C2C 2011/ Stamina-building Tour of County Durham 2 - Chester Moor and Beyond...

This week I headed off in the other direction, to Chester Moor, about 6 miles away from our house, and where, again, I thought there were at least two pubs by way of a final destination. I knew I'd pass by Plawsorth, with its farm where you can pick soft fruit, advertised on the main road with a gigantic plastic strawberry. Ideal photo opportunity.

As is now threatening to become typical of this tour of County Durham, it's not there anymore.

So I carried on, and as I'd over-estimated the distance to Chester Moor and the gradient of the hill (modest), when I got there after about 20 minutes I thought that wasn't much of a trip, so I carried on toward Chester-le-Street. And that's when the day got (marginally) more interesting...

I spotted out of the corner of my eye down a dirt path a sign that looked very much like one for an amateur football club. Naturally curious, I pedalled down to find out more... ... and it was indeed an ad for Chester-le-Street Town, but with some disconcerting features: 1) The forthcoming fixture was for last August and, 2) The next match would require an early-morning kick-off - what, on police advice?! I know it's Birtley (suburb of Gateshead/Newcastle), but still...

So I cycled further down the path, in search of a football stadium that, possibly, had been last used in the previous summer. And I encountered a decrepit, seemingly derelict 'ghost ground', as if it had been abandoned and left for Nature to reclaim.

Well, that's what I thought, but a cursory Google search reveals - come on, admit it, you're curious - that they won 2-0 at home last week (by the looks of it, the boy Davison is in a rich vein of form), in front of a crowd of 48.

At first I thought they might play elsewhere - could they have grown out of this stadium? Not with crowds like that! - and so I was intrigued when the link about their ground was being "updated", but the "getting there" link does place them squarely in this field behind a pub off a main road.

So, what's with the spectacularly out-of-date noticeboard? Weird, but slightly disappointing, to be honest - I preferred the 'ghost ground' story. Ah well, up the Cestrians.

I continued down the main road to Chester-le-Street, to Riverside Park which, as the sign makes clear, is more than a park, it's the "Gateway to the Great North Forest", an apparently astounding wilderness that had hitherto escaped my attention for five entire years, and wasn't obviously in the immediate vicinity. The park does have an excellent play area for kids, though.

Meandering around the park's perimeter I came upon a subway with the intriguing title... ... and when I cycled in, I found an excellent set of murals obviously painted by some local kids (possibly from St Leonards Catholic school), under the guidance of the region's NHS Trust, the County Council and a mental health charity for kids.

Impressive artwork, and of course wholly admirable and sensible sentiments (the "Get some sleep" one made me laugh out loud, too), but descending into the tunnel surrounded by all this intense anxiety was somewhat alarming.

Eee, it were simpler in our day (we had The Smiths for starters).

And this is life in the frenzied heaving metropolis of Chester-le-Street. Who knows what would be on Council-sponsored murals in south London?

Onward into the town itself, and to a pub - any pub. I settled o The Butchers Arms, down a side-road off the main high street, where I was only the 2nd customer in, and I had a bog-standard pub lunch ('seasonal vegetables' turned out to mean boiled carrots and cabbage!), and a creditable pint. Then back home...

So - ghostly football grounds and teenage nightmares in Chester-le-Street. Next week - Langley Park.