The work of six local children has been celebrated in a national competition to help promote rail safety.

Benjamin aged 8, and Klara aged 12, from Darlington, designed this year’s winning graphics aimed at helping other young people understand the dangers of trespassing on our railways. Alex, Matilda and Oliver from Darlington Cubs, joined Charity from a Darlington secondary school to take four of the runners up places in the Backtrack Competition.

Backtrack is a national anti-trespass competition, launched during covid to help tackle the rising number of trespass incidents on the railways. In its fifth year, the competition ran from September 2024 to March 2025 and attracted over 1,000 entries from across the UK. The Backtrack competition aims to reduce the amount of railway trespass by encouraging young people to share important anti-trespass messages with their friends and family.

Entrants were invited to submit either a social media graphic depicting a rail safety message or a media entry such as an animation, a podcast, a TV advert or a news report.

The entries from the Darlington and South Durham area were of a very high standard and showed some amazing creativity. Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership has been delivering rail education sessions in nurseries, schools, colleges and youth groups and this has attracted over 200 of this year’s entries, including some fantastic graphics and animations which highlight the key risks of trespassing.

All the winning entries have been compiled into a video, which is available at   https://backtrackcompetition.co.uk/

All the work from the winners and runners up will be used by the many community rail officers across the country when they visit schools and youth groups to talk about rail safety. And each winning entry will be played on social media too. Lots of opportunities to continue to share the #StayOffTheTracks message.

Virtual Education Network Chair Karen Bennett commented, “This year’s entries are fantastic, we had such a hard job choosing the winners as there was such a high standard. We’re so pleased the young people created such a diverse range of entries including illustrations, comic strips, animations and podcasts and even a rap. Young people are far more likely to take notice of an animation, or a video created by their peers than something more corporate, so we are delighted to have such a vibrant collection of of high quality resources to share with all our colleagues right across the rail industry”.

Well done to everyone who entered, watch out for the Backtrack Competition 2026 – we’ll be back!

Winners:

Under 11 Graphics Winner – Benjamin, Darlington
12 and over Graphics Winner – Klara, Darlington
Under 11 Media Winners – Amilie, Freddie, Betsy, Emelia, Ollie, Cara – Primary School Junior Road Safety Officers, Petersfield
12 and over Media Winners – Emily, Maddison, Amelia, Boeima, Hull

Runners up:

Under 11 Media Runner Up – Alex, Darlington Cubs
Under 11 Media Runner Up – Amazon Cubs, Farsley
Under 11 Graphics Runner Up – Matilda, Darlington Cubs
Under 11 Graphics Runner Up – Oliver, Darlington Cubs
Under 11 Graphic Runner Up – Thea Proudfoot, York
12 and over Graphics Runner Up – Charity, Darlington
12 and over Graphics Runner Up – Papa – West Lothian Scouts

Charlie Walton has been instrumental in the development and ongoing success and growth of the Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership. He served as Chair for 10 years then stepped aside to Vice Chair, and in both roles he has supported the officers and steering group with his knowledge of the railways and the local communities’ needs.  He has recently relocated and hung up his Bishop Line hat but we’re so pleased to be able to share with you his story of how he became so passionate about railways and in particular our line between Bishop Auckland and Darlington. Thank you Charlie, for everything you have done for the partnership. You may have moved but we know you’ll always be a proud supporter of the Bishop Line. 

My first ride on a train in all likelihood was with my Mam when I was a baby travelling from Etherley to Shildon to see my maternal grandparents. My first recollection of seeing a train up close and personal was at Shildon station watching the arrival on platform one of a black steam engine (a G5 perhaps) hauling red carriages. I was thrilled as my experience with trains at that time was limited to my first battery powered circular train set. Steam hauled trains on the branch were soon to disappear to be replaced by these new fangled diesel multiple units.

