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Darlington

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Darlington is a town in North East England and the main population centre in the Borough of Darlington. Darlington has a resident population of 97,838. The town lies within the ceremonial county boundaries of Durham. On 1 April 1997, the Borough of Darlington became a unitary authority area, which separated it from the non-metropolitan county of Durham, for administrative purposes.

Darlington railway station(bank top) lies on the East Coast Main Line. There are also services from the historic North Road railway station and associated Darlington Railway Centre and Museum. The town is also home to the football team Darlington F.C., known as "The Quakers" because of the contributions made to the town by men such as Edward and Joseph Pease, members of the Religious Society of Friends.

History

Darlington started life as a 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. The world's first 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. (colloquially: "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.

To commemorate the town's contribution to the railways, David Mach's 1997 work "Train" is located alongside the A66, close to the original Stockton-Darlington railway. It is a life-size brick sculpture of a steaming locomotive emerging from a tunnel, made from 185,000 "Accrington Nori" bricks. The work had a budget of £760,000.

In 1870, The Northern Echo newspaper was launched. It is based in Priestgate and is a long-standing part of life in the North East. Although a local paper, it is a full-bodied newspaper in its own right and includes national and international issues in its scope. Independent local radio station Alpha 103.2 launched in 1995. William Thomas Stead was the first editor of the Northern Echo - Just opposite of the Northern Echo Building is the 'The William Stead' public house, restaurant and beer garden.

The town centre has undergone a full refurbishment entitled "The Pedestrian Heart", which has seen the majority of the town centre pedestrianised. Initially, the project received criticism surrounding changes to public transport, and removal of Victorian features along High Row. There is now growing evidence, however, that the now-completed changes are meeting with local approval.

It is town twinning with Mülheim an der Ruhr in Germany and Amiens in France.

Transport

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 of the town; the original route is now the A167 via North Road in the town centre. The £5.9 m five-mile A66 bypass opened in November 1985 and is currently undergoing major reconstruction in an effort to reduce congestion at rush hour. Currently being built is the Darlington Eastern Transport Corridor at a cost of £12.5 million, which will link Central Park (Haughton Road), north east of the town centre to a new roundabout on the A66. The project is due to be complete by summer of 2008.

Bus transport in the town is provided by Arriva North-East.

Darlington lost out on considerable public receipts when the municipal bus operator Darlingon Transport Company was placed into administration during an attempted privatisation, due to continuing financial difficulties and the Darlington Bus War.

Darlington was chosen as one of six cycling demonstration towns in October 2005, receiving £3 million worth of funding from the government and local authority money. The money has been spent over the course of three years on improving cycling facilities, cycle routes and linking the town to the national cycle route.

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 Regional Gross Value Added Agriculture Industry Services
1995 1,115 8 377 729
2000 1,192 6 417 768
2003 1,538 6 561 971

Culture

The Civic Theatre is a popular arts venue in the town, hosting a mix of musicals, dramas, plays and pantomimes. The smaller but well-used Arts Centre, founded in 1982, features smaller events, film screenings and more experimental material.

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 Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) run bar at the Arts Centre.

The Forum Music Centre, opened in 2004, hosts regular live music events, from Ska and Punk to Indie and Classic Rock. Also runs a popular comedy club. As well as live music, the facility houses a state of the art recording studio and several rehearsal rooms. The Carmel Rhythm club is another place for music. Held at Carmel College in the Hummersknott end of town. A charitable organisation for the Carmel PTA (Parents and Teachers Association). Attracts many large bands in the genre of Rhythm and Blues.

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.

Football teams in the town are Darlington, a team in the Football League Two; and Darlington Railway Athletic, a team in the Northern League Division One. Rugby teams are Darlington RFC and Darlington Mowden Park R.F.C.. Cricket clubs are Darlington Cricket Club and Darlington Railway Athletic Cricket Club. The Darlington 10K road run is held every August, and attracts several thousand competitors. The Dolphin Centre, which provides a wide range of sporting facilities, was opened by Roger Bannister in 1982, and received a £5 m refurbishment in 2006 and was later given a new official opening by Redcar athlete Tanni Grey-Thompson.

Media

Darlington is home to the regional daily paper The Northern Echo and its sister weekly paper Darlington & Stockton Times. The town also has its own radio station, Alpha Radio.

Famous natives and residents

Suburbs

There are several suburbs of Darlington. In the north is Harrowgate Hill, Harrowgate Village and Beaumont Hill and to the northeast is Whinfield, Haughton-le-Skerne and Red Hall. East is Eastbourne with Firth Moor and Skerne Park to the south and situated in the west end are Hummersknott, Mowden and Blackwell. Finally, to the northwest are Branksome, Cockerton, Faverdale, The Denes, West Park and High Grange.

Running somewhat parallel to Woodlands Road from Cockerton village towards the centre of Darlington is the area called The Denes which is mainly semi-detached and terraced housing surrounding valley areas of public park and recreation land. Darlington Memorial Hospital on Hollyhurst Road, lies in the corridor between Woodlands Road and The Denes.

References and notes

External links



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