Hopetown, celebrating Darlington heritage to open in July

The state-of-the-art Hopetown, renamed from the former Head of Steam brand, is due to open to visitors in July after a multimillion-pound renovation project to restore the site’s heritage. 

Construction work is gathering pace at many of the new facilities as part of plans to create “one of the most significant attractions in the whole of the north”. 

The Local Democracy Reporting Service was given an exclusive look around the site three months before its scheduled opening. 

Hopetown will play a central role in the much-anticipated bicentenary celebrations of the Stockton & Darlington Railway in 2025. Officials in charge of managing the site hope it will become one of the key destinations of choice in the Tees Valley. Expanding the region’s rail heritage across from the nearby Locomotion site in Shildon, it is hoped up to 300,000 people will visit Hopetown each year and aid a local tourism boom. 

A place to learn, play and socialise, the site is marketed at families and children but also railway enthusiasts. Access to Hopetown will be free for visitors with some paid-for experiences. 

A time travel simulator will take visitors on a journey of how rail travel changed the world. A new Wagon Works play park and restored 1842-style station will also open. There will also be a 1861 Engine Shed, most recently a scrapyard, which has been restored and is already the home of railway preservation groups. 

Several buildings across the 7.5 acre site, previously in a state of disrepair, are being brought back to life by Darlington Borough Council. Visitors will use a new car park at Skerne Bridge, which includes a ‘selfie point’ platform with views of Hopetown. 

Mike Crawshaw, head of culture and heritage at Darlington Borough Council, said: “We want visitors to be able to see manufacturing happening and we want to continue that legacy.

The space will be transformed into a visitor's entrance and gift shop (Image: The Northern Echo)

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“This is not just a reboot of a museum, it is one of the most significant heritage attractions in the whole of the north. 

“We really want to bring the world to the town and tell them how we changed rail.”

The Hopetown brand has been inspired by the former name for the area, coined by railway pioneers who built foundries and homes beside the 1825 line.

A new cafe and interactive experience will be created here (Image: The Northern Echo)

Work is underway to create the new woodlands play park area (Image: The Northern Echo)