Friends of the Stockton & Darlington Railway are pleased to report that they have successfully launched the ‘Save Heighington Station’ campaign and with grant applications into a number of sources, have so far raised over £8,700 from crowdfunding alone, towards the £100,000 necessary to match fund a £400,000 community ownership fund bid.
The building, recognised by Historic England as the world’s oldest railway station building, is currently in a very dilapidated state and has recently been added to the Heritage at Risk register. The building has been vacant since 2017 and since then has been a target for vandals and continues to degrade through lack of repairs.
Our long term aim for the building is to restore it as a Georgian Railway Inn to give visitors a handy stop off point on the S&DR trail and also to recreate the atmosphere of the early Georgian rail user.
If you haven’t made a donation yet and would like to contribute to the campaign, you can donate by visiting our website at:
www.sdr1825.org.uk – or through our online JustGiving page https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/save-heighington-station
The group are also searching for people to help support our community ownership fund bid by filling out a short petition and survey to demonstrate to funders the community interest aspect of the railway https://www.sdr1825.org.uk/save-heighington-station
Husqvarna showed their support for the railway project by donating £2500 to the funds on Tuesday 23rd April, along with a short presentation highlighting some of the plans for the 2025 bi-centenary celebrations, which currently have works in progress including a 26 mile walk/cycle path running alongside the original S&DR route. More details on the 2025 Festival will be announced in September at:
https://sdr200.co.uk
History of Stockton & Darlington Railway:
The Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR) was formally opened on the 27th September 1825.
It marked a significant milestone in the development of the modern railway network.
Whilst some of its operations were still developing after 1825, the Stockton & Darlington Railway proved to be ‘the great theatre of railway operations’, lighting the fuse for the explosive expansion of railways across the world and a second wave of the industrial revolution.
Friends of Stockton & Darlington Railway:
The group was set up in 2013 to safeguard and promote the heritage of the railway, amidst concerns that what remained of the line was under threat from neglect and redevelopment.
Formed from a wide range of people from all walks of life, with a shared passion for our railway heritage and significant individual expertise, the Friends have a wealth of knowledge of the history of the line.
The Friends work with partners to identify, preserve, promote and develop the 1825 Stockton & Darlington Railway line as an educational, cultural and historic site of international significance and to develop its recreational, economic and tourism potential.