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SHILDON MY HOMETOWN
The official birthplace of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, Shildon takes its name from the Anglo-Saxon word 'scyid'
meaning shield or refuge, and 'dun' meaning hill.
Lying between Bishop Auckland and Newtown Aycliffe and bypassed by the A6072 it is an easy
town to miss out on your tour.
However if you do miss it you will be missing out on a
town steeped in railway history, and now widley accepted as having an important place in early railway history. So when in
Shildon a visit to the Timothy Hackworth Railway museum is a must.
Voted the best small attraction for the region in 1999, it is dedicated to the railway pioneer
Timothy Hackworth, who lived and built railway engines in the town at the same period as George Stephenson. Some say that
Timothy Hackworth was a superior engineer to Stephenson and that the reason he was overshadowed was due to Stephensons train
beating Hackworths at the rain hill trials. For those who enjoy a conspiracy theory Hackworths engine failed due to a faulty
boiler, that had been manufactured by Stephenson.
Shildon became a Local Government District in April 1877. The Urban District Council superseded the Local
Board in April 1894, and the District Council was enlarged in April 1937 at which time the population was approximately 16,000.
Gas was introduced for lighting in 1841, the supply being obtained from plant erected at Soho by the Railway
Company. The only other streets lit by gas lighting at that time was in Grey Square, in Newcastle.
The Weardale and Shildon Water Company commenced a domestic water supply in 1871 and Electric lighting was
introduced in 1902.
For many years Shildon market was held without statutory powers, and the Council was therefore unable to
collect Market Tolls. The only remuneration the authority was able to obtain was in requiring stallholders to pay for the
use of the stalls, which were the property of the ratepayers.
In 1924 a Town’s Meeting was held at which the section
of the Act of Parliament was adopted, empowering the Council to hold a Market and to provide public weigh houses etc.
Several
legal formalities had then to be carried through, and eventually the market was held on a legal basis, the scale of Tolls
being sanctioned by the Minister of Health.
In years gone by the Old Market Place has been the starting point of many jubilant processions including
Royal Coronations and the opening of Hackworth Park in 1928, when over 3,000 people gathered to take part in the procession.
A Poplar tree was planted in Shildon to commemorate those who were killed in the Great (1914-18) war. They
were to be found in many places around the town including Wesley Crescent, in front of the Railway Institute and bordering
the School playground in College Street. One Poplar was planted for each Shildonian who perished in action during that conflict
and their names were put onto a plaque on the war memorial at St John’s Church.
Shildon had it’s share of heroes in both the first and second world wars, and although those who fought
in the battles of Mafeking and Sebastopol are long forgotten, one has only to pick up a book about these wars and there you
will find the names of Shildon men on its pages, men who rose to the challenge and gave their lives for England.
Shildon, more famous for its steam locomotives, had an electric railway from 1920 until 1935 extending to
Simpasture initially and was worked by a fleet of Sentinel electric locomotives, which were garaged in the Shildon wagon works.
Shildon wagon works, or BREL as it was known finally closed its doors in 1983. The ‘jewel in the crown’
of British Rail Engineering Limited was plucked from the town without much thought for its inhabitants, workforce or its history;
a bureaucratic decision made at BREL headquarters by some who had never had the pleasure of visiting Shildon and its works.
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| Shildon Station about 1930 |
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***** LATEST NEWS *****
22/10/2004
LOCOMOTION........The Official Opening of the National Railway Museum in Shildon.
Opened by Tony Blair. Prime Minister.
Today saw the official opening of Shildons own National Railway Museum by the Prime Minister Tony Blair.
In pride of place was the famous Flying Scotsman formerly owned by Alan Peglar who also attended the ceremony.