A house move from Witton Park to Shildon to live with my grandparents took place just before I started infant school at “Tin Tax” or Timothy Hackworth infant and junior school to give it it’s proper name. The move was for family reasons to allow my Mam to look after my Nana whose health was failing (no care workers in those days). This change of circumstances brought me into to day to day contact with my Granddad. He was a formidable character and did not suffer fools gladly. He had been in charge of the forge at Shildon Wagon Works until he retired and was therefore well known around the town as “Charlie Stivvie”. Yes the family name was Stephenson (no connection has yet been established with the other Stephenson clan) and yes I was named after him (war would have broken out if his only grandson had not been called after him!).

He was a dyed in the wool LNER man who on several occasions had met Sir Nigel Gresley who apparently referred to him as Charlie. Granddad built his own bungalow in 1937. An examination of the loft revealed that he had reinforced the roof with railway track. He had the largest private garden in Shildon at the time where he grew all the usual crops to feed the household and his large collection of rabbits which he showed and won a prestigious national cup for the best English rabbit three years in a row. He had a 33 hutch shed, which was called the rabbitry, as well as a small hospital shed and larger storage shed behind. Being a retired railway worker he could journey all over the country exhibiting his rabbits at shows by train for free. He eventually became a national rabbit judge. He also grew tobacco as he was a pipe smoker. His rows of tall tobacco plants were always a talking point.

Nearly all my friend’s families worked at the Works, on the railway or in public services. My Dad worked for the ambulance service and his uncle used to be in charge of the water works at Bishop Auckland. My Mam’s cousin married Hartley Appleby, the last station master at Shildon Station. My father in law was a wagon inspector at the Works.

So it will be on no surprise that my love of railways generally and the Bishop Line particularly came from my upbringing. My particular passion is for model railways and the LNER. My Granddad’s garden overlooked the Shildon sidings. There was only open fields between the garden and the railway where Locomotion stands today and I would spend hours watching the trains trundling backwards and forwards. Sundays were especially interesting as diverted east coast main line expresses shot through making a change from the Works shunters, freight and mineral trains and the branch DMUs.

In my working life as planning officer for the former Sedgefield Borough Council I organised for the listing on Heighington and Shildon signal boxes and was honoured to be the officer for securing planning permission for Locomotion itself – a career highlight.  I had always been involved in one form or another with the erstwhile Heritage Line and in the fullness of time became the Vice Chair and Secretary of the Friends of the National Railway Museum North East Branch at Locomotion and then of course Chair of the BLCRP for 10 years. I wonder what Granddad would have made of that?

Charlie Walton

Write on Track is a local creative writing project directly linked to the bicentenary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway. It is supported by the S&DR Community Grants Scheme, Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership and Creative Darlington.

Local writers and performers led sessions all with a different focus on creating a short story, poem or piece of memoir. People took the opportunity to visit and write in various venues along the original twenty six mile route of the Stockton and Darlington Railway – Hopetown Darlington, Locomotion Shildon, Preston Park, Stockton Library and Darlington Local Studies Centre. And, thanks to the Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership and Northern, groups wrote while travelling on actual trains and at station platforms.

Write on Track also talked to local people in Music and Memories sessions at Darlington Central and Cockerton libraries and at Age UK Darlington’s daycare centre. They’ve shared their railway memories which have been developed into a poetry sequence.

All of this built up to a creative writing competition which was free to enter and open to everyone living in the postcodes along the original S&DR route. We had a fantastic response.

Watch out for more about where you can read or listen to these brilliant memoirs, short stories and poems, all linked in some way to trains and railways. And look out for selected snippets along your journey on the Bishop Line.

Celebrating the project at a special event at Hopetown on Friday 11th July – Event introduction by Ann and Pam. 

