With its new train exhibition and rich railway history, the famous town of Darlington is… the ultimate ticket to travel (but you don’t have to be a train spotter to enjoy it)
When the first locomotive rolled over the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825, carrying both coal and 600 passengers, it must have been an impressive sight.
More than 10,000 spectators watched as the plane completed its first 25-mile journey at a speed of 15 miles per hour.
It was a proud moment for the North East – and a big celebration too. The world’s first public railway with steam locomotives was operational.
Yesterday, in Shildon, a town eight miles north of Darlington, a new hall of early locomotives and historic carriages was opened with much fanfare at the Locomotion Museum.
Included are the world’s oldest oil tanker wagons, early snowploughs and a Bren gun carrier, as well as locomotive No. 1, used on the Stockton and Darlington Railway, plus locomotive pioneer George Stephenson’s famous Rocket.
Tom Chesshyre explores Darlington, a town in the northeast of England. Above the market hall
Full steam ahead: Skerne Bridge played a part in the birth of the modern railway in 1825
The first locomotive ran on the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825. Above: Bakehouse Hill, Market Square, Darlington
This summer will also see the opening of Hopetown Darlington, a museum about the early days of railways in the region. The idea is to create a ‘railway tourism route’ between Shildon, Darlington and Stockton.
Stockton is marking the railway’s upcoming 200th anniversary in a less flashy way. That said, it is already home to a “moving sculpture” called the Stockton Flyer. Every day at 1pm, this abstract metal depiction of locomotive No. 1 pops out of a stone plinth, emitting whistles and steam; an extraordinary sight.
However, Darlington is the obvious base for visiting this train triumvirate.
Hopetown Darlington, a museum chronicling the early days of railways in the region, will open this summer
‘For evening entertainment, look no further than the Hippodrome,’ writes Tom
The market hall (above) houses a busy bakery, a butcher serving pies, as well as bars and Mexican and Thai restaurants
Visitors admire installations at Locomotion, a museum in the town of Shildon (above)
And there is much more to discover than just the railways.
Start at the market hall. A former center of the wool trade and leather production, now home to a busy bakery, a butcher serving top-notch steak pies, as well as bars and Mexican and Thai food stalls.
Nearby alleys wind down to the River Skerne and offer pleasant walks. One of these is to Skerne Bridge, where Locomotion No. 1 first crossed in 1825 – as recorded by artist John Dobbin in a work to be displayed at Hopetown Darlington.
There are further alleyways with curious collector’s shops (for a break, try the excellent Echo 3 cafe on Clark’s Yard). For a stronger drink, visit Hole In The Wall at Horse Market.
For evening entertainment, look no further than the Hippodrome, where £35 million has been spent refurbishing the theatre that first opened in 1907. In its early years, the Hippodrome played host to the famous Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova. How did she get there? By train, of course.
