Chester-le-Street
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Template:GBmap Chester-le-Street is a market town in County Durham, England with a history going back to Roman times. The town is located 8 miles west of Sunderland. The Church of St Mary's and St Cuthbert's is where the body of St Cuthbert of Lindisfarne was laid to rest for some 113 years before being transferred to Durham Cathedral, and is the site of the first translation of the Bible into English. The town is the seat of the Chester-le-Street district.
The Riverside Ground at Chester-le-Street is home to Durham County Cricket Club which became a first class county in 1992. The Riverside Ground is overlooked by Lumley Castle an impressive fortified mansion house, which is currently used as a hotel.
Famous sons of the town include former England football captain Bryan Robson. Jock Purdon, the folk singer and poet, lived in the town for most of his life, although he was born in Scotland.
Older football version
An old version of Football was once played in the town. The game was played until 1932 between the "Upstreeters" and "Downstreeters". Play started at 1pm and finished at 6pm. To start the game, the ball was thrown from the Queen's Head hotel in the centre of the town and in one game more than 400 players took part. The centre of the street was the dividing line and the winner was the side where the ball was (Up or Down) at 6pm. The game was finally stopped in 1932, when a number of players were fined under the Highways Act for obstructing the highways and causing an annoyance to pedestrians!
Cricket
Chester-le-street is the home to a new cricket ground.