Ann Cuthbert and Pam Plumb run the Darlington based open mic for writers, Stop Write Hear, held first Thursday of every month at Friends’ Meeting House Skinnergate Darlington.  So they know there are many talented writers in the local area. Wouldn’t it be a good idea, they thought, to run a writing competition linked to the 1825-2025 Bicentenary of the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway? They also wanted to encourage people who might not see themselves as writers but who would have stories to tell and memories to recall about trains, tracks and railway journeys. So they extended the idea to include a few creative writing workshops aimed at building up confidence and skills.

‘We had no idea then that this would develop into the wide-ranging project it became,’ say Ann and Pam.

‘We put our proposals to Stephen Wiper of Creative Darlington and he arranged for us to meet others involved in the S&DR bicentenary celebrations. Along the way, the project gained the name Write on Track and was granted generous funding thanks to the S & DR Community Grants Scheme, Bishop Line Community Fund and Creative Darlington. And it developed into –  well, let’s just say, not the small local competition we’d originally envisaged! And, of course, we would have been lost in transit without Darlington music collective Tracks who have given us such amazing project management support.’

In fact, in the end, there were twelve free workshops, with experts leading on writing poetry, memoir, short story and performance and presentation skills. Inspiring railway venues along the S&DR track –  Hopetown, Preston Park Museum and Gardens, Locomotion Shildon as well as Darlington Centre for Local Studies and Stockton Library – all offered their spaces where these workshops ran. And, thanks to the Bishop Line Community Partnership, two groups of people wrote while at station platforms or actually travelling on trains.

The competition was also free to enter and  submissions came in from all points along the original 26 mile stretch of S&DR line. Judges had a hard time deciding the winners, so much so that it stretched to include Special Mentions –  ‘Well, you can’t have enough of good writing,’ say Pam and Ann –  as well as First, Second, Third and Highly Commended in three categories –  Short Story, Memoir and Poetry.

The winners in the Short Story category are:

1^st Michael Walker –   Ethel and the Great Iron Horse

2^nd Bob Fischer –  The Eternal Hereafter via Thornaby Station

3^rd Jonny Aldridge –  An Assignment

Highly Commended Eric Foster –  Gandhi, Lancastrian and Me

Highly Commended Elizabeth Ottosson –  Redemption Train

Special Mentions Jo Clark, Quinn Cole, Graeme Roach, J. Church and Mike Watson

In the Poetry category:

1^st Leiomri Mallett –  Delayed on Platform 3

2^nd Stephanie Wallace – The Backside of  A Town

3^rd William Ross – Body on the Line

Highly Commended Julie Ashmore – Pease’s Soliloquy

Highly Commended Caroline Hardie-Hammond – Women of the Railway

Special Mentions Jonny Aldridge, Catherine Edmunds, Marilyn Longstaff, Hilary Smith,  Alan Stowers

In the Memoir category:

1^st Jane Scott – Wave Me Off

2^nd Michael Jarvie – The Class 43

3^rd Alan Theakston – Fishing in the Big Freeze

Highly Commended Lynn Lettice – A Shildon Lass

Highly Commended Glenda Miller – My Solo Teenage Train Journey

Special Mentions Susan Chapman, Marianne Tracey

July 11^th  2025  saw a  very enjoyable Celebration event at Hopetown Darlington, where prizes were presented and some of the winning writers read from their work.

But it’s not actually over yet. The plan is that all of the writing submitted will eventually be shared publicly in one format or another.

These include three further reading events taking place in different parts of the S&DR region in August, September and October, all celebrating creative writing around Bicentenary themes.

An anthology of the winning entries is already available on BorrowBox thanks to Darlington Libraries.

Recordings of writers reading their own work are scheduled for August.

A paper anthology, ‘packed with local writers doing what they do best – conjuring up pictures in our minds, creating the sights, sounds and smells that help us remember our own railway experiences across the years,’ is also now available.

And, thanks to BLCP and their specially commissioned display boards,  passengers at stations along the Bishop Line will be able to read selected snippets of writing from all the entrants in the Write on Track competition.

It’s been a brilliant journey!

