Norton John Walker's Walk, Norton High Street, Albany Road and Ragworth Road, historical walk instructions

The walk starts at the Unicorn pub, next to the duck pond. Walk towards St Mary's church with the duck pond on your left. Continue to the gateway of the church car park. On the left-hand side of the car park is the old Vicarage now part of Red House School.

In the 1970s Friedelind Wagner, granddaughter of the composer Richard Wagner and great granddaughter of Franz Liszt, was persuaded to move to Norton and set up a music school in the Vicarage. While in Norton, Friedelind lived in Victoria House, 1 Ragworth Road.

Friedelind set up the school and operated masterclasses which involved advanced training in all aspects of music and theatre work. She then realised that the vicarage was not suitable for her needs as a school. Friedelind moved to Eaglescliffe and continued to provide education.

Part of the attraction for Friedelind to move to England was the promise that a new 2,000 capacity theatre would be built in Middlesbrough, and she would be part of the company operating it. Unfortunately, the theatre was never built and Friedelind eventually moved back to Germany.

At the entrance to the car park turn left and continue on the path again keeping the duck pond on your left to Darlington Lane. Turn right onto Darlington Lane and continue past St Joseph's church.

Next left is Ragworth Road and on the corner, you can see the once home of Friedelind Wagner, Victoria House - number 1 Ragworth road.  Continue on Ragworth Road with St Joseph's School on the left. As you approach Greta Road turn left and continue along the road and then footpath onto the High Street.

Turn right onto the High Street, the first house you will pass on the High Street is The Priory No 71. Plenty of history regarding the Priory can be found from books and social media articles prepared by Norton Heritage group.

Continue on this side of the High Street where you will find numerous places for refreshment. Continue to the end of the High Street past Hope Street onto Norton Road, towards the Destiny Centre - previously Club Fiesta which was a famous venue where various stars performed. Tommy Cooper, Stevie Wonder, The Beach boys to name a few performed here.

At the Destiny centre cross Norton Road and onto Greylands Avenue. Continue to the end of Greylands Avenue and just before the junction with Albany Road look to the left between the houses. You can see an old brick building. This was once the grain store for one of Norton's windmills.

At Albany Road turn left. (Albany road was originally called Mill Lane). You will see a bungalow on the left-hand side. This was originally the site of the windmill. Continue to the end of Albany Road then turn left onto South Road. Continue past the fire station then cross over and turn right as you reach the roundabout onto Billingham Road.

Cross over Billingham Road and continue down the bank (Tanner's Bank) to Norton Medical centre. As you reach the access road to Norton Medical Centre look up to the left as this was previously the site of a Glue factory. The area is fenced off. The issue with the glue factory was the smell the process gave off. This annoyed the gentry who lived in the village. The poet Lord Byron while staying with the Hogg family at Norton House once commented that the smell from the factory was the only snag to living in the idyllic setting.

The location of Norton Medical Centre was once the site of another windmill in Norton. There are no remaining signs of the windmill on the site, however during construction a millstone was found.

Continue on Billingham Road past the Medical Centre. As you reach the allotments follow the public footpath to the left. Continue on the path through the allotments and continue with the brick wall on your left. The path known as the 'Black Path' was used to transport the waste produced from the Tannery on Norton Green to the Glue factory.

At the end of the wall turn left into Harbron wood, recently named after the late Bob Harbron, a local Historian. Keep to the footpath on the left of the wood as this will take you through to Norton High Street. Turn left on the High Street and cross over the road at the pedestrian crossing next to the fish and chip shop.

Turn right on the High Street. One of the first houses you will see is Wellington House - number 81. The Duke of Wellington once stayed at this house. Originally staying at Wynyard Hall with Lord Londonderry they had both been to a function at Stockton Town Hall. When travelling home by horse and carriage they decided to shorten the journey and rested at the House. At the time, the house was owned by Lord Londonderry.

Continue along the High Street to the George and Dragon pub. Stop at Mill Street and look up the street to the left. As the street name indicates there was another windmill located at the top of the street. Again, there are no remains of the windmill visible, and the site is occupied by houses.

Continue along the High Street to the Unicorn pub and the end of the walk.

The information for this walk has mainly been obtained from articles and research previously done by Norton Heritage Group. For more detailed information please refer to Norton Heritage Group books available from the library or their Facebook page. Norton Heritage Group also organise their own history walks around Norton.