About half the size of the York rail museum 25,000 visitors have already called in at Shildon in the last month!!!!......almost
half of the expected amount in a year.Everyone concerned is delighted with todays opening and the prospect of lots more visitors
to Shildon in the future. Admission is Free!!!!
| Locomotion... Railway Village |
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| How it looks |
Here I add a few modern day photos of Shildon.
| Main St. |
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| Looking up to St John's Church |
| The Old Club |
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| One of only two working mens clubs in the town. |
| Main St. |
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| Looking down Main Street to Hippodrome. |
| Shildon Arch |
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| Church Street |
| Want to see more photos of shildon? |
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| Jump on train to take a tour!! |
HOW TO GET TO SHILDON???
DIRECTIONS & INFO BELOW
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The Timothy Hackworth Rail Museum
| Hackworth Museum |
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| Click pic & go to museum |
About
Timothy
Hackworth
Timothy Hackworth
Hackworth was born in Wylam, Northumberland, on 22nd December 1786 and died in Shildon, Co Durham, on 7th July 1850.
He was a pioneer of steam locomotion. He was the eldest son of John Hackworth, who from 1782 until his death in 1802, was
foreman blacksmith at Wylam colliery. He was educated at Wylam village school and at 14 began training under his father. From
1802 his training was supervised by Christopher Blackett (proprietor of the colliery) and in 1807 he became foreman smith,
remaining at Wylam until 1816. During this period he was concerned in the design and construction of the early locomotivess
built at Wylam (see Jonathan Foster and William Hedley). In 1813 he married Jane Golightly at Ovingham. Both were ardent Methodists,
Timothy becoming a lay preacher.
In 1816 he moved to Walbottle colliery near Newcastle as foreman smith. On the opening of the Forth Street Works of Robert
Stephenson & Co at Newcastle in 1824 he was asked to supervise the works during the absence of George Stephenson on the
Liverpool & Manchester Railway and of Robert in South America. Reluctantly Hackworth agreed, and thus supervised the construction
of the first locomotives at this works: it was Hackworth who suggested coupling the wheels of S & D locomotives No 1 Locomotion
and its three successors with outside rods and return cranks instead of chains. He declined to take a share in the works,
and in 1825 he was appointed to the S & DR to take charge of locomotivs and machinery. He established his headquarters
at New Shildon. He first built the stationary winding engines for the Brusselton and Etherley inclines.
In 1827 he built the first 6-coupled locomotive, Royal George, at Shildon. It was also the first locomotive on which
the cylinders drove directly onto the wheels, and it was the first completely reliable loco on the S & DR.
Learning of the forthcoming Rainhill trials on the Liverpool & Manchester Railway in 1829 he designed and built a
light 0-4-0 named Sanspareil, again with vertical cylinders driving directly onto the rear wheels, and with a return-flue
boiler. It had to be withdrawn from the competition because of a cracked cylinder casting (the cylinders had been cast at
Robert Stephenson & Co.), but when repaired the engine worked on the Bolton & Leigh Railway until 1844. It was then
used at Coppull colliery near Chorley (see Daglish) for driving a pump, and for light winding, until 1863. After overhaul
and restoration it was presented to the Science Museum, London, by John Hick (qv) of Bolton.
In 1829 Hackworth designed coal staithes on the Tees at the new town of Middlesbrough. To carry the S & D Middlesbrough
extension across the Tees he designed a plate-girder bridge, then a completely new idea. Despite thorough testing in model
form the design was rejected by the directors who adopted a suspension bridge designed by Capt Samuel Brown RN (1776-1852),
erected in 1830. As Hackworth had predicted, it was a failure, and its replacement by Robert Stephenson's cast iron bridge
in 1842 was also unsatisfactory (see J. Harris). Hackworth's next locomotive was the Wilberforce class 0-6-0 of which six
were built in 1831-2. They had vertical cylinders at the rear driving cranks on a fixed shaft connected to the wheels by coupling
rods, so allowing all axles to be sprung. They had 'return multitubular fire-tube' boilers with a heating surface of about
500ft2. In 1833 he entered into a new contract with the S & D in which he became responsible for the working of the locomotives
and workshops but remained free to operate his own business as a builder of locomotives and stationary engines. He opened
new workshops, foundry and built houses for workers, and put his brother Thomas in charge of the new works. Thomas remained
there until 1840.
