Latest news with #StocktonDarlingtonRailway
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
New mural and sculpture planned to celebrate railway anniversary
A sculpture and mural marking the 200th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway are in plans being considered by Stockton Council. The authority has submitted the proposals to its own planning officers for a cylindrical steel sculpture at Corporation Quay, Quayside Road, Stockton. Laser-cut words and poems will be etched into the structure with a solar-powered lamp for 'subtle, energy-efficient backlighting… creating a gentle glow that brings the text to life at night', says a statement from Element 3 Design Ltd. According to the application, the artwork commissioned as part of the Stockton and Darlington Railway 200 anniversary celebrations programme will be built on a concrete slab base on the Riverside Walk. It would replace an existing seat and picnic bench on council-owned land near the Riverside footbridge. Most Read 'Devastation' as major North East festival confirms cancellation for this year Two in hospital after incident on County Durham street leaves road cordoned off North East beach 'wins' Brown Flag award for worst water quality again In a separate planning application, the council has asked for listed building consent to erect art mural boards to a wall at Stockton Railway Station, Bishopton Lane. It is proposed to install the mural on a wall of the grade II listed building as part of a series at other stations across Stockton, Darlington and Durham. A heritage statement to the council says: 'It is an art form that will speak to audiences that often may not at first be interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics or feel that their culture is not represented. In short it gives a social narrative and the community a voice.' The mural may be based on a theme like momentum, propulsion, tracks, journeys, time, community and workers: 'The artist will be asked to work with one of these themes with a community group or local artist in the development of the artwork and it is intended to add to the significance of the existing heritage of the station. The artwork will be available to view by members of the public at any time.'
The Sun
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
The new ‘nine month festival' launching in the UK with historic walking trail, world's first railway and AR games
A NEW 'nine month festival' is taking place across County Durham and Tees Valley this year, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the first journey on the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR). As part of the S&DR200 festival, there will be an interactive walking trail between Shildon and Stockton via Darlington - along the rail route which opened on September 27, 1825. 4 4 Along the route will be one of the world's most important groups of surviving early railway buildings including the Grade II* Heighington Station - the world's oldest railway station. The trail will also include an AR game, which will allow players to "learn more about the pioneering innovations of the S&DR via augmented reality and explore key locations in immersive and dynamic way", according to the festival's website. The S&DR Trail of Discovery is a public walk and cycling path which follows sections of the original S&DR route in County Durham, Darlington and Stockton. It stretches approximately nine miles in total. Along the path, visitors will be able to see highlights from the original route include the world's first train platform, the oldest railway bridge and sites that formerly houses cutting-edge technology of the time. There will also be three museums along the route - Locomotion in Shildon, Hopwtown in Darlington nad Preston Park Museum in Stockton. The first of the three museums is home to Europe 's largest collection of early locomotion's. The second is a reimagined site with interactive experiences telling he story of the early rail. The final museums is set in 120 acres of parkland and is home to many curiosities of local life, as well as a new gallery. The first phase of the Trail will be completed during 2025 which will see a continuous route in County Durham from the very start of the line in Witton Park to Heighington Station. New European Sleeper Train Route Goes Through 15 Destinations This part of the trail will be particularly picturesque. In Darlington, the route will run from Hopetown Museum and pick up the original 1825 route all the way to Middleton St George. Then in Stockton, the route will pick up at Eaglescliffe Station and take you on a journey to Stockton Riverside, via Preston Park, where you can still see remnants of the 1825 line. Also in the summer, 17 illustrated panels will be placed be along the route that tell the story of this pioneering historic event that changed the way the world travels, trades and communicates. The full trail will eventually be fully completed by 2027. Then on September 27, 2025 the official 200th anniversary of the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) in the north east of England, which gave birth to the modern railway, will be marked with a re-enactment of the first journey. As part of the celebration, the nine-month festival - which began in March - there will be a number of other events, exhibitions and activities open to the public. To date, £57 million has been spent developing the region's cultural infrastructure ahead of the festival. You can also explore three historic train stations as part of new UK tour – but only until the end of the year. Plus, the first ever direct trains from London to Switzerland move even closer to launching. 4
BBC News
13-05-2025
- BBC News
Volunteers collect 200 rubbish bags for railway anniversary
