VILLAGE HISTORY - I receive two documents on the history of Thornley. The first is a thesis done by Gladys Moody (used with kind permission of Gladys) and given to me by Alistair Mills who lives in Canada. The second document is similar to the thesis done by Gladys but has a lot more detail on the coal mine in it. Allan Fulcher's wife Liz (a school teacher) obtained a copy from a teacher friend who had a pupil that had been given the assignment of researching the history of the village where he/she was from. The result is the attached document. In both cases we can enjoy the work that they both did as they seem to complement one another. (Please note that the thesis document is rather large, 13 Mgs and may take some time in loading) Articles from The Times from Jeanette Hardy.

THORNLEY PHOTOGRAPHS YESTERDAY AND TODAY - I have added this section not to take away from anyone who may have created a web page for Thornley but to show the close links that Wheatley Hill has with Thornley over the many years. Wheatley Hill was part of Thornley parish at one time. I worked at Thornley Colliery as well as my father and many other Wheatley Hill men too. On the other side of the coin many men from Thornley worked at Wheatley Hill Colliery. The school children that didn't go to grammar school from Thornley went to the Secondary Modern Schools in Wheatley Hill so there was a close bond with the pupils at the schools. Ian Worthington has just constructed a web page for Thornley at the following web site.  http://mysite.freeserve.com/thornleydurham

MAPS OF THE VILLAGE - Maps of the village from different time periods courtesy of Alistair Mills showing years 1856, 1897, 1919 and 1939 maps. 

New :- (updated 3rd February 2008)

Added photographs (2) of the Thornley Colliery Civil Defence Team.

Added articles on Thornley from The Times from Jeanette Hardy.

Please contact me (David Cook) directly at cooky08054@comcast.net with any feedback on any aspect of the page.