Throughout this period from 1827 Hackworth was studying the use of steam expansively, providing lap on all his slide
valves. In 1835 he built a new engine for the Black Boy incline, with a cylinder 40in diam x 30in stroke, using a 'double
trunk' principle in which the connecting rod was pivoted at the piston and worked inside a large tubular piston rod. It was
in use until 1874. In 1836 he built a 2-2-2 for the Russian government using the same 'double trunk' principle. In 1838 he
introduced an improved type of 0-6-0 in which inclined cylinders at the rear drove the front coupled wheels by long connecting
rods. One of this type, the Derwent built by Kitching of Darlington in 1845, is preserved at Darlington. However, three
0-6-0s built by Hackworth in 1838 for the Albion Coal Mining Co in Nova Scotia, reverted to the earlier design with vertical
cylinders over the rear wheels. One of these, Samson, is preserved at New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. In 1840 he gave up the S &
D contract and concentrated on his own Soho Engineering Works at Shildon where he built locomotives, stationary engines and
boilers. His son John became works manager. His last engines for the S & D were two 0-6-0s, similar to Derwent, built
in 1842. In 1846 he began an order for twelve 2-2-2s for the London & Brighton Railway to a design by John Gray who, however,
made so many alterations to the design that the final delivery time passed before the order could be completed. As a result
Gray was dismissed, Hackworth's last locomotive was the 2-2-2 Sanspareil (No 2) to his own design embodying all his experience.
It was purchased by the York, Newcastle & Berwick Railway in 1854, becoming No 135, and gave excellent service, running
at speeds up to 75mph with trains heavy for the period. It was broken up in 1881. Marshall considered that Hackworth has an
assured place in locomotive history as the first to establish the steam locomotive as a thoroughly reliable machine.
| Timothy Hackworth Memorial |
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| St.Johns Churchyard Shildon |
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Pride as a new chapter in history of North East railways is opened.
Residents of Shildon were bursting with pride as thousands of visitors flocked to their hometown to witness the start
of a new era.
Officials unveiled Locomotion: The National Rail Museum at Shildon as people travelled from as far away as Canada to
see what the North Easts first National Museum has to offer.
In fact 3,600 people came and far exceeded everyones expectations and in the next few weeks people from as far away as
China and Japan are expected.
Visitors began their trip down memory lane at the museums Welcome Centre,which is in the 1884 Sunday school,yards from
the rail pioneer Timothy Hackworths Soho works.
His most famous creation, The Sans Pareil, stands in the centre of the building as part of an exhibit that tells the
story of how Shildons love affair with the railways first began.
Another attraction is Hackworths former home,built in 1831, and the Soho shed.
Volunteers who have painstakingly rebuilt the replica of the 175 year old Sans Pareil were waiting to take families on
a thrilling journey through time,the engine billowed steam as it carried them down the track to the 6,000 sq ft collections
centre....the home of 60 of the finest of the NRM's national collection.
No time for boredom as every few yards in the centre a new challenge presented itself in the shape of interactive games
with a railway theme.
Many officials and civic dignitaries attended the opening of the museum also a line up of Timothy Hackworths great-great
grandchildren and other descendants.
| SHILDON/TIMOTHY HACKWORTH |
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| SOUVENIR KEYRINGS FOR SALE |
I have a quantity of these Shildon souvenir keyrings for sale. The Shildon railway pioneer
Timothy Hackworth on one side and his engine Sans Pareil and the words" Shildon Cradle of the Railways" on the other side.
The cost is £0.75each excluding P&P which will be 40p UK.
International buyers please email me for P&P.
My address is at the bottom of the page.
