A DALE village is smartening up ahead of the summer.
Among the improvements made in Staindrop recently is the resurfacing of a neglected lane that “nobody owns” and the refurbishment of an historic milestone marker.
The pothole-riddled Stangarth Lane, which runs alongside Scarth Memorial Hall, has long been a source of consternation because no one wanted to take responsibility for it. People in wheelchairs and elderly people struggled to negotiate the lane which is also the only way to access the disabled entrance to the hall.
However, the hall trustees, along with cash from Raby Estates and BT, have paid for the lane to be resurfaced.
Elsewhere, parish councillor Ian Royston took it upon himself to refurbish the historic milestone on the village green which had become faded and was hardly noticeable to those driving past.
Cllr Royston believes the milestone is almost 200 years old.
He said: “This was a turnpike between Bowes and Sunderland Bridge, near Durham. The earliest map I have found it on is 1869, but it is probably much older than that.
“The milestone at Staindrop is one of ten remaining milestones on the Bowes – Sunderland Bridge turnpike. I will try to find the others but am not promising to refurbish any others.”
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
