A HERITAGE group has been formed to ensure part of the historic Darlington and Stockton Railway line is not forgotten during celebrations planned for its 200th anniversary.
The Etherley Incline and Witton Park Colliery Group was formed at a public meeting in High Etherley earlier this month.
The group will cover the section of line from Witton Park to the site of the now disused level crossing at St Helen Auckland.
The group’s chairman, John Raw, said the first thing to do was an audit of the line.
The stretch from the hamlet of Greenfields up the incline to Etherley summit, down to Low Etherley and to Phoenix Row is classed as a scheduled ancient monument by Historic England. Etherley Parish Council looks after this stretch of line, which is
maintained as a path for walkers.
It also boasts some of the oldest pieces of railway heritage, such as a culvert built in 1825 to take water from a beck under the embankment at Greenfields.
However, the stretch from Greenfields to St Helen Auckland is overgrown and virtually impassable.
“We are trying to find out who owns the land on this stretch of then hopefully we can give it a general tidy up,” said Mr Raw.
The Etherley group is part of the Friends of the Darlington and Stockton Railway, which is dedicated to preserving and promoting the line and is working with a number of councils and other organisations to plan events to
celebrate the line’s 200th anniversary in 2025.
Mr Raw said: “In 1975, for the 150th anniversary, there was a celebration at Shildon.
“We want to make sure this section does not get forgotten for the 200th anniversary.”
Mr Raw is also a member of the Brusselton Incline Group and he said another heritage group, covering West Auckland, should be up and running later this year.
