THE Cocker Beck cuts through a steep-sided, tree-lined ravine in the north of Darlington. Roads run across it, cutting it up into six distinct denes, so that on a map it looks like a line of linked sausages.
Each of the denes has its own character, its own uses, its own stories, its own unofficial name – some names passed on from generation to generation, some denes renamed as a new use takes hold – from the tenny dene to the sheddy dene to the play dene to the paddly dene.
Perhaps soon the name of the bowly dene will disappear and it’ll become known as the bee dene.
A 1940s postcard of "the denes"
Next week, the 100th anniversary of the opening of the first dene is going to be celebrated with a guided walk and an open day at the old bowling green which the Darlington Beekeepers Association is converting into apiary education centre.
These public uses for these beautiful pockets of land are a far cry from the days when the Pease family dominated Darlington. On the south side of the denes, in the 1850s, Henry Pease laid out his opulent Pierremont estate, and dug out the beck to create a tear-shaped fishpond. He mined into the steep side of the ravine to create a subterranean icehouse.
In the 1860s, Henry’s son, Henry Fell Pease, built his mansion, Brinkburn, (above) on the north bank of the denes, arranging his windows so they faced towards the mature trees that stood on the brink of the dramatic burn, and laying out paths among them for a romantic woodland walk.
But developers nibbled at the edges of the estates, building terraces which they named after politicians, mayors, and great events – in 1898, they were building Kitchener Street as Lord Kitchener battled in Sudan; in 1902, when Edward VII came to the throne, they were building Coronation Street; when the 100th anniversary of Britain’s most famous naval victory was celebrated in 1905, they were on with Trafalgar Street.
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When died the last of the Peases – Henry’s widow, Mary, in 1909 – the developers imagined getting their hands on both the Pierremont and Brinkburn estates, but the geography and the people of the area stopped them. The geography meant the steep-sided ravine could never be built on, and the people seem to have been stealthily stealing it from the Peases for years, tipping their rubbish on it, or growing vegetables on it, or even laying asphalt to create play areas for the children who grew up in the gardenless back-to-back terraces.
This encouraged the council to announce in 1912 that it was buying the ravine to “rescue the land from the maw of the builder”, but the First World War blew up, and instead of a public park, the council turned the land into 171 allotments.
Eventually, in peacetime, the mayor, Cllr R Nichol, opened the first part of the denes on September 11, 1923 – the centenary of which is to be celebrated next Saturday.
Brinkburn Dene, or "tenny dene", on a 1950s postcard
“Brinkburn Dene, a charming little corner of the old Brinkburn Estate, has passed into the possession of the people of Darlington as the town’s tenth park,” said the Darlington & Stockton Times. “A more delightful little spot could not be imagined.”
Brinkburn Dene was the official name of the westernmost dene on the edge of Cockerton. It had the carriageway to the Brinkburn mansion running through it – you can still see the buff brick gateposts on Woodland Road where a lodge once stood; you can still pass through the Peases’ fir and pine trees, and pass over the ornamental bridge, although the mansion was demolished in the 1920s and the houses of Newlands, Banklands and Westlands built on its site.
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At the opening ceremony, The Northern Echo reported the words of the borough surveyor, George Winter. It said: “The new park would certainly soon become one of the most attractive places of its kind in the town, and he appealed to his listeners to see that the trees and plants were protected from the destruction that been meted out to them in some of the town’s other parks.” Mr Winter complained that “mischievous youths are prone to turn parks into bear gardens”.
The Beargarden in Southwark, London, was where animals – bears, bulls, monkeys and even lions – were baited, or tormented, for public entertainment from the 16th Century. Although in the early days monarchs like Elizabeth I were big fans of the Beargarden, over the centuries it gained a reputation for attracting an unruly audience.
Back in Darlington, having opened the Brinkburn Dene, the council then began removing the piggeries and hen houses from the allotments and getting unemployed men to turn them into parkland, which was opened on September 4, 1925.
Crowds spill into the newly-opened Cockerbeck Valley Gardens on opening day, September 4, 1925
“It is prettily laid out – winding walks, comfortable seating accommodation on grassy slopes, a chalet, and an abundance of trees and shrubs,” said the Echo. “In addition, there is a bowling green and clubhouse, and the facilities for the recreation of the children will include at a later date a paddling pool and a sandpit, which will be constructed adjoining Drury Street.
“Over ten thousand trees and shrubs have been planed and there about 1.5 miles of paths. The whole work has been carried out by unemployed labour at a cost of £9,900 of which £6,2000 has been paid out in wages.”
MP for Darlington, WE Pease, does the honours for Cockerbeck Valley Gardens. Second from left in the bowler is Alderman, Tommy Crooks, who also has a park named after him in town
More than 2,000 people attended the opening, and watched as the mayor, William Edwin Pease, who was also the town’s MP, bowled the first wood on the new bowling green.
Over time, more attractions were added: the paddling pool (above) in 1926 meant that the easternmost dene became known as “paddly dene”, while the tennis court of 1930 means that the westernmost dene is never called by its official title but even to this day as “tenny dene”.
In the Bowling Dene in the 1960s, a giant game of draughts was a spectator sport and people were able to play without leaving their seats, or taking the pipes out of their mouths
Indeed, in 1925, Mr Pease opened what he believed was called “Cockerbeck Valley Park”.
“It is a mass of green slopes and shrubberies to the extent of 23 acres through which flows, like a silver ribbon, the charming beck,” said The Northern Echo on opening day. “The new park is very beautiful and will be a source of pleasure and health to children and adults who reside in its neighbourhood.”
So it is to this day, but they have never called it “Cockerbeck Valley Park” – it is universally known as “the denes”.
A 1940s postcard of the "challet dene", also known as "sheddy dene"
Below: A family ready for tennis at the Swiss challet
On Saturday, September 9, Chris Lloyd is leading a walk through the denes to celebrate the centenary of the Brinkburn Dene. The walk will start at 10.30am at the Pierremont clocktower in Tower Road (DL3 6RU) and will conclude with free tea and cake, courtesy of the Friends of the Denes, in the Willow Road community centre (DL3 6QB). A donation of £2 is suggested.
The chalet in the Sixties before its removal
ALSO on Saturday, between 2pm and 4pm, Darlington Beekeepers Association is holding an open day at is apiary in the Old Bowling Green in the “bowly dene” off Widdowfield Street. Since 2014, the beekeepers have had hives on the old green, and are now developing the former clubhouse into a regional educational centre focused on pollinators, including honeybees. At about 2.30pm, the mayor, Cllr Jan Cossins, will open the welfare centre, which is the first stage of beekeepers’ plans. Everyone is welcome to both the open day and the walk.
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In the denes in the 1960s
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