Three remarkable pictures show the lost buildings of Darlington thenorthernecho.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thenorthernecho.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
“LABOR OMNIA VINCIT” (Work Conquers All) is the wording round the image of Darlington’s famous Locomotion No 1 engine on this 9ct gold medallion, which features in our auction on Tuesday. On the reverse is a well-executed image of Bulmers Stone, the famous landmark in Northgate that is said once to have been the boundary of the town. It is believed that on April 19, 1821, George Stephenson stopped to tie his shoelaces on the stone before he went over the road to meet Edward Pease in his house to discuss the forthcoming Stockton and Darlington Railway. Hallmarked for Birmingham 1919 this piece is comfortably just over the 100 years. Because of the railway connection, there are many souvenirs from the 1925 centenary of the railway which show the engine and the stone, but these are usually wall plaques.
A BLACK door, filthy from decades of roadsplash grime, opens directly from the street. On one side of it is a pizza shop; on the other a couple of kebab takeaways, and the downcomer beside it has rusted away at headheight so that when it rains, the water must splurge out onto the pavement. The fanlight above the door is so encrusted with dirt that no light filters into the narrow dark passage behind. The passage leads straight to another doorway which opens to reveal complete blackness. I pull out my phone and turn on the flashlight only to discover that I’m wrapped up in a straggly curtain of thick spiders’ webs. Behind the curtain is gloryhole of junk in an understairs cupboard.
The Railway Magazine
A classic 1940s express steam locomotive has returned to the
Swanage Railway after an extensive three year £350,000 overhaul by its owners.
After a period of tests, Swanage Railway hopes to have 1946 Southern Railway rebuilt
Reopening plans for Locomotion in Shildon announced
The first visitors to Locomotion in Shildon
Visitors will be able to see the original Locomotion No.1 on display in Shildon for the first time in more than 170 years – close to the site of its first historic journey at the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825.
Curatorial Team Assistant Martyn Halman prepares SECR D Class No. 737 ahead of reopening. Photo: Charlotte Graham