s, though academy rules mean they must play at least four games per year at the Stadium of Light. It is also the home ground of Sunderland A.F.C. Ladies, who moved back to Eppleton CW in 2018 after spending one year at Mariners Park in South Shields F.C.Eppleton CW is the home of County Durham FA U18s teams, and is also the neutral venue for the final of the Durham Challenge Cup which has been contested since 1884. The final traditionally takes place every Good Friday.Hetton Burn runs alongside the West side of the ground. Behind the goal on the North side, is the Hetton Centre, a community centre, evolved from the original miners' welfare building, operated by the Hetton Town Trust. The centre contains the Bob Paisley Bar, named after the former Liverpool F.C. manager who was born in Hetton-le-Hole.

Newbottle is a village in North East England, lying between Durham (eight miles south westerly) and Sunderland (the city centre is 5 miles (8.0 km) north easterly), one and a half miles north of Houghton-le-Spring. The village occupies an elevated position and is accessed from three sides up a steep bank.

Sunderland Association Football Club Ladies is an English women's football club that plays in the Women's Championship. They play their home games at the Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground in Hetton-le-Hole, in the City of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. Sunderland won the FA Women's Premier League Northern Division in 2004–05 to reach the top tier National Division. After relegation in 2007, they returned to the National Division in 2009 and also lost that season's FA Women's Cup final, 2–1 to holders Arsenal at Pride Park Stadium. The club's bid to join the FA WSL for the initial 2011 season was controversially rejected in favour of the relatively newly formed, but big spending, Manchester City. This decision led to the departure of many star players (3 of whom represented England in the 2015 World Cup) and is thought to have damaged the development of the women's game in the North East for years to come. Despite this they responded by winning the Premier League National Division, which had become the second tier, on three consecutive occasions and also collected the 2011–12 FA Women's Premier League Cup. In 2014 Sunderland were accepted into the second division of a newly expanded FA WSL. They won the league on the final day of the season and were promoted into FA WSL 1 for 2015. At the end of the 2017–18 season, Sunderland A.F.C. Ladies were unsuccessful with their application for a license in both FA Women's Super League and FA Women's Championship, meaning the Lady Black Cats, were demoted to the FA Women's National League North, for the 2018–19 season.

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.

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.

The 1815 Philadelphia train accident occurred on 31 July 1815, in Philadelphia, County Durham, England, when an early experimental railway locomotive, Brunton's Mechanical Traveller, suffered a boiler explosion. This engine, also known as the Steam Horse, ran on four wheels but was pushed by mechanical feet. This was both the first recorded boiler explosion and the first railway accident causing major loss of life with at least 13 people killed (sources differ). The accident is not included in many texts because it was on an industrial waggonway or plateway, rather than a public railway. Nevertheless, it predated William Huskisson's fatal accident at Parkside by 15 years, and the death toll was not exceeded by any railway accident until 1842 worldwide (see Versailles train crash), and 1861 in the UK (Clayton Tunnel). It also killed more people than any other UK railway boiler explosion of all time, though 26 were killed in a 1912 boiler explosion in San Antonio, USA. Most boiler explosions caused severe mechanical damage but often only the locomotive crew suffered physically; however, Brunton's locomotive was surrounded at the time by a crowd of curious sightseers, who formed the majority of the victims. The first high-pressure steam locomotive, Trevithick's Penydarren engine, had only appeared 11 years earlier in 1804, and engineering understanding of the forces and safety risks involved was still primitive.

Low Moorsley is a small village just outside Hetton-le-Hole in the City of Sunderland, north east England. It was the birthplace of serial killer, Mary Ann Cotton (1832–1873).

Hetton Academy (formerly Hetton School) is a coeducational secondary school located in Hetton-le-Hole in the City of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England.Established in 1912, the school admits pupils mainly from Easington Lane Primary School, Eppleton Academy, Hetton Primary School and Hetton Lyons Primary School.A new school building was constructed on the same site and was completed in September 2016. The new building was officially opened by the local Member of Parliament, Bridget Phillipson, on 13 January 2017.Previously a community school administered by Sunderland City Council, in September 2022 Hetton School converted to academy status and was renamed Hetton Academy. The school is now sponsored by the Northern Education Trust.Hetton Academy offers GCSEs and Cambridge Nationals as programmes of study for pupils. Most graduating students go on to attend Headways Sixth Form, a sixth form provision offered by a consortium of secondary schools (including Hetton Academy) and Sunderland College.

Philadelphia Power Station is a defunct coal-fired power station situated between the villages of Philadelphia and Newbottle, 1.5 mi (2.4 km) north of Houghton-le-Spring in Tyne and Wear, North East England.