Friends Of The Stockton & Darlington Railway

How the Railways Came to Heighington
2024-03-09 14:00 - 16:30 (Europe/London) | St Michaels Church, Heighington, DL5 6PN, Church View, Heighington, DL5 6PP, United Kingdom
St Michael’s Church, Heighington will be holding a history day on Saturday 9th March 2pm to 4:30pm.
There will be talks on Heighington’s contribution to the rich history of the S&DR, Book Stalls, Railway Gift Shop and Static Displays.
Tickets £5 (under 16s free entry) from Margaret 07970 600631 or can be bought online here: https://bit.ly/48ePT1l

Heighington Station Goods Yard Clean Up
2024-05-25 10:00 - 13:00 | Heighington Station
25th May – gather together to give the goods yard a clean and make it safer to visit.

Book Launch 27th September at Locomotion
2024-09-15 08:00 - 17:00
On behalf of Husqvarna and the Friends of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, we have pleasure in inviting you 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 our partners.
We are looking forward to seeing you.

EIWP Group GARDEN PARTY
2024-09-15 13:00 - 16:00 | Etherley Incline
‘Mary’s Place’
2 Hillside Cottages Low Etherley DL14 0EZ
Sunday 15th September 1pm—4pm
Refreshments plus
Optional walk along Etherley Incline
We welcome everyone to join us for this special occasion
Please contact John to confirm attendance – jraw2883@aol.com

Shildon History Day
2025-05-17 13:00 - 16:00
Join us on Saturday 17th May between 1pm and 4pm at Shildon’s historic Railway Institute for our How the Railways came to Shildon History Day. Featuring model railway displays and a range of stalls selling food, books and memorabilia. There will be history talks taking place throughout the afternoon from a number of speakers.
Tickets are £5 and available by emailing Margaret Fenwick at matfen@live.co.uk or John Raw at jraw2883@aol.com or on the door.

Free Guided Walk: Eaglescliffe Station to St. John’s Crossing via Site of 1830 S&DR Suspension Bridge & Preston Park.
2025-08-13 10:30 - 12:30 | Eaglescliffe Station
A linear walk from Eaglescliffe Station to St. John’s Crossing via Site of 1830 S&DR Suspension Bridge & Preston Park.
Meet at Eaglescliffe Station for 10:30am.
Distance about 4miles.
Terrain is a mixture of paved and gravel paths with a short walk next to the River Tees under the A66 and 2 railway bridges.

Litter Pick at St. Helen Auckland
2026-02-25 10:25 - 12:30 | Stationmaster’s House, West Auckland, DL14 9EX, United Kingdom
Join the Friends for a litter pick along the S&DR. Meeting in front of the former station house in St Helen Auckland at 10:25. Sturdy footwear is recommended. Litter Pickers and bags can be provided, but bring your own if you wish. Email John Raw at jraw2883@aol.com to register for the litter pick.

Celebrating SDR at Heighington
2026-03-07 13:30 - 16:30 | St Michaels Church, Heighington, DL5 6PN, Church View, Heighington, DL5 6PP, United Kingdom
We have a fabulous event coming up on 7th March 2026 with some amazing speakers. Proceeds will support our fundraising efforts to make the magic happen with the old Locomotion pub and bring it back to life again.
Please join us, get your tickets, share the post, sponsor the event… whatever works for you, works for us.
Looking forward to seeing some old friends and making some new ones. Tickets only £6

H.A.I.G. Regular Volunteering Day
2026-04-24
Regular volunteering activities designed to support the HAIG area element of the SDR will take place on the last Friday of the month.
The activities can range from litter picks to development of the original Heighington Station building. If you have anything specific that you want to suggest / lead on the volunteering days please let the us know and we can help make it happen.
Activities, meeting times and places will be published beforehand on here so please keep checking regularly.
