Stanley is set on a breezy hill top and commands a bird's eye view of the whole area. A former mining town situated between Consett and Chester-le-Street, the name comes from Anglo-Saxon and means 'stony field'. It was first mentioned in 1211 and there are Neolithic and Roman remains in the area.

Beamish Museum is England's largest open-air museum and has a working steam railway, trams, a Victorian town centre, a demonstration colliery, a school and a working farm. The C2C route passes within yards of the entrance gate.

Tanfield Railway : it is the oldest railway in the world that still exists. It stops at the Causey Arch north of Stanley - 50m high and a Scheduled Ancient Monument built in 1728 - and is manned by volunteers 0191 274 2002.

Jolly Drovers Maze - built on the site of the former Eden Pit Colliery in 1989. Like the Lambton Worm (see Chester-le-Street) it was designed by Andy Goldsworthy.