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Pilgrim Some interesting information on this site about name changes for Choppington and some interesting people. http://www.sixtmedia.org.uk/page3.php

in response to the above; I am not quite sure how or when Bedlington became a shire, but suspect it dates way back when Bamburgh and Durham were major kingdoms in the north (one political and one religious, although the signs are still on the roads about Durham being the land of the 'Prince Bishops' - in those days Bishops went to war) it my also have been tied up in the dodgy way the Percys became dukes of Northumberland and moved into Alnwick from Warkworth after the rightful D'Veschy heir disappeared whilst a child in the care of the bishop of durham (that's a story in itself!!!), although I suspect it has more to do with the Cuthbert connection. I believe Durham really came into prominence in Norman times. Cuthbert was kept at Chester le Street for many years as the cathedral wasn't finished and Chester le Street was an old roman camp owned by the church and Cuthbert's body was actually a bit of an embarrassment. Perhaps a valid line of research into the old history of Bedlington. Consider that any village can only have a hinterland of about 2 hrs day walk from its centre (about 6 miles) otherwise land management becomes unviable, and I always wondered if Bedlington was established as a 'glebe' land to support the original church? (this may all be wrong!!) A city to be recognised as such must have a cathedral - in Newcastle it is St. Nicholas, which is right next to the Norman keep beside the high level bridge and commanding the Tyne. This small area I believe was and may still well be part of Northumberland but so many boundaries changed in the 60's and 70's that might not be the case now. ergo Newcastle (clue in the name!!) outside that area has no cathedral and is not under the old definition a city. Station Terrace was definitely within the holding of the Bishopric of Durham and not the railway or coal companies. I was trying to recall anything else relevant last night (with wine assistance) and I was of a mind that the original lease on Station Terrace was for 160 yrs and not the usual 99 for some reason. this would tie in with the houses being built around the 1850's with the advent of coal and railway expansion. I am quite happy to be proven wrong on any of the above but it seems to fit the few facts that I recall. hope this helps (there is a very good jpg on the St Cuthbert and Bedlington churches thread about the Cuthbert connection)

on a slightly different note --- all that land around Choppington Station was within the Palatinate of Durham.((the church/cathedral - which goes back to the Cuthbert thing) - (Bedlington is a SHIRE under Durham - in the same way that Newcastle city centre is part of Northumberland but the city per se isn't)) The houses and buildings that people had bought were leasehold and on a 99 yr lease. In those days at the termination of the lease the houses returned to the ownership of the leaseholder with no compensation for the owner - in other words you became a tenant in your own house with no rights to extend the lease or indeed to even live in your own house. This situation led to the leasehold reform act of 1967 and Station Terrace at Choppington station was used in an example in the parliamentary debate leading to the act. this was fought by the church authorities and many other landowners, (obviously). The leases at Choppington station expired in 1968/1969 which might give an indication of when the majority of things were built - and of course why they were no longer used after the mid 60's as they were basically worthless.(On reflection it was a fine example of Christian charity !!!) it might be interesting to see which land is still within or was within the ownership of Durham Cathedral in view of some of the other threads. I know I might have digressed on this thread but it might give an insight into the demise of small communities within that area.