Imagine stepping back in time to Victorian Darlington, the town that became known as the Birthplace of the Modern Railway. Venture into the original 1840s railway station where time has stood still for over one hundred and fifty years. Discover the Booking Office with its original Victorian interior. Explore the platform that still has its original footbridge, waiting room, newspaper kiosk and Victorian toilets. Follow the history of Darlington and the growth of the Railways through the permanent exhibitions and interactive displays.*

* info from museum leaflet

The two hundred and thirty year old Silver Swan is probably the best know and best loved object in The Bowes Museum. It still delights audiences of all ages with its elegant performance.

The Silver Swan is a product of the late 18th century, a time of enterprise and invention when highly creative minds could flourish. James Cox, a London businessman and silversmith, and John Joseph Merlin, an inventor and engineer, found for their creation and audience eager to be entertained by ingenious novelties.

First exhibited in Cox’s museum, the Swan was intended to thrill and to charm. The museum was famed for its glittering and intriguing examples of clockwork automata and its sliver trinkets and ‘toys’. None was more celebrated than the Silver Swan which then, as now, was marveled at for its sheer beauty and indulgence.

Throughout its history, the Silver Swan has been an object of admiration and wonder. The quality of the workmanship and its remarkably realistic movements have enthralled viewers, while the complex mechanism continues to amaze even the mot knowledgeable and experienced specialists.*

Sadly, due to refurbishment The Silver Swan was not performing on the day of our visit.

*from an information board next to the Swan

St Cuthbert is the North of England’s best-loved saint. He lived as a monk, bishop, and then hermit, on Holy Island – Lindisfarne. Revered during his own lifetime for his preaching and holiness, Cuthbert was acclaimed a saint in 698.

His community fled Lindisfarne following the Viking invasion in 793. They travelled around the North of England with his body and extraordinary relics for years. They finally settled in Durham in 995.

This Cathedral has grown from the Anglo-Saxon church built to house his shrine and the monks who cared for it.

In September 1104 St Cuthbert was moved into the newly-built Norman Cathedral. The new shrine was made of marble studded with jewels and semi-precious stones.

During the Middle Ages it became a centre of pilgrimage, which continues today. Large numbers of people flocked to the shrine to seek the saint’s blessing and healing powers.

The elaborate shrine no longer exists as it was destroyed in the Reformation. Instead it was replaced in 1542 by the simple marble slab marked ‘Cuthbertus’. The stones around the slab are part of the original construction.

This part of the Cathedral continues to be a place of pilgrimage, prayer and quiet reflection.

• Many people were praying and reflecting next to the shrine so my only photos are taken from below, outside the sacred space.

The Town Hall has been central to life in Durham city for more than 650 years.  Learn about the powerful Prince Bishops, the evolution of local government and the historic and ongoing roles of the Mayor and Mayor’s Bodyguard.  Since the 14th Century the Trade Guilds and Freeman of Durham have met in the Guildhall, a tradition they continue to this day.

Other displays showcase colourful local characters such as Joseph Boruwlaski (1739 – 1837).  The 3ft tall ‘Little Count’ who retired to Durham in 1790 after performing at the grandest Royal courts of Europe.

During the first COVID-19 lockdown, a member of St Brandon’s Prayer Team envisioned a candle of hope as a focal point for visitors to the church.

With no end to the pandemic in sight, there was a need for both hope and peace. Remembrance Sunday and Christmas offered a reason to create a second candle with peace at its centre.

The final three candles are a triptych, inspired by the final verse of the familiar passage in 1 Corinthians 13: ‘Now faith, hope and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love’.

The colours chose themselves: faithful green; yellow for hope; and the ubiquitous red for love.

The outside of St Brandon’s looks like many other English churches and I was surprised at what I saw when I stepped inside. The interior is stunningly beautiful but modern in contrast to the exterior. I learned that this was due to a devastating fire that almost completely destroyed the church.

In 1998 raging fire devastated the interior of thousand-year-old Saxon church St. Brandon’s in Brancepeth, England. Temperatures reached 1200° Celsius at the height of the conflagration, melting the lead from the roof and virtually vaporizing the beautifully carved wooden interior.

The massive oak beams from the roof were the only remaining wood, and they too were so charred they may or not be datable via dendrochronology (tree ring dating).

St Brandon’s is the Parish church serving Brancepeth village and the surrounding area. It is set in the beautiful village of Brancepeth some six miles south west of Durham City. The church building has over 900 years of history, including its recent stunning restoration after a devastating fire in 1998. The now modern interior contains a display of one of the largest collection of medieval grave slabs in the north of England (discovered during the restoration) which bear a variety of beautiful cross designs.

• History of the village of Brancepeth can be found here.

St. Mary’s, formally dedicated to St. Gregory is over 1200 years old and sometimes referred to as ‘The Cathedral of the Dales’.

“Nestled in the valley between Bishop Auckland and Barnard Castle on the main A688, Staindrop has been described as “quite simply one of the prettiest villages in County Durham.”  It stands as one of the gateways into Teesdale, with its long village greens making it a typical rural Durham village.  The village is also one of great antiquity with some evidence of neolithic activity, but it gained importance in the time of King Canute when he gave his manor at Staindrop and its surrounding ‘appendages’ (hamlets and houses) to the newly founded priory at Durham Cathedral in 1031.”

“The church itself stands at what was once the Easternmost end of the village next to the Langley Beck, just past the magnificent Raby Castle.

It is a mediaeval gem, based on an 8th Century Saxon foundation with some of the earlier Saxon churches incorporated into the ‘newer’ building.”