Hall’s mystery birds raise question marks
THE plan A very soon became plan B as we ground to a halt on The A1, aka car park, outside Darlington weekend before Christmas.
We had intended to take the overnight ferry from North Shields to Amsterdam for a weekend of lowland bird-spotting, however four hours into a two-hour drive the boat sailed without us. As I bemoaned the lost spoonbills and black tailed godwits stalking and quartering the dykes and polders, Joanie suggested, ‘How about Durham?’
Less than one hour later we were settled into the early 18th century, Redworth Hall Hotel, six miles from Darlington and not so far from the famous mining town of Shildon.
All disappointment was soon forgotten with beer and belly pork, every cloud and all that. To cheer us further, It was to be a rough overnight crossing we were told. Smug grins all round as I ordered Joanie another Jameson’s. Purely medicinal of course.
Through the wonderful auspices of Google Maps we stumbled upon the Hall, which was constructed in 1693 as a family home for George and Eleanor Crosier and their five daughters. There were two houses on the elevated site previously, offering wonderful views from all angles.
Parts of oldest house of the three can still be seen from the Knot Garden, with its Roman Doric doorcase. With an eye as keen as Sherlock’s, I soon spotted a reference to Cornish Choughs on the Crosier’s coat of arms. Intriguing this connection because most, if not all choughs are resident on our western seaboards, and extinct in England, including Cornwall for many years.
Perhaps the family had some connection with Cornwall, either way they would be pleased to learn that recently a number of vagrant birds decided to hang around.
In 2002, two of the birds raised young, the first in Cornwall in more than 50 years. Since 2002, over 100 chicks have fledged from Cornish nests. A rare good news story from the bird world.
We set off on the trail of the Crosier’s birds in the nearby village of Heighington, at one time both the Crosier’s and the Surtees, who followed them in the Hall, were the big cheeses in these parts, in fact, the ploughed fields originally known as Redworth Park joined the Hall and the Village. Many villagers would have worked in the Hall, and indeed they still do today.
Our jaunt was all of twenty minutes but enough time to spot two more corvids, a rook and several carrion crows, a small flock of long-tailed, more robins and wrens than you could shake a stick at, and one high flying green woodpecker. We soon discovered the choughs in the church, but someone had painted the original carving, and while I am sure it was best intentioned, the result leaves a lot to be desired.
St. Michael the Archangel, has Norman structures still intact, including the north and south walls of the chancel, chancel arch, tower, and south doorway. Perfect timing here with the shot of two jackdaws, also crow family, above the ancient tower. I was going to say, a timeless scene, but there’s a clock. Across the village green from the church is the Bay Horse Pub, which we had to go into for research purposes obviously. Intriguingly, there are more birds on the wall, two either side of the door, and a further two set on the first floor with a large letter V. The birds do not look like choughs but could be crows, maybe jackdaws, or even badlydrawn choughs, as do a further set of birds on another coat of arms in the Hall.
I felt sure we would find answers inside, how wrong I was, as the very friendly locals, including the bar staff did not know of the birds on the iron plaques I talked about. Several followed me outside and the general consensus was, ‘I’ve never seen them before and I’ve been coming here all my life’. The landlady was not helpful and begrudgingly explained, ‘They were put there to cover the air vents that used to be there when people were allowed to smoke’, and walked off. Apart from the fact that there was no physical evidence on either the inner and outer walls to back this theory up, I would wager that these beautiful decorations have been in place several hundred years and probably since the pub was built. On a very positive note, the landlady may not have much local knowledge, but all was forgiven when she brought out my cod and chips. Just huge. Which brought to mind the old North East folk song...