The plan is to catch the 10.56 train from Shildon, alight at Heighington Station and then walk back to Shildon. Buy your own train tickets in advance or on the platform (£3.50 or £2.50 with a rail card). You can choose to join us at Heighington Station instead and make your own way back at the end of the walk. The walk is a little over 4 miles and on pavements or paths.
We won't be visiting the inside of Heighington Station this time. If you want to do that, come to our event on the 27th September.
Meet at Shildon Station (///wings.gentle.mining) to catch the 10.56am train to Heighington (do check train timetables nearer the time for last minute alterations). Arrive earlier to buy your train ticket if you haven’t bought it already online. Tickets are about £3.50 without railcards. If you arrive at Shildon by car, there is a car park at Locomotion’s west end near Station Street at ///view.rewarding.spout.
We will travel together by train along the same route taken on the opening day of the S&DR on the 27th September and arrive at Heighington Station, the world’s oldest railway station at 11.04am. We won’t be visiting the inside of the old station on this trip but there may be opportunities to do so the week after (see other SDR Festival Events). We will then walk back to Shildon, finishing at Locomotion.
The walk will be led by Caroline Hardie who has written the self-guided walk booklets for the S&DR, the children’s book Little Loco’s BIG Day, and the best-selling coffee table book, The Stockton & Darlington Railway 1825-2025.
Dogs are welcome.
The walk is just over 6km or 3.85 miles over relatively level ground, nearly all tarmacked. The duration of the walk is difficult to estimate as it will be dictated by the slowest walkers and the amount of discussion. Allow at least two hours, more if you visit Locomotion. Bring water to drink (for the dog too) and if it is sunny, then make sure you have skin protection.
Please provide your mobile phone number so you can be contacted at the last minute if timetables have to change or if trains are cancelled. Numbers will be limited to 20 (excluding dogs!)