The Times Inn Bank

The B1285 passes through the parish to the west and was originally the A 19 before the present road was built in the 1970's. The original dene begins further west and crosses the route which was originally at the level of the beck. The contour of this area was vastly different then, the dene was filled in with a tunnel protecting the flow of the stream. This to raise the level of the road so it was not too steep for travellers. The new road created a route to Murton, South Hetton, Hawthorn and the South and enabled electricity to be provided by the South Hetton Coal Company during the early 20th century.

Today the Times Inn bank is busier than ever with modern traffic being constantly constrained to slow down for reasons of safety. The new road allowed for further development of the area by creating access points to Overdene, North Dalton Pumping Station and Dalton Heights. The Times Inn Public House with its neighbour Dalton Cottage (previously known as Blacksmith Cottage) survived the construction, It would be interesting to see how the topography looked before the road was built.