Boards along the Bishop Line

We’ve displayed some of the work at the stations along the line and we’re so pleased some of the artists have been to find their pieces.

Bishop Line CRP joined forces with Tyne Valley CRP, Community Rail Cumbria, Esk Valley Railway and Community Rail Network to launch Community Rail Week 2025.

The event took place at Haltwhistle Station and showcased community rail activities across the region. Guests saw first-hand the impact of local projects showcasing artwork and music, youth engagement, activities to tackle social isolation, and sustainable travel schemes.

Jess and Felicity talked through some of the award winning project which Bishop Line CRP has helped enable and deliver in the past couple of years including the rail education programme, the 2025 rail safety and careers event, Try the Train, Shildon Smart Art, Explore the Bishop Line – tourism campaign and Storylines. 

We were pleased to be joined by Catherine Hodgson representing The Auckland Project and Claire Gibbons representing Weardale Railway, who highlighted the way we work collaboratively to attract more people to travel by rail for leisure.

We were also pleased to be joined by Sam Slatcher who entertained the guests with some songs from his new album Passengers and Pioneers which reflects on some of the conversations and stories gathered during the Storylines project.

Hopetown Darlington will welcome the North Eastern Railway Association with their programme of fascinating talks. These lectures focus on a range of railway topics, and include a Q&A session.

** Click here to book tickets on the Hopetown Website. ** 

June 7th – Getting to Wearhead: The S&DR and the NER in Weardale (John Addyman)

This talk will describe the development of the railways in Weardale, once a hive of industrial activity and a lucrative source of traffic. From the first thoughts of rail connections, through the Stockton & Darlington Railway branch to Frosterley and the subsequent extensions to Stanhope and Wearhead, John will show how the railway supported the industries and communities along the dale, and its subsequent decline.

John Addyman is President of the North Eastern Railway Association, and has written several books and articles on the railways of the north east.

September 6th – William Bouch of Shildon – Locomotive Engineer (Neil Mackay)

Timothy Hackworth gets lots of publicity when Shildon is mentioned (justifiably so in the early years when he kept the Stockton & Darlington Railway locomotive fleet running).

However, William Bouch (1813-1876) managed Shildon works for 36 years from 1840 until his death, but he receives scant mention today.

Together with Oswald Gilkes, and later David Dale, he ran the Shildon Works Company. This was a wholly-owned subsidiary of the S&DR, and a very early example of management incentives using profit-sharing. From 1849 the company was responsible for the haulage of S&DR trains, from locomotive and rolling stock maintenance and construction to the provision of train crews.

Bouch introduced bogie passenger tender locomotives to England, and oversaw the construction of the new North Road works at Darlington.

The talk will describe Bouch’s contribution to railway development in the north east and give some of the background to how the incentive scheme worked.

Neil Mackay chairs the North Eastern Railway Association and has made a special study of the Shildon Works Company using primary source material at the National Archives.

During Community Rail Week 2025, the Bishop Line welcomed a group of adults from the Sporting Chance Project, Stockton to enjoy a day of rail heritage. Sporting Chance Project aims to improve the health and wellbeing of men aged 50+ from Stockton-on-Tees through activity, events and good company.

The group travelled by train accompanied by Richard Barber, a Volunteer at Locomotion, who brought history of the Bishop Line and the Stockton & Darlington Railway to life with his wealth of rail heritage knowledge.

The group explored Locomotion at Shildon, and Hopetown at North Road, and even had the opportunity to experience travelling through Shildon Tunnel, which is the most spectacular piece of engineering on the Bishop Line.

Gill Watson, Engagement Manager for Volunteering Matters Sporting Chance Project commented

“Not only was the train travel itself a novelty for some of the men on today’s trip, but the information and exhibits were a big hit, especially the ‘extras’ for the S&DR200 celebrations. Many of the men are going to return with their families and were really impressed how easy the train was as mode of transport for this visit.”

