HOUSE TEAMS

Every child and member of staff belongs to of one of our four house teams. Points are earned throughout the week and totals are announced in Friday's Dream Believe Achieve Assembly. At the end of each term the winning house team receives a special treat.

KERR

 

Bobby Kerr was born 16th November

1947 in Alexandria, Scotland. Kerr

joined Sunderland in 1964.

Nicknamed the Little General due to

his tough style of play and lack of

height, Kerr is known as one of the

club’s greatest ever servants. After

twice breaking his leg at the start of

his Sunderland career, Kerr

overcame the setbacks to captain

the club to FA Cup  glory – a feat

which is seen as one of the greatest

shocks in English football. The game

itself was voted as one of the top ten greatest

moments at Wembley Stadium. Aside from the

FA Cup, Kerr also led Sunderland to promotion

from Division Two in 1976. Kerr left Sunderland

in March 1979 to link up with former manager

Bob Stokoe at Blackpool, before ending his

career at Hartlepool. After retiring from the

sport he went on to become a successful local

businessman.

TRAVERS

 

Florence Linden Travers was Houghton-le-Spring’s very own star of stage and screen. Born in the town May 1913, she acted under the name Linden Travers. Her obituary in The Guardian newspaper, in October 2001, described her as a “gifted actress who moved comfortably from femme fatale roles to light comedies.” Her first professional stage appearances were at the Playhouse,

Newcastle-upon-

Tyne in 1933. The

best and most

famous of her films

was Alfred

Hitchcock’s The

Lady Vanishes

(1939).

Her own favourite

film was Orchids for

Miss Blandish

(1948) in which she

played the title role.

Her younger brother Bill Travers starred in the film Born Free.

SANCROFT

 

William Sancroft was the Rector

of Houghton-le-Spring between

1661 and 1664. He left to

become Dean of St. Paul’s

Cathedral, London.

After the devastating Great Fire

of London he assisted Sir

Christopher Wren in restoring

the Cathedral. In 1677 King

Charles II asked him to become

Archbishop of Canterbury. He

accepted he honour and held

the position until he retired in 1691.

NAPOLEON

The A690 runs through Houghton-le-Spring via a locally famous transport feature named Houghton Cut. The Cut swathes through the magnesium limestone common around Sunderland and provides passage down onto the vast plain that approaches Durham. Houghton is at the foot of the steep cut and Durham Cathedral is visible seven miles in the distance. Houghton Cut was created by French prisoners during the Napoleonic War, as a route was required to transport troops from Durham to Sunderland. Fencehouses, a small village within Houghton-le-Spring, is believed to have originally been called French Houses, where the prisoners lived.