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!

Bishop Line CRP, Esk Valley Railway Development Company and Tyne Valley CRP have collaborated to produce a useful leaflet highlighting how easy it is to travel across the North East and North Yorkshire by train.

In preparation for the many visitors arriving in the region in 2025 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the modern railway the three community rail partnerships collaborated to produce a handy leaflet showing the key attractions on each line and most importantly how to travel to them by train.

The leaflet was launched at the Community Rail Awards in early March with a special celebratory version to mark the 20th anniversary of the awards.

A copy of the leaflet can be downloaded here.

NE CRP Rail leaflet 2025

You will also be able to pick up a hard copy at most stations and attractions across the North East.

We all hope you enjoy exploring our region by train!

Local CRPs Bishop Line, Esk Valley Railway and Tyne Valley collaborated to reflect the friendly and diverse communities of the North-East and North Yorkshire to those visiting the Community Rail Awards in March.

The CRPs worked together to showcase the amazing work being delivered in each CRPs area, brought the CRPs closer together through joint literature and highlighted so fantastic events for awards delegates to take part in while the region.

Haltwhistle Visit

Tyne Valley CRP directors welcomed members of the CRN board to Haltwhistle for a tour of the re-furbished buildings and for coffee in the Water Tower café. There were some really useful conversations around re-purposing out of use railway buildings. They were also glad to welcome colleagues from CRN and Marston Vale CRP on the Fri morning.

Passengers and Pioneers Album Launch

Bishop Line CRP hosted the launch of the album ‘Passengers and Pioneers’ at the Common Room in Newcastle. The album is the culmination of work by singer songwriter Sam Slatcher as part of the Storylines project. It was fantastic to welcome around 70 people across the 2 shows to celebrate the beautiful music and poetry created throughout the project in such a wonderful space. Thanks to everyone who came and enjoyed the event and thanks to Northern and CrossCountry for their funding to help make this event happen.

Weardale Special Train

Following a fantastic night at the Community Rail awards, the next morning Friday 14th March, a special Weardale Railway service departed from Bishop Auckland West to Stanhope, marking a successful collaboration between Bishop Line and Weardale Railway. General Manager Claire Gibbons welcomed everyone on board and gave a brief overview of the Railway highlighting some of its incredible history and links to the Stockton & Darlington Railway. The journey, supported by dedicated community rail volunteers and staff, showcased the shared commitment to promoting local rail travel and connecting communities along the route. Passengers enjoyed the scenic ride through Weardale, with many praising the welcoming atmosphere and beautiful views along the way. Weardale Railway is delighted to work alongside Bishop Line CRP to create more opportunities like this – celebrating our region’s heritage and encouraging community engagement.

Exhibition of CRP work across the region

The three CRPs worked collaboratively to deliver a fantastic exhibition in the drinks reception space on the awards evening showcasing the breadth of community rail projects and initiatives delivered across the region. We hope you had time to see the exhibition while you were networking, if you missed it the boards will be featured at future CRP events.

North East CRPs collaborative leaflet to promote train travel across the region

In preparation for the many visitors arriving in the region in 2025 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the modern railway the three community rail partnerships collaborated to produce a handy leaflet showing the key attractions on each line and most importantly how to travel to them by train. The leaflet was launched at the Community Rail Awards in early March with a special celebratory version to mark the 20th anniversary of the awards.

A copy of the leaflet can be downloaded here.

Three Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership projects have been celebrated at the national Community Rail Awards for their innovative approach to engaging communities with the local railway line and stations.

Bishop Line CRP fought off strong competition to be named winners in 2 categories, and placed 2^nd in a third category at the 20^th national Community Rail Awards in Newcastle.

Bishop Line CRP won the Community Creative Projects and Station Arts award for Shildon Smart Art. The project engaged young teens to work with local Street Artist, Dan Walls to create artwork that now adorns the footbridge at Shildon Station, enhancing the experience for passengers and making the area more welcoming. The initiative was aimed at making the station safer and more inviting for the community and for tourists visiting Locomotion.

Bishop Line CRP also received the Tourism & Leisure Award for raising awareness of attractions easily accessible by rail along their route through its ‘Explore the Bishop Line by train this summer’ campaign. Executed through print and digital media, the campaign led to an increase in ticket sales on trains and increased visitor numbers at each of the attractions on the line.

