Chester-le-Street

"Chester" indicates the Roman fort of Concangis, and "le-Street" was what they marched along sinister-dexter. But when the Romans left Britain in 410 AD the settlement lay deserted for almost 500 years until monks fleeing Lindisfarne arrived. They brought with them a long-dead saint, a real live bishop (making this tiny place a cathedral city) and a Latin gospel which they translated into Old English.

The monks moved on in 995 but the village was still astride the main road north, so it became a stop-over for those on foot or horseback. It was also next to the navigable River Wear, so goods could be shipped in and out. From the 17th century it grew into a town with the Durham mining industry, and in 1868 the railway arrived, vaulting over the valley to put Newcastle within 15 minutes. That turned Chester-le-Street into commuterland for the city, and so it remains.

No churns, no porter, no cat on a seat, at Chorlton-cum-Hardy or Chester-le-Street . . .

- "Slow Train" by Flanders and Swann (1963) mourns railway stations axed by Beeching, but this one survived.

Chester-le-Street 1 railway station is on the London-Newcastle-Edinburgh main line, but most trains thunder through. An hourly Transpennine train calls on its way from Liverpool Lime Street via Manchester Victoria, Leeds, York, Darlington and Durham, heading for Newcastle. From Scotland or Northumberland change at Newcastle. From London Kings Cross or Birmingham you usually change at York, but Newcastle-Chester takes only 10 minutes so it's sometimes quicker to double back. The railway station is central in town but the private contractor who ran it has gone bust, so in 2024 there are only makeshift arrangements for tickets, and other facilities such as toilets are closed. There is step-free access to both platforms.

Long-distance buses don't call here, travel via Newcastle. Go North East Bus X21 runs from Newcastle Eldon Square every 30 min via Gateshead, taking 30 min to Chester-le-Street. It continues to Durham (another 25 min), Spennymoor, Bishop Auckland and West Auckland. Angel Bus 21 is a slower service every 30 min from Newcastle via Birtley (for "Angel of the North") to Chester and Durham. A night bus Angel N21 runs F-Sa between 00:00 and 05:00.

Bus 50 runs hourly from South Shields via Washington to Chester-le-Street and Durham.

Arriva North East Bus X12 runs hourly from Middlesbrough via Stockton-on-Tees and Durham, continuing to Gateshead and Newcastle.

Bus 78 runs from Sunderland every 30 min, taking 45 min and continuing west to Beamish (for open air museum), Stanley and Consett.

Bus 71 runs hourly from Seaham on the coast, taking an hour via Houghton-le-Spring.

Buses make several stops through town, there isn't a bus station.

Chester-le-Street is close to A1(M) exit 63.