What is your background/back story?
I am an archaeologist by training and profession. In 2003 I set up a heritage consultancy, Archaeo-Environment. Prior to that I was the county archaeologist for Northumberland.
As a heritage consultant, I was employed by local authorities to examine their historic buildings and places. In that capacity, I learned all about the Stockton & Darlington Railway and I couldn’t believe that there was no appreciation of it. The remains of the railway suffered from fly tipping, the buildings were in a terrible condition and I soon found many other people felt the same way.
We got together in a school in Darlington. There were people from all sorts of backgrounds, including trainspotters, geographers, politicians from all parties and people working in heritage. The Stockton & and Darlington Railway now runs through an area of economic deprivation, and lower levels of educational attainment than the national average. We all thought that this railway, which actually changed the world, could, 200 years later, create investment, jobs and a sense of civic pride.
We set up the Friends of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, which went on to become a charity and a community interest company.
Why should people be interested in the 200th anniversary of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, especially in the North East?
Quite simply the railway changed the world and that was something that came from the North East. Strictly speaking the Stockton & Darlington Railway was not the first railway in the world; the original technology was introduced to the country in Elizabethan times in the 16th century.
However, it was in those parts of the country with extractive industries, that the railway and locomotive technology developed, with people like Watt, Trevithick and then Stephenson.
It was the Stockton & Darlington Railway that brought all this expertise together. It was the first large-scale, railed public transport infrastructure in the country and the world. A lot of it was based on expertise from Tyneside, typically George Stephenson at Killingworth.
It was that talent that was used to develop a passenger and goods train service and this led to other people coming to see it and being brave enough to invest in other similar services elsewhere. If you wanted to see how to run a modern railway between 1825 and 1830, the only place in the world to see it was the Stockton & Darlington Railway. In this way it was the model for all the other ways in the world -– and it all started with the Stockton & Darlington Railway.
It didn’t just change the face of the world literally with the rails that were laid down, but it also gave us a vision. The people involved were inspirational and still make great role models. George Stephenson came from a very poor family in Wylam, and his parents couldn’t afford to send him to school. Consequently, he was illiterate. He was still able to develop his talent with locomotives but understood that he had to get an education to develop his expertise and share it with others so he went to evening classes and so learnt to read and write. This shows young people that they can still make a success of their education, even if things haven’t worked out at school. Edward Pease, the main visionary and financier of the railway, is another similar role model; he changed the world after he retired!
How long have you been involved in the anniversary celebration?
I’ve been involved since 2013 with the forming of the Friends of Stockton & Darlington Railway. I did research on the railway before that going back to 2006.
What will be happening?
This year there will be a SDR 200 Festival and Fringe to celebrate 200 years of the Stockton & Darlington Railway. This began in late March and goes on until October and is largely a creative arts festival organised by Festival Director Niccy Hallifax. There are official exhibitions by local authorities and the National Railway Museum, but there is also a community fringe, with many villages and organisations doing things locally. This includes musicals, plays, guided walks, exhibitions and live music.
No Steam Cavalcade
There will not be a steam cavalcade like there was for the 150th anniversary in 1975. This is disappointing, but it just wasn’t to be. In 1975 it was only a few years after steam trains had regularly used the lines and the infrastructure was still there, such as the water tanks and marshalling yards, but they are all gone now.
Network Rail set very high standards to allow steam locomotives on their live lines due to health and safety issues. So, the cavalcade will not be happening but there will still be some live steam events on a smaller scale.
On the 26th, 27th and 28th September, there will be a journey using a replica Locomotion No.1 built in 1975, for the 150th anniversary, which will haul three replica chauldron waggons which have cost £40,000 each, so that they can be used on Network Rail live lines and a replica passenger coach, Experiment. They are currently being tested on the Weardale Railway.
They will take three days to do the journey, leaving Locomotion at Shildon on 26th, spending 27th September around Darlington and finishing at Stockton. We want as many people as possible to see it and film it and it will be the centrepiece of the festival.
The Friends have also commissioned the music that was played 200 years ago at the Opening Day. In those days musical instruments were different, and we have had the music played and recorded, using instruments from 1825. The musicians are specialists from Cambridge who are coming up in August and playing live along the route. The music can also be downloaded from our web site for free.
Enjoying the original route
Some of the route has lost its original railway character and so the Friends are putting it back. We have recreated signage from the 1920s, which stated that it was the route of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, and we have commissioned artwork showing railway scenes on the sides of buildings. We are repairing buildings and structures, putting up picnic tables and developing booklets of self-guided walks along the route.
Some of the 1825 route is still live line, so you can get on a train at Shildon, travel along the line and see the world’s earliest railway station at Heighington and get off at North Road in Darlington – all in the tracks of the 1825 crew and passengers. This means it is also possible to explore the line using a combination of rail travel and walking.
We are also organising beer festivals, street theatre, and a walking festival
We want to get young people interested because they will be looking after the railway in the future; they will organise the celebratory events in 2075. So, we are working with schools delivering free picture books (written by me!) to youngsters, running school workshops, summer schools, even an all-girls football tournament!
One of our objectives is to spread the word about the importance of the Stockon & Darlington railway. So, we have recorded 12 podcasts on different aspects of the S&DR and we have published two books. One is everything you need to know about the S&DR, the other a celebratory coffee table book have with stunning photography and poetry from North East poets and specially written music by local artists.
Because of the national significance of the anniversary there is also a national festival running called Railway 200; so there are events running this year up and down the whole country.
Can you tell me about successes so far?
Partnership working! The Friends could achieve very little on their own, but working in partnership with the three local authorities, The National Railway Museum, Historic England and many businesses we have attracted over £40 million worth of funding and here is more to come. They are all working on an action plan created back in 2016.
Can you tell me about your plans for the future?
We have got £250,000 to take the project forward after 2025, doing things like working with Darlington Borough Council to save Edward Pease’s home in Darlington and to produce a Conservation Management plan for the whole line which will give us a huge do-list for the next 20 or so years.
Some of the funding is for staff; we have a new business development officer Jim Reece, who used to work at Beamish and so understands how historic buildings and places can generate income which can be invested in other conservation projects.
One thing we particularly want to do is to rescue Heighington station, the world’s earliest railway station, and turn it back into a Georgian style tavern. We are going to get people dressed up in period costumes and it should be a lot of fun!
Is there anything else you would like to add?
I would like to encourage people to go to the Friends of the Stockton & Darlington Railway website and join up. You get a book, a badge and notification of events plus invites to things that you wouldn’t get invited to if you weren’t a Friend of the S&DR.
Take a look too at the Festival web site and plan your visit to the area and explore the railway that got the world on track.
We are also looking at having a mini festival every September to keep the interest going and it would be great if people joined us for the next leg of our journey.
You can learn more about the events to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the start of the modern railway network in any of the different sources provided below:
The podcasts can be found here.
The Save Heighington Station page can be accessed here.
The Festival Fringe website can be found here.
The National Railway200 website can be found here.
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