Bishop Line CRP also came second for the Involving Young People Award for the Bishop Line Rail Education Programme. In its first year the programme engaged with almost 4,000 young people along the Bishop Line and delivered over £90,000 in social value.

The event, organised by Community Rail Network and headline partnered by Lumo, was this year held in Newcastle, to honour the wider railway industries’ celebration of 200 years since the birth of modern railways.

The ceremony, now in its 20th year and organised by the Community Rail Network, celebrates the positive impact of community rail initiatives. A record-breaking 510 guests, including senior rail and transport leaders, attended the event at the city’s Civic Centre on Thursday March 13.

This year’s Awards recognised a diverse array of projects across Britain and beyond, with 20 winners chosen from 227 inspiring entries, all demonstrating how the community rail movement builds positivity and awareness between local people and their railways.

Find out more about the winning projects on the Bishop Line website. www.bishopline.org

More broadly, Bishop Line CRP delivers a range of community engagement and social inclusion initiatives, supports volunteering at stations, promotes green travel and tourism by rail, and works with railway and local authority partners.

The Awards recognise the crucial, often unsung work of community rail partnerships, station friends and other community rail groups, which continue to grow in number and impact, under Community Rail Network’s umbrella. There are now 76 CRPs and an estimated 1,300 station groups spread across Britain (and now a few beyond too).

Bill Freeman, interim chief executive of Community Rail Network, said: “Our Community Rail Awards give deserved recognition to community rail partnerships, groups and volunteers across Britain and now beyond. It’s a fantastic achievement to be able to celebrate two decades of recognising the outstanding work across community rail, especially during this special Railway 200 year. Our congratulations to Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership and to all our winners, and thanks to everyone who supports and champions community rail, helping the movement to go from strength to strength.”

Martijn Gilbert, managing director at Lumo, said: “As a North East based train company that’s proud of our region’s rich railway and industrial heritage and is actively playing a key role in the future of the railways, we’re incredibly proud to sponsor and celebrate the Community Rail Awards in their twentieth year.”

He added “Our congratulations go to all our winners, and thanks to everyone who supports and champions community rail across the rail and transport field, helping the movement to go from strength to strength.”

“This is especially fitting, as Lumo is based in Newcastle on the site of the former Stephenson locomotive works where the first railway locos were built, and our trains pass through Darlington where the first passenger railway opened in 1825.

“We are committed to helping keep the region at the forefront of great value and sustainable rail travel through creating a cleaner, greener future for the communities and customers we serve, so it’s a real moment of pride to celebrate everyone taking part in the 2025 Community Rail Awards and especially well done to all the fantastic winners.”

The Community Rail Awards celebrate the often-unsung work of community rail partnerships, station friends, and other community rail groups.

Further details of all the winners can be found at communityrail.org.uk/hall-of-fame/2025.

Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership has collaborated with its many partners to host a Rail Safety and Careers Event for local Secondary School Students.

Over 100 Year 8 students from secondary schools along the Bishop Line attended the event at Locomotion. They spent the day learning about rail safety and potential careers in the rail industry so they not only could become rail safety ambassadors but also be inspired to consider rail when choosing their GCSE options.

They 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.

They also met representatives from local colleges who introduced the students to relevant courses to access roles in the rail industry.

The world-famous Flying Scotsman even made an appearance, but it was fair to say that four-month-old trainee police dog, Bruce, stole the show!

Jess Young, Rail Education Officer for the Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership said, “I hope that the pupils now have an understanding of the reasons why they need to stay safe around the railway and why that’s so important, and help us to spread that message, but also that they realise the breadth of career opportunities within the rail industry and that they go away today thinking – I didn’t know that role existed in rail and actually that really inspires me, and I’ve met somebody today who does that role and I can see myself in that role in the future.”

A film of the event is below, please watch it and share it.

A huge thanks to all those that supported the event – Bishop Auckland College, British Transport Police, CAF Rail, Community Rail Network, CrossCountry, Darlington College, Illumination Wall Art, Locomotion, Lonely Tower Film & Media, LNER, Network Rail, Northern, North East Combined Authority, the Railway Children charity, Shildon Station Adopters, TransPennine Express, Tyne Valley Community Rail Partnership and Weardale Railway.