It was the kind of glorious weekend weather that would normally be perfect for a scenic rail the passengers who boarded one particular train at Bishop Auckland station in County Durham on Sunday were seeking a day trip with a your everyday sightseers, these volunteers were instead on a mission to gather 200 bags of rubbish from the tracks to help mark the 200th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Opened in September 1825, the 26-mile stretch transformed how the world traded, travelled and communicated, with festivities taking place throughout this year to celebrate the bicentenary. The Weardale Railway is a heritage line that runs for 18 miles from Bishop Auckland to manager Claire Gibbons said: "We had the idea for the big spring clean after travelling up and down the line and noticing that the litter situation was really bad."So, with a landmark birthday coming up we thought, what better way to celebrate?"She also praised the commitment of the dozens who turned up as the train, en route to Stanhope, made its first stop of many just a few hundred yards down the it did not take long for the clean-up team - made up of local residents, members of the Lanchester Boys' Brigade, Durham Wildlife and rail staff, amongst others - to disembark and get to work. However, trying to find the most bizarre item discarded in the undergrowth soon became the day's most popular pastime. What is more, the results proved far from disappointing, with an antique telephone handset, an iPad, a shopping trolley, a pillow and some unopened prosecco - likely long past its sell-by date - among the things uncovered."We found some booze, so everyone's a winner," joked one volunteer, who popped the cork on the vintage bottle of fizz to mark their task's completion. But, despite it having been thirsty work, everyone was sensible enough not to drink any. Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Times
10-05-2025
- Times
All aboard the ‘Nostalgia Express' — the world's first steam railway
By a roundabout near Betty's Fish Shop in the quiet town of Shildon in Co Durham, a small tourist information board rests in a clearing beside a path. This is where steam trains first took paying passengers on a public railway 200 years ago — a world first. The old tracks are still there, running a short distance before ending abruptly on grass where residents walk their dogs. In the background, vehicles rev and honk towards Bishop Auckland. Other than that, chances are you will have this momentous spot in the history of human movement all to yourself — just as I do. I'm here to travel from Shildon to Middlesbrough, tracing the original 1820s route of the 26-mile journey, via Darlington and Stockton, taking Northern services along the modern railway, while seeking out lesser-visited remnants of the old line in this hallowed train landscape. If you're a rail enthusiast in this bicentenary year — a charge to which I plead guilty — then this is a fitting pilgrimage, and a chance to wallow. George Stephenson's groundbreaking Stockton & Darlington Railway, built primarily to haul coal from collieries near Shildon via Darlington to Stockton on the River Tees, had rolled forth from here, beginning at what was known as the Masons Arms Crossing, on September 27, 1825. The great self-made engineer himself had been at the controls of his beloved Locomotion No 1 — naturally — as the wheels of the Industrial Revolution began to spin. Back then, as the train reached a heady 12mph, there had been great fanfare with more than 600 passengers squeezing on to rudimentary seats in wagons. The Masons Arms pub, across the street, was where the first paying passenger tickets were sold (now it's the closed-down Cape to Cairo restaurant, although you can just make out 'Masons' in faded letters on a wall). The setting now has a ghostly feel. Before Stephenson, the land here had been 'a wet, swampy field — a likely place to find a snipe, or a flock of peewits', according to the surveyor John Dixon. Shildon's pub and much else — including staff housing for the trainworks, schools, shops and chapels — were to come, and the town's population was to soar from 100 in 1800 to 11,000 by 1900. Now it's down to 9,600 and Shildon — the world's first railway town, known as the 'cradle of the railways' — feels like a backwater again. The truly devoted can take a detour a few miles out of town to the seminal (for train lovers) Brusselton Incline, a Georgian engineering marvel designed to haul coal uphill. It's little more than a windswept hill now with some stones marking the former tracks, set at a width of 4ft 8½in, now known as 'standard gauge'. Yet train history is far from neglected in Shildon itself. A 20-minute stroll from Masons Arms Crossing, almost adjoining the mainline station, you come to the excellent Locomotion Museum, close to the site of the former Soho Works railway plant overseen by Timothy Hackworth, Stephenson's contemporary. Locomotion is a revelation. Inside two vast, warehouse-like halls, presentation tracks are lined with shiny locos, including Locomotion No 1 (with its distinctive backwards-J chimney) and Stephenson's Rocket, built by George and his son Robert and used so famously on the Liverpool-Manchester line (free; You can also see Experiment, the bulky carriage for bigwigs on the Stockton & Darlington Railway. And old 'night-ferry' carriages that were used to travel from London to Paris on specially designed ships, sit alongside locos from the 1890s that could touch 90mph and battered-looking 1960s mining locos. Displays explain how engineers from across the planet came to Hackworth's works in the early years to learn about advancements. It is, in short, a glorious celebration of all things train — on a par with the National Railway Museum in York — yet little known to most. Even its café seats were once fitted on Eurostar carriages. But it's time to move on. From Shildon the line winds 11 miles across countryside, past industrial yards and suburbs to Darlington. You are travelling along the original 1825 route and, about halfway, the true rail aficionado may wish to hop off at the almost derelict remains of Heighington, thought to be the world's first station. Onwards from Heighington you