Felicity Machnicki, Officer for Bishop Line CRP commented

“We’re glad to enable trips like this, connecting our communities to their local heritage, and its wonderful having local contacts like Richard who made this trip more memorable for the group. It’s connections like these which Community Rail is here to help happen.”

What a great start to Community Rail Week 2025!

Enjoy a vibrant journey around Darlington’s town centre, where art, history and mental wellbeing come together in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway.

As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, Darlington Mind is proud to present Railways to Wellbeing – a unique trail featuring beautifully painted trains displayed by local businesses.

The trains have been lovingly decorated by local artists and members of Darlington Mind’s Art Group, each one capturing creativity, community spirit and the message of mental wellbeing.

Every train represents one of the 5 Ways to Wellbeing – connect, be active, take notice, keep learning, and give – inspiring you to reflect, explore and enjoy.

As you follow the trail, don’t forget to look closely for special letters. Collect them all to reveal a secret phrase and enter our prize draw for the chance to win a wellbeing-themed prize!

Whether you’re a local or a visitor, come and be part of a journey that celebrates both Darlington’s past and its future wellbeing — one train at a time.

10th May – 1st June 2025.

Find out more about S&DR200

Please be careful crossing any roads. Children should always be accompanied by an adult. Train locations may be subject to change, in which case they will be signposted. Access to viewing some trains may be subject to venue opening times. 

Funded by Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership, Community Rail Network and Cross Country.

In April, Niall Hammond, Chair of the Friends of Stockton and Darlington Railway (FSDR), and a board member of the S&DR200 festival was invited to China to see the amazing parallels between the Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR) and the Tangxu Line, China’s first steam railway. Niall was accompanied on the visit by Caroline Hardie, a fellow trustee of the FSDR charity, and published author on the S&DR.

2025, as everyone knows or should know, is the 200^th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the acknowledged birthplace of the modern railway which changed the face of the world in the 19^th century. It is also the 144^th anniversary of the Tangxu Line, China’s first.

The Tangxu Line is located close to the city of Tangshan in Hebei Province, Northern China. In the same way that S&DR was built to move coal from the County Durham coalmines near Shildon to the quayside at Stockton-on-Tees, from where it would be shipped to its main market in London, the Tangxu Line was built to bring coal from mines around Tangshan, now a major industrial city of seven million people but then just a collection of ten houses, to the nearest waterway at Xugeszhaung to feed the cities of Beijing and Tianjin.

The S&DR was championed by George Stephenson and Edward Pease against opposition that preferred a horse-drawn system over the steam railway, and in the same way Tangxu was the brainchild of Claude William Kinder (1852-1936), an Irishman. The Chinese were resistant to the idea of the new steam railway as they believed that a locomotive, with its steam, smoke and noise, would disturb the spirits. Dowager Empress Cixi, effectively the power behind the Chinese throne, was also concerned that steam locomotives would disturb the feng shui of her ancestors in the nearby Ming Tombs.

So the Kaiping Mining Bureau, who were financing the railway, asked Kinder to build a locomotive in secret and meanwhile kept up the pretence that the new railway would be horse-drawn. Kinder, an engineer by background, built China’s first steam locomotive, the ‘Rocket of China’ from an old boiler and other cannibalised parts. The locomotive was numbered ‘No.1’ and was embellished with dragons by its Chinese workforce. The new railway was immediately successful and Kinder bought his next two locomotives (‘No.2’ and ‘No.3’) from George Stephenson’s own company, Robert Stephenson & C^o. in Newcastle, neatly completing a circular story.

Back to 1825 and Stockton-on-Tees was soon not able to meet demand for exported coal and the S&DR was extended to a new port at Middlesbrough, then just a few houses on the banks of the Tees. Similarly, by 1886, five years after opening, the Tangxu Line waterway at Xugeszhuang had also proved inadequate and the line was extended to a new port at Lutai. In 1893 Kinder while surveying a further railway extension popularised Beidaihe south of Qinhuangdao and its beaches as a summer resort again in a similar initiative to Henry Pease of the S&DR who developed Saltburn as a seaside resort in the 1860s. Caroline and Niall during their visit were shown a commemorative statue to Kinder at Beidaihe.

