Darlington
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article discusses Darlington, England. See Darlington (disambiguation) for other places with the same name.
Darlington is a town in North East England and the main population centre in the Borough of Darlington. In 2003, Darlington had a resident population of 98,210. The town lies within the traditional and ceremonial county of Durham. On 1 April 1997, the Borough of Darlington became a unitary authority, which separated it from the non-metropolitan county of Durham, for administrative purposes.
Darlington's main railway station 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.
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[edit] 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 includes national and international issues in its scope. Independent local radio station Alpha 103.2 launched in 1995.
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 £5.9m five-mile A66 bypass opened in November 1985 and is currently undergoing major reconstruction in an effort to reduce congestion at rush hour.
The town is currently undergoing a controversial full refurbishment of the town centre entitled "The Pedestrian Heart" which will see the majority of the town centre pedestrianised by summer 2007.
[edit] 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[1] | Agriculture[2] | Industry[3] | Services[4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 1,115 | 8 | 377 | 729 |
| 2000 | 1,192 | 6 | 417 | 768 |
| 2003 | 1,538 | 6 | 561 | 971 |
- ^ Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
- ^ includes hunting and forestry
- ^ includes energy and construction
- ^ includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
[edit] Recreation
The Dolphin Centre provides a wide range of sporting facilities. It was opened by Roger Bannister in 1982. A £5m refurbishment programme was completed in 2006.
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.
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 Darlington 10K road run is held every August, and attracts several thousand competitors.
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.
[edit] Famous natives and residents
- George Allison - Renowned Arsenal football manager in the 1930s
- David J. Bodycombe - Games designer
- Aidan Chambers - Prize-winning children's author
- Wendy Craig - Actress
- Frederick Dickens - Charles Dickens' beloved scapegrace brother. He is buried in the West Cemetery.
- Mark Gatiss - Comedian and author
- Ian Hamilton - Poet and editor
- Ralph Hodgson - Poet
- Lee "Cannonball" Kelly - Former World IBF Light Middleweight Champion.
- Glenn Hugill - Actor and TV producer
- Edward Pease (1767-1858) - Quaker industrialist
- Joseph Pease (1799-1872) - Industrialist; the first Quaker M.P.
- Vic Reeves - Comedian and author
- Charles Roberts - Footballer and trade unionist
- John Simons - Radio presenter and executive
- Willie Smith - Twice world billiard champion (only entered twice).
- William Thomas Stead - Editor of The Northern Echo; Victorian social commentator who died on the Titanic
- Sir John Summerson - Architectural writer
- Russ Swift - Stunt driver
- Zoe Birkett - Singer and runner up on popular television show 'Pop Idol'
- Lee Kelly - Legendry Ibiza 'House' & 'Rave' D.J.
- Mark Hebdon - Top class footballer for Darlingtion R.A.,Grey Horse F.C. and Pizza Perfekt.
[edit] Sport
[edit] Football
- Darlington FC - A team in the Football League Two
- Darlington Railway Athletic - A team in the Northern League Division One
[edit] Rugby
[edit] Cricket
- Darlington Cricket Club
- Darlington Railway Athletic Cricket Club
[edit] Suburbs
- Blackwell - to the south
- Branksome - to the north west
- Cockerton - to the north-west
- Firth Moor - to the south
- Hummersknott - to the west
- Mowden - to the west
- Skerne Park - to the south
- Whinfield - to the north
- The Denes - from High Northgate to West Auckland Road.
[edit] External links
[edit] Official
- Darlington Borough Council
- Darlington Town
- Statistics about Darlington from the Office for National Statistics Census 2001
- Darlington Tourist Information
