National Railway Museum Shildon

You only have to think of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, which operated from 1825 until 1863, to recall what a huge influence the railways have had on County Durham. You might be disappointed, then, that this area doesn’t have a railway museum… except that it actually does! Yes, many physical remnants of the North East’s railway history are reassuringly right on our doorstep for easy viewing. Perhaps you had previously considered the York-based National Railway Museum to be the closest railway museum, but that same organisation has a notable presence over here, too.

To see it, make your way to the County Durham town of Shildon, which is just 13 miles south-west of Durham city and easy to reach by a direct train from Darlington. At Shildon, you can enjoy browsing what is officially known as the National Railway Museum Shildon, an annexe of the main museum in York. The Shildon site comprises a 1 km demonstration line, along which you can follow a trail taking in, for example, the original Sans Pareil steam locomotive and the house of early 19th-century engineer Timothy Hackworth. He was the Stockton and Darlington Railway’s first locomotive superintendent.

If you are a railway enthusiast, you will likely appreciate the programme of events which, before the year is out, includes opportunities to take your kids to meet Santa. There’s no doubt, then, that the National Railway Museum Shildon has plenty to keep you occupied before you head off to check out NRMYork as well. Even if don’t currently have a keen interest in the history of the railways, visiting both of these attractions could inspire you to read up on it. The local story of the Stockton and Darlington Railway is certainly fascinating when read in thorough detail, and is commemorated at Darlington railway station to this day.

No Place

“Hang on a minute,” we can imagine you thinking. “Have they just given up now?” Yes, have we really decided to give you only one “easy-to-overlook gem” to check out this month, leaving the rest of the article to… well, admit in a long-winded way that we haven’t got any other place to recommend to you? No, of course not; there is genuinely a place in County Durham called No Place. Before you even visit, simply reading about its unusual name could engross you.

No Place is a small village between the town of Stanley and the village of Beamish. Beamish is itself, of course, notable for its large and exciting open air museum – so if you’ve visited that, you could find getting to No Place surprisingly easy. Before you make your way there, though, we have to ask ourselves from where No Place’s name originates. It’s unclear, but theories have included that the name is simply a shortening of “North Place”, “Nigh Place” or “Near Place”, or that the village originally stood on a boundary separating two parishes that were both unwilling to accept the settlement, leaving it… nowhere.

On your way to No Place, you might spot signs pointing to both No Place and “Co-operative Villas”. This is the result of the now defunct Derwentside Council’s attempt, in 1983, to give the village this name, only to be met by protests from residents. Still, some residents have liked the proposed new name enough for it to stay on local signs to this day. This peculiar story about “Co-operative Villas” has been kept on record by the website of the Beamish Mary Inn, the much-loved real ale pub where you could enjoy a drink once you’re in No Place.