Hundreds of people gathered together at Locomotion; The National Railway Museum at Shildon on Sunday 31st August to celebrate the inaugural service of the Bishop Auckland and Shildon Methodist Circuit.

The Revd. Ruth Gee, Chair of the Darlington Methodist District and ex President of the Methodist Conference was the preacher, and the music was led by Shildon Salvation Army Band.

The Bishop Auckland and Shildon circuits have been working towards this merger for some time, bringing together a total of 15 Methodist congregations.

Locomotion was the ideal venue, particularly with its links to Timothy Hackworth, who brought Methodism to Shildon and who was himself a local Methodist preacher.