Demolition of Durham Road School - Spennymoor

The final stage of demolition at 'The Alderman Wraith School or Durham Road School' Spennymoor commenced in late february 2015. Though, not before a massive community effort for it to remain as a landmark building within the town. More than 2000 people signed an online petition to save 'Alderman Wraith' the very first purpose built grammar school in County Durham. Following two public meetings the building could not be saved & John Wade Demolition were handed the contract to demolish the once iconic landmark. Apparently the site is to be returned to grass, until an alternative use / purchaser is found 'council lingo for a housing estate'. Spennymoor is crammed to the rafters with unfinished new build housing estates & part of the argument to retain the school was just that. The town doesn't require further new housing, due to pressure on local services, education & the transport infrastructure. 'What Spennymoor requires is employment opportunities for young people, your children / grandchildren. So why build housing on brown field sites?' Some may say 'time to move on but then again, perhaps not?' 'Certain towns require less demolition & more ambition or vice versa? Else residents become entombed in a mish mash of architecture and open spaces in the wrong areas of towns. Planners are akin to film makers, they continually evolve their vision, attempting to create a montage, consider the post WWII experiment of 'New Towns & Tower Blocks' mainly disasterous. Closer to home the planners of the mid 1960's created Bessemer Park & The Arndale Shopping Precinct. The latter has never had 100% occupancy & the former experiment lasted around a quarter of a century before it was decided that it would be demolished.' 'Hindsight tells us that, planners & councillors made drastic, infrastructure & social mistakes back in the 1960's, one of which is still affecting the town half a century later. If only they had listened at that time?!' I hope that this tribute doesn't upset too many people & that you check out my channel & perhaps subscribe. I filmed over 25GB of footage during my eight visits to the site, recording twenty plus hours & hundreds of stills. I used a video rig so that I could use two video cameras at once when required and my LF1 camera in my pocket. Editing took me around ten hours or so.... The music is courtesy of a bloke called Beethoven - Symphony No.5 A big thankyou to John Wade Demolition for allowing me access to film the demolition in progress.