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MINING IN SHILDON
Apart from being steeped in railway history,Shildon was also noted for being a mining town, my father and my grandfather
both were pitmen, while my father worked at the New Drift at Shildon, my grandfather who also worked at the New Drift previously
worked at collieries further afield including Brandon and Easington, and had many tales of accidents and disasters.
The link below is to the Durham Mining Museum, it has all the information on the Shildon pits, its workers and many more
details, I have spent many hours reading it's pages and I recommend it to you for one of the most intesting reads you will
have!
DURHAM MINING MUSEUM
SHILDON AFC
The club was formed in 1890 as Shildon Town to play friendlies, or "ordinary matches" in the jargon
of the day. In 1892 they were founder members of the Auckland arid District league, and two years later merged with two other
Shildon teams - Rangers and Heroes - literally to become United. After a year in the Wear Valley league, United joined the
new Northern League division two, but the club folded due to a financial problem in 1900 and the second division ceased the
same year.
They re-formed later that year as Shildon Athletic, joining the Northern League in 1903 to replace
Stockton St.John's. The Dean Street home was known as the South Durham Athletic Ground, and was also a cycle track.
In 1907 the club joined the semi-professional North Eastern League for 25 years - dropping the "Athletic"
in 1932-33, finishing second as a prelude to their great days.
Shildon had already tasted FA Cup glory, the high point a replay win at York City in 1927-28, and
in the first round have played Oldham Athletic three times, Brentford, Lincoln City and Scunthorpe United.
The Railwaymen reached the Amateur Cup quarter-finals in 1938 and 1959.
Famous names to represent the club include Stan Seymour - later player and chairman at Newcastle United,
Dickie Downs, who won international honours at Barnsley, and Wacker Wild, a tenacious pre-war full back and one of the game’s
great characters.
From the officials’ ranks, ex-secretary Wilf Dodds went on to become league secretary, president,
and FA Council member, the Rev. T F Hampton was one of few clergymen to be a club chairman and Harry Brown is another long-time
secretary recalled with great affection. Long serving club secretary and league Management Committee member Mike Armitage
became the divisional FA representative in 1997, whilst tea ladies Joan Clarkson and Edith Aisbitt - wife of former chairman
Bill -have over 70 years service between them.
The Dean Street turnstiles and distinctive grandstand went up in 1923, and 60 years later a small
band of volunteers, plus the small matter of £45,000, were responsible for new dressing rooms and social club beneath the
stand.
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson switched on the floodlights when his team played a friendly
in May 1987 - appropriate given that the Railwaymen have also been known as the Red Devils.
I spent 20 years at the club, my voluntary duties over the years have included, Secretary of the Social
Club,Committee Member,Chief Barmaid....and all the tasks that no-one ever sees.....toilet cleaner, bottle woman, cleaner,
decorator.
I worked with some lovely people as well as the not so lovely........one or two of them have gone
to the great football field in the sky, but I will never forget them.
Below is a link to the Official Shildon site, go in and have a look around.
| Shildon AFC Dean Street |
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| Click on Pic. |
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Shildon & Area Hotel Guide
| Road Map |
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Bus Timetable Here
Train Info Here
Directions:- FROM M6:- Leave at junction 38 (Tebay) and take A685 to Brough and A66 to Scotch Corner. Join A1M
at Scotch Corner (North). Leave junction 58 (A68) and follow signs for Bishop Auckland A6072 to Shildon town centre.
From the North
Come in on the A688, Turn off onto the B6282, first roundabout (next to the car shop) turn left onto Church Street.
From the South
Come from Darlington A68, turn right at roundabout onto the A6072. keep on until
reaching outskirts of shildon carry on until 2nd roundabout (at bottom of bank) turn right travel 200 yards turn left at the
mini roundabout onto B6282 into Byerley Road, travel half a mile until meet roundabout turn right into church street.
lthompson50@supanet.com
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