cross Skerne Bridge over the River Skerne. This is said to be the world's first proper railway bridge, nicknamed locally as 'the five pound note bridge' (because it used to be on the back of a fiver). After this excitement, Darlington station is a cavernous red-brick structure, dating from 1887 in its current form, and now in the middle of £140 million renovations. From there it's a pleasant amble back towards Skerne Bridge beyond an imposing market square, to the second railway museum of the day: Hopetown Darlington. Set within North Road Station, dating from 1842, exhibits outline how Edward Pease, from a local Quaker family, had been key to backing George Stephenson, taking a chance on his newfangled steam locos despite many doubters. Crucially, Pease — instructed by altruistic Quaker beliefs — stipulated that his 26-mile railway would be for public use, not just coal wagons. The museum houses railway paraphernalia galore, including a striking painting by the Darlington-born artist John Dobbin depicting crowds gathered by Skerne Bridge in 1825 to witness Locomotion No 1 chugging by. About 40,000 turned up for the spectacle. • The UK's best heritage lines Moving on from Darlington to Stockton, you pass housing estates and countryside before arriving at Thornaby and changing for a short ride into the centre of town, with its nondescript station (just a couple of shelters and a footbridge). Stockton was the original terminus of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, which perhaps ought to have been called the Stockton and Shildon Railway but perhaps wasn't because Shildon was such a nonentity and the Quaker backers were Darlington-based. It's a down-to-earth market town now with a lovely art deco theatre — the Globe, where the Beatles played in 1963 on the day President Kennedy was assassinated — and a market with an unusual 'kinetic sculpture' devoted to its train history. At 1pm each day The Stockton Flyer, in the shape of Locomotion No 1, arises from a plinth near the town hall, emitting whistles and smoke before sinking back. The sculpture, unveiled in 2016, is by the artists Rob Higgs and Keith Newstead. Higgs bills it as a 'whimsical creation'. Yes, a wonderful one. From Stockton, for those who want an extra history-of-trains thrill, it's 15 minutes to Middlesbrough along tracks that were created in 1830, as the colliery owners were already seeking deeper River Tees moorings. Middlesbrough then was little more than a scattering of abodes, yet by 1862 it was a hero of industrialisation, with William Gladstone calling it an 'infant Hercules', no less. • Europe's most exciting rail journeys Now, of course, it's a city with a population of about 140,000 and a fine gothic station (dating from 1877). All down to Stephenson's trains. The true rail enthusiast may wish, after Middlesbrough, to continue down the line to Grosmont for a full dose of nostalgia on a steam train ride across the splendid rolling scenery of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. And why not? You've earned it. Two centuries on, so close to where the passenger steam trains began, they're still going strong. Toot-toot to Hotel Darlington has room-only doubles from £85 ( Leonardo Hotel Middlesbrough has room-only doubles from £66 ( Tickets from Shildon to Middlesbrough, via Darlington and Stockton, from £10 ( One-day North Yorkshire Moors Railway rover tickets £49.50 ( Tom Chesshyre is the author of Slow Trains Around Britain: Notes from a 4,088-Mile Adventure on 143 Rides, published by Summersdale. To order a copy go to Free UK standard P&P on orders over £25. Special discount available for Times+ members
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Family-friendly trail featuring painted trains to launch in Darlington
A family-friendly trail featuring painted trains is set to launch in Darlington. Darlington Mind has unveiled the 'Railways to Wellbeing' trail, which will run from Saturday, May 10 to June 1. The interactive trail will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway while raising awareness for Mental Health Awareness Week. It will feature a collection of painted trains displayed in businesses and shop windows across Darlington town centre. The trains have been designed by members of Darlington Mind's Art Group and artists, with each train themed on one of the Five Ways to Wellbeing: Connect, Be Active, Take Notice, Keep Learning, and Give. Simon Davidson, CEO of Darlington Mind, said: "This trail is more than just a celebration of Darlington's railway heritage – it's an opportunity for our community to engage with mental health in a creative and accessible way. "The painted trains each showcase the power of art to spark important conversations around mental wellbeing. "We hope this trail not only inspires people to take care of their own mental health but also to support one another. "It's a fun, interactive experience for all ages, designed to raise awareness and create lasting connections within our community." As visitors follow the trail, they can take part in a treasure hunt, collecting hidden letters to unscramble a secret phrase. Those who successfully decipher the phrase will be entered into a prize draw for the chance to win a wellbeing-themed hamper. Read more: 'What a helluva party it had been!': Durham man's memories of VE Day VE Day 80: Darlington comes together to remember with flag raising ceremony New British Steel jobs created on Teesside as Government step in This free event invites everyone to explore Darlington's town centre, enjoy the creative train designs, and support local businesses along the way. Darlington Mind has extended a special thank you to the partners and businesses that supported the project, including Community Rail Network, Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership, CrossCountry Trains Ltd, Darlington Borough Council, and The Viking Boat Company, which produced the trains. For more information about the trail or to access a map of the route, visit