How does it all look today? The Tangxu Line is now an integral, albeit small, part of China’s high-speed railway network and Kinder’s original locomotive works has been massively extended and now builds its high speed ‘bullet’ trains which still run on the 4 foot 8 ½ inch ‘standard gauge pioneered by George Stephenson 200 years ago. Tangshan is still a coal mining area and its heritage is celebrated at the Kailuan Mining Park which also houses the China Origin Railway Museum, very similar to the Hopetown Museum in Darlington. Kinder is widely celebrated as ‘the father of Chinese railways’ and his European-style villa, once threatened with demolition, has been moved and reconstructed as a museum close to the city centre.

The Hebei UNESCO Association, the organisation that extended the invitation to Niall and Caroline, are now planning a reciprocal visit to the S&DR in September for officials from Tangshan city and its museums. It is hoped that this visit will not only create a greater understanding of a shared railway heritage, but also will highlight the synergies between Tangshan and Darlington, the Tees Valley and County Durham which could be developed further.

Niall Hammond commented,

‘The impact of the Stockton & Darlington Railway on worldwide communication, travel and trade was profound in the 19^th century. Modern high-speed rail in China is continuing to demonstrate the benefits of railways, all of which started here in North East England 200 years ago. We are exceptionally grateful to Hebei province for their hospitality and look forward to continued links and friendship as we would hope to have with others round the world as part of our shared railway heritage.’

Links

Friends of Stockton and Darlington Railway www.sdr1825.org.uk
SDR200 Festival www.sdr200.co.uk
Railway 200  www.railway200.co.uk

Story provided by the Hebei Provincial Association for UNESCO.

This term Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership has been working with Year 8 students from 4 local secondary schools to help raise awareness of vitally important rail safety issues.

Students from Greenfield Academy, Longfield Academy, St Aidan’s CE Academy and Polam Hall School all took part in assemblies, highlighting the dangers of railway trespass. This culminated in 30 students from each school being invited to Locomotion in Shildon to take part in a rail safety and careers event.

Throughout the day the students engaged in interactive sessions covering rail safety with virtual reality headsets and drones, potential rail careers and understanding their personality with a MySkills quiz, looking after their mental well-being, designing anti-trespass messaging and understanding the impact of anti-social behaviour.

There was even an opportunity for all the students to find out what it’s like to work in the rail industry from Drivers, Travel Safe Officer and British Transport Police Officers, as well as those behind the scenes in roles like train performance, planning and strategy.

Sadly, trespass on the rail network increases during the summer months and the Easter Holidays often see a spike in incidents. We are hoping that our engagement work with young people this spring will help to reduce occurrences this year.

Lonely Tower Film and Media were commissioned to make this fantastic film to document the event, and we would like to share it as widely as possible to keep our community safe around our railways.

*Source for trespass increase information:

https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/network-rail-and-british-transport-police-issue-warning-ahead-of-expected-surge-in-trespass-incidents-across-the-rail-network

Bishop Line’s Rail Education Officer Jess, has been workin with students from Year 10 UTC South Durham on their Professional and Careers Experience project.

Since January, a group of students have been meeting regularly with Jess to develop proposals to improve the station environment at Heighington Station. The brief was “to make the station feel welcoming whilst respecting the historical significance.”

The students visited the station and also worked with Niall Hammond from the Friends of Stockton and Darlington Railway as part of their research.

On Tuesday 8th April we were delighted to attend the judging day alongside representatives from Friends, Northern and The North East Combined Authority to view the students work. They have produced some excellent proposals and we look forward to continuing to work with UTC to explore how these plans can become a reality at the station!

Congratulations to Olivia from the group, who won the Outstanding Individual Award!