Railway bicentenary events ‘made history’ with festival

A year of events marking the 200th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway has been celebrated as “making history” after more than a million people enjoyed the festival, writes Local Democracy Reporter, Gareth Lightfoot.

The S&DR200 spectacle of outdoor events, exhibitions and art installations across Stockton, Darlington and County Durham marking the bicentenary of the first passenger railway delivered a £17m boost to the North-east economy. A “once-in-a-generation” cultural programme reached over one million people in 37 countries and, with media coverage, reached two billion people worldwide, with a 25% surge in visitors to the region’s museums.

It culminated in 100,000 people visiting the region to see the re-enactment of Locomotion No.1’s first journey, commemorating the 26-mile railway, the first passenger railway. A restored replica chugged from Shildon to Stockton, followed by the spectacular “Ghost Train” show and firework display in Stockton town centre last September.

Representatives from Stockton, Darlington and Durham councils, which delivered the S&DR200 festival, and the wider, award-winning Railway 200 campaign were joined by partners at Preston Park Museum last night (June 3) to celebrate a “defining moment for the area” which rekindled pride in the region’s reputation for innovation and entrepreneurialism and prompted a visit from Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, as well as tourists from around the globe, a minister and national media.

Reuben Kench, chair of the Stockton and Darlington Railway Heritage Board and Stockton Council’s director of community services, environment and culture, said he was proud of the wide partnership’s feat of energy, creativity and hard work which had been planned for more than a decade: “It has been a fantastic partnership. It has been a massive effort by a lot of people.

“We delivered broadcast films, school classroom resources, talks, workshops and conferences, paintings, sculptures, poems and performances, animation, restoration, illustration and gamification, online and on your smartphone, in our town centres and along footpaths and cycleways, in our libraries and of course in our museums. Loco 1 did huff and puff its way along the tracks from Shildon to Stockton, filmed and cheered as it went, creating the images that will now sit in the history books alongside those of 1825 and 1925.

“Our work in this region touched the lives of over a million people, 60,000 children and young people took part in learning activities, 17,500 people took the time to produce peg dolls that illustrate their personal train journey memories.

“We secured a programme fund of over £5m supported by over £50m of capital investment in visitor attractions and facilities, and the return on that investment has been huge. But importantly, we wanted to touch people’s lives, to fuel pride to connect communities, inspire future generations and replicate the innovation and perseverance of those pioneers of 1825.

“People have told us that it made them feel proud about their place, their community, their history and their future prospects. You can see it in the faces of the audiences and participants.

“The festival has created a defining moment for our region, shaping a national and international story, honouring a world-changing moment in history. The North-east has been re-established as a place of innovation, collaboration and global relevance. The scale of engagement, the quality of delivery and the legacy created will resonate for the next 100 years.”

He thanked festival director Niccy Hallifax for “weaving the tapestry” of spectacular, intimate, rich and diverse threads, creating a “beautiful tableau”. She said: “I couldn’t have done it without all of you. It is a family and I think that’s what we created.

“The work the three councils did, and all the national stakeholders and sponsors, really did make up a bigger sum of its parts. At the heart of this, my vision was if we could affect two young people or 10 young people to say they wanted to get involved in either heritage culture or were proud of the trains industry and transport, then we’ve done our job, and I think we’ve done that.

“S&DR200 was never just about looking back, it was about reimagining what heritage, through culture and storytelling, can do. We connected the radical spirit of the railway’s pioneers with the creativity and ambition of today, showing that this region is not only where the modern railway began, but where new ideas, new voices and new futures continue to emerge.

“What we’ve build together isn’t an ending. It’s a platform for what comes next.”

The Railway 200 campaign saw thousands of events across the UK and overseas, launching with a “whistle up” of more than 200 locomotives across five continents. Its programme manager Emma Roberts said: “We had small teams but big ideas, limited resources but unlimited vision, and of course the spirit of collaboration and purpose that would guide us through the coming two years.

“Some questioned if Railway 200 was possible. But our many partners delivered in spades, taking the story of rail to millions, sparking renewed feelings of pride in railways and creating appreciation for how this technology, born in the North-east, changed the world.”

She said the legacy of the campaigns was vast, from art, surges in visitors and volunteers, boosts to rail recruitment, young eyes opened to rail careers and £1m National Lottery Heritage Fund going into projects: “It’s on track to be visited by 100,000 people in over 60 locations, 20,000 of those visitors are young people and schoolchildren, and they give it rave reviews.

“Everyone in this room and indeed in the region should feel immensely proud of what we’ve achieved. Just like that journey 200 years ago, the outcome was never certain, and many factors threatened to hinder us, but through perseverance, collaboration and a huge amount of elbow grease, we delivered something truly remarkable.

“Thank you to everyone who played their part. I believe we can all say we are history makers.”

Stockton Council leader Cllr Lisa Evans said after watching short films looking back over the events: “I had a range of emotions going through my mind – pride, a sense of achievement, partnership, community, quite emotional because what we’ve achieved together has been phenomenal. It made me very proud to be part of this.

“I think the three councils that have been involved, with many many partners, just shows you can gain such more when you work together. The amount it brought into our economy would have been huge, but what you can’t always measure is the feelings and experiences people have.

“I think this was an amazing event. I did get a bit of a lump in my throat watching it, when you see the young people and older people, people from everywhere at the events.

“I hope it inspires our young children, and I think it’ll also spark and ignite history. They’re born in the towns where this happened, we changed the world.”

Barry Thompson, a trustee of the Friends of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, said: “I think it exceeded expectations. It brought out the crowds.”

Vice chair Alan Townsend said: “It was a huge thing. We covered the length of the line wearing Georgian dress carrying a lump of coal all the way from the origin of the line at Phoenix Row, we had a relay passing bits of coal around. It was immensely popular and there were visitors from a good number of places.”

Likening the line to a Roman wall, he said: “One major aim is to increase the standard of conservation, to increase the number of ordinary visitors, to have the whole line available as a walking and cycling route.”

He spoke of continuing efforts to curate remains, restore and rebuild, including buying the former Heighington station, “recognised as the first station in the world”, which they are working to bring back to life as a Georgian-themed cafe and pub attraction to fund conservation work.