A MUSEUM manager who arrived with a brief to close it, has left 13 years later with it on track for an exciting £7.9m development.

If Timothy Hackworth boss Alan Pearce had stuck to his remit, the railway town of Shildon may never have made the bold bid which won it the first offshoot of the National Railway Museum, in York.

The rail enthusiast transformed Hackworth's old home into a thriving tribute to Victorian enterprise, offering visitors a mixture of state-of the