Darlington
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- redirect
View of Darlington including the town clock.
- This article discusses Darlington, England. See Darlington (disambiguation) for other places with the same name.
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 by local train services at North Road railway station.
History
Darlington started life as an Anglo-Saxon settlement on the river Skerne. It has an attractive historic market area in the town centre. St. Cuthbert's church is one of the most important and impressive Early English churches in the north of England.
Darlington is known for its associations with the birth of railways. This is celebrated in the town at Darlington Railway Centre and 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 Robert Stephenson & Co. ("Stivvies"), 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.
William Thomas Stead, the eminent Victorian controversialist, edited the Northern Echo for some years. His editorial chair is still preserved.
Economy
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Darlington at current basic prices [published] (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.| Year | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 1,115 | 8 | 377 | 729 |
| 2000 | 1,192 | 6 | 417 | 768 |
| 2003 | 1,538 | 6 | 561 | 971 |
Note 1: includes hunting and forestry
Note 2: includes energy and construction
Note 3: includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
Note 4: Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
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 10K road run is held every August, and attracts several thousand competitors.
Darlington Dog Show has been a Championship event since 1969. It was normally held in September on the showground in South Park, although in more recent years it has moved to Ripon.
The Civic Theatre, Darlington is a popular arts venue in the town.
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 (1834-1880) Son of the above. Also an industrialist, and founder of Darlington library
- 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 The 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.
- George Allison Renowned Arsenal football manager in the 1930s
- Darrien Wright - Winner of the second series of Strictly Dance Fever
External links
Official
- [Darlington Borough Council]
- [Darlington Town]
- [Statistics] about Darlington from the Office for National Statistics Census 2001
- [Darlington Tourist Information]
Other
- [Darlington Railway Centre & Museum]
- [Historic Postcards of Darlington]
- [Darlington on Google Maps]
- [Vitalfootball.Darlington]
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