On behalf of Husqvarna and the Friends of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, we have pleasure in inviting Friends to the formal launch of our walk booklet covering Shildon to Heighington on the 27th September from 4.00pm until 6.30pm at Locomotion’s main hall in Shildon. There will be drinks and celebration cake and an opportunity to network, catch up with the latest news from the Friends and an amble amongst the collections. I do hope you will find time to attend on this busy day; the 199th anniversary of the Stockton & Darlington Railway.

For the purposes of catering, please let me know if you plan to attend at caroline@aenvironment.co.uk before the 18th September. If you miss this admittedly short deadline, let me know anyway and we will be pleased to make some adjustments to accommodate you.

Our walk booklets were first published in 2016, but are now being redesigned and updated in preparation for 2025. We have always seen these as an important part of the heritage led economic regeneration strategy that is the S&DR project, spreading the economic benefits of visitors to the area beyond the honeypot sites of Locomotion and Hopetown. They are an important part of the offer for 2025 and beyond and encourage people to get out and about by foot and by train and can be used to link to other heritage interest sites in the wider area such as the Auckland Project. So far, we have updated the books covering West Auckland to Shildon, The Shildon Circular and now this stretch between Shildon and Heighington. We will soon turn our attention to Darlington. Of course, the timetable is largely dictated by the progress of the new S&DR Discovery Trail.

This event is for members of the Friends of the S&DR only and key stakeholders.

We are looking forward to seeing you.