Darlington

This article discusses Darlington, England. See Darlington (disambiguation) for other places with the same name.

Darlington is a town in the north-east of England. In 2003 it had a resident population of 98,210. It lies within the traditional and ceremonial county of County Durham but on 1 April 1997 become part of the Borough of Darlington unitary authority.

The town is the home of Darlington F.C. who are currently playing in Football League Two. It is served by Darlington railway station on the East Coast Main Line and local train services at North Road railway station.

History

Darlington started life as an Anglo-Saxon settlement on the Skerne river. It now has an attractive historic market area in the town centre and St Cuthbert's church is one of the most important and impressive Early English churches in the north of England.

View of Darlington including the town clock.

Darlington is known for its associations with the birth of railways. This is celebrated in the town at Darlington Railway Centre & Museum (see http://www.drcm.org.uk). The world's first-ever passenger rail journey was between Shildon (via Darlington) and nearby Stockton-on-Tees on the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825. The town later became an important centre for railway manufacturing, with three significant Works. The largest of these was the main line locomotive works, known as North Road Shops, opened in 1863 and closed in 1966. Another was "Stivvies" (Robert Stephenson & Co), who moved to Darlington from Newcastle upon Tyne in 1902, became Robert Stephensons & Hawthorns in 1937, were absorbed by English Electric around 1960 and closed by 1964. The third was Faverdale Wagon Works, established in 1923 and closed in 1962, which in the 1950s was a UK pioneer in the application of mass-production techniques to the manufacture of railway goods wagons. David Mach's 'Train', a life-size brick sculpture of a steaming locomotive is located alongside the A66, close to the original Stockton-Darlington railway.

The Great North Road (now known as the A1) used to run directly through the centre of Darlington. The road has since been diverted to the west side of Darlington and the original route is now the A167. North Road in Darlington is along the original route of the Great North Road.

The town was already large with a busy textile industry, but the introduction of iron and steel industry increased its size further.

William Thomas Stead, the eminent Victorian controversialist edited the Northern Echo for some years. His editorial chair is still preserved.

Events

The Rhythm'n'Brews festival is a music and real ale festival normally held in early autumn with many rock, blues and jazz acts playing at various venues around Darlington as well as a CAMRA run bar at the Arts Centre. In 2006 it is due to be held from 14th to 17th September.

The Darlington festival is held every summer, and though not comparable with the Riverside Festival held in nearby Stockton-on-Tees, it is an event worth going to if you are in the area. Themes include Music, Tea Dance, Street Theatre , Thomas the Tank Engine event, Countryside Activities and much more.

The Darlington 10K road run is held every August and atracts several thousand competitors.

Darlington Borough Council regularly sponsor a bonfire and fireworks display on the showfield in South Park around the 5th November. The event is often attended by 100,000 or more, and the event is regarded as one of the best in the region.

Darlington Dog Show has been a Championship event since 1969, and is normally held in September on the showground in South Park.

On 14th July 2005 following the 7 July 2005 London bombings, areas of Darlington town centre were closed while controlled explosions were carried out. The first incident was reported around 1745 BST, when a rucksack was seen in a phone box in Northgate, which led to evacuations of nearby shops and offices. Three controlled explosions were carried by a unit from Catterick Garrison, but Durham police said the bag only contained clothing and personal items. At around the same time staff from a nearby fire station spotted two men acting suspiciously around bins in a car park.

Firemen went to investigate and heard beeping sounds coming from one of the containers. Police immediately sealed off nearby roads causing Darlington town centre to be brought to a standstill.

Famous natives and residents

• Joseph Dent Founder of the Everyman Library
• Sir John Summerson Architectural writer
• Ralph Hodgson Poet
• Willie Smith Twice world billiard champion (only entered twice).
• Edward Pease Quaker industrialist
• Edward Pease Son of the above. Also an industrialist
• Joseph Pease Industrialist. The first Quaker M.P.
• Charles Roberts Footballer and trade unionist
• The Backhouse Family Achievers in many spheres
• Mark Gatiss Comedian
• Aidan Chambers Prize-winning children's author
• Wendy Craig Actress
• Vic Reeves Comedian
• Joshua Thomas Johnson Award winning poet
• William Thomas Stead Editor of Northern Echo. Victorian social commentator who died on the Titanic
• Ian Hamilton Poet and editor
• Frederick Dickens Charles Dickens' beloved scapegrace brother. He is buried in the West Cemetery.

External links

• Statistics about Darlington from the Office for National Statistics Census 2001

• Darlington Tourist Information

• Darlington Railway Centre & Museum

• Darlington Borough Council

• Darlington Town

• Historic Postcards of Darlington