Darlington

Darlington is a town and since 1997 an independent unitary authority in North East England. Was the city before an administrative part of County Durham, it is now heard only on ceremonial occasions to Durham. Darlington in 2012 had about 105,000 inhabitants.

Darlington is known primarily for the maiden voyage of the first passenger train in the world, went on 27 September 1825 the Stockton and Darlington Railway Shildon about Darlington to Stockton -on-Tees.

  • 4.1 Sport
  • 5.1 traffic
  • 5.2 Media
  • 5.3 Formation
  • 6.1 Sons and daughters of the town

Geography

Darlington is located in the north of England, about 120 km from the Scottish border, situated in the Tees Valley. East of the city is located within a short distance of the compression chamber Teesside, Darlington, however, does not belong. The closest major cities are Middlesbrough (25 km east), Newcastle (60 km north) and York (80 km south). In Darlington the River Skerne flows into the tea, which in turn flows at Middlesbrough in the North Sea.

History

Darlington's existence began as a small Anglo-Saxon village. The first documentary mention was made in the early eleventh century as Dearthingtun.

In the Middle Ages Darlington belonged to the bishop of Durham; in the 12th century, the bishop gave the city the right to hold markets. At that time Darlington had only several hundred inhabitants, who lived mainly from agriculture. But there also existed the trade with woven and dyed wool and leather.

In the following centuries, Darlington was a thriving small trading town. 1585 Darlington was destroyed by a great fire; the extent of damage was boosted enormously by the construction of wood and thatched roofs. The fire started on May 7, 1585 by 1 clock noon and spread rapidly. Since water was in short supply due to a drought, the residents tried desperately to put out the fire with beer and milk. 273 houses were destroyed, making 800 people homeless. The city, however, was soon rebuilt.

Like other cities in that time suffered Darlington enormously to the impact of the plague; 1543, 1597 and 1605 were years with the largest number of victims.

The first newspaper Darlington appeared in 1772. The first bank branch was opened in 1774. In the 18th century began the construction of toll roads. For example, 1745 was a road from Boroughbridge about Darlington to Durham, and in 1749 another of Barnard Castle via built Darlington to Stockton. A third road from West Auckland to Darlington was completed in 1751.

1809 opened a pharmacy in Darlington, of which received free medicines the poor. 1864 a first hospital was opened in the city finally.

1823 street lighting with oil lamps and the use of a night guard was introduced in the city streets. 1830, the lighting has been converted to gas lamps. First time in 1846, tap water was provided coverage, and in 1850 a modern sewage system was installed.

Darlington is always mentioned in close connection with the birth of the railroad. This opened in 1975 Darlington Railway Centre and Museum commemorates this important event in 1825, at which the first passenger train in the world of Shildon about Darlington to Stockton -on-Tees drove.

1880 a railway network for horse tracks was built in Darlington, Darlington and opened the station in 1887. 1900 power supply was installed in the now 50,000 inhabitants city, so in 1903 the horse trams were replaced by electric trams. These were in 1926 but then replaced by buses.

The city has three large works an important location of the production of railroads. The largest of these were the Darlington railway works, which were in operation from 1863 to 1966. The second work was Robert Stephenson & Co., whose owner moved here in 1902 from Newcastle, in 1937 renamed the Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns, bought in 1960 by English Electric in 1964 and finally closed. The third work were founded in 1923 and closed in 1962 Faverdale Wagon Works, which was the first company recorded the mass production of freight cars.

In the late 20th century, the production facilities in Darlington were less and the service industry used more and more by. The shopping center on Queen Street was opened in 1969 and today's city hall built in 1970. The Cornmill Shopping Centre was opened in 1992.

In the summer of 2007, a project name The Pedestrian Heart was completed after about two years of construction, were converted at the large parts of the Darling toner downtown into a pedestrian zone. Initially, the project was criticized, among others, a result of major changes in public transport, but in the end but then accepted.

2007 the decision was made to replace the outdated shopping center on Queen Street. A new building was inaugurated in 2010, but was delayed as a result of the financial crisis in 2007. This meant that the company responsible Discovery Properties in 2010 tried again for a building permit before the existing expired. This was not issued until November 2011. However, the business was still in talks with the city administration.

In August 2008, the King's Hotel in the city center by a fire was completely destroyed (Fig.). Also some adjacent businesses were partly damaged heavily and had to remain closed for weeks. There were no fatalities.

Policy

Twinning

Darlington is twinned with

  • France Amiens, France
  • Germany Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany

Culture and sights

The Civic Theatre is a well-known cultural center in the city, in which various theater, musicals and pantomime performances take place

The Rhythm'n'Brews Festival is an annual music and real ale festival in early autumn with rock, blues and jazz performances at various venues throughout Darlington.

Opened in 2004, Forum Music Centre offers regular live concerts in the music sections Ska, Punk, Indie and Classic Rock and also owns several rehearsal rooms. The Carmel Rhythm Club is another music event in the house music genre Rhythm and Blues.

Darlington offers a variety of shopping opportunities. Grange Road in particular has a number of expensive and attractive designer shops, and in the Duke Street is home to art galleries and restaurants.

Sports

The football club in the city is the Darlington FC, which is currently playing in the fourth division Football League Two and plays its home games in the Darlington Arena. The team is called The Quakers ( the Quakers), which has to do with the support of the Association through the Quaker Joseph and Edward Pease and the generally large influence of this religious movement on the club. The rugby union club of the city is Darlington Mowden Park RFC. The Dolphin Centre is a sports and leisure center, which was inaugurated in 1982 by Roger Bannister and re-opened after a £ 5 million expensive retread by the athlete Tanni Grey- Thompson 2006.

Economy and infrastructure

The following table shows the regional gross value added of Darlington (measured at current prices ), published (PDF, 1.6 MB) from the Office for National Statistics. The figures are in millions of pounds sterling:

Traffic

Originally, the A1 ran directly in a north-south direction through Darlington. After a new route was opened west of the city, had been renamed the Altstrecke in A167 ( Topcliffe - Newcastle). On 25 November 1985, the £ 5.9 million Euro motorway slip road A66 (M) was opened in 2008, then the Southeast Bypass A66 ( Workington Grangetown ).

The Darlington station is located on the East Coast Main Line, and has regular connections to London ( King's Cross ), Leeds, Wakefield, Edinburgh, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Manchester Airport and Newcastle. The North Road railway station is located outside the city center.

By 2007, the bus operation of Stagecoach was ensured, then Arriva North East took over its functions and operates the vast majority of bus routes in the city. Some lines are operated, since 2009, of scarlet ribbon. As one of six cities Darlington received three million pounds for developing the urban cycle network and its connection to the national cycle routes from the Department for Transport.

About ten kilometers east of the town is the Durham Tees Valley Airport, which offers many domestic flights as well as a smaller number of international destinations. Other airports in the area are Newcastle (80 km) Airport and the Airport Leeds / Bradford (100 km). In addition, a direct rail link to Manchester Airport (200 km) exists.

Media

In Darlington, the regional newspaper The Northern Echo and Darlington & Stockton whose Nebenblatt Times is printed. The radio station Star Radio North East is sent from Darlington.

Education

In Darlington, the Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College is located. Other schools are: Haughton Community School, Abbey Junior School, Branksome Science College, lobster Knott School, Carmel RC Technology College, Hurworth School, Haughton School Which is now known as the Darlington Education Village, so it includes Beaumont Hill School and pringfield Primary and Longfield School. Private schools are the Raventhorpe Preparatory School, Hurworth House School and the Polam Hall School.

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the town

  • Edward Pease (1767-1858), Quaker and an entrepreneurial
  • Katherine Routledge (1866-1935), née Pease, historian, known for her work on Easter Island.
  • Edmund Backhouse (1873-1944), scientist and linguist Orient
  • Ronald Brebner (1881-1914), football goalkeeper
  • George Allison (1883-1957), football coach and functionary
  • Anthony Havelock - Allan (1905-2003), film producer
  • Harry Catterick (1919-1985), football player and coach
  • Al Pease ( b. 1921 ), Canadian race car driver
  • Giuseppe Wilson ( born 1945 ), football player
  • Michael Lee (1969-2008), drummer
  • Guy Wilks ( born 1981 ), rally driver
  • James Morrison (born 1986), football player
  • Jann Mardenborough (* 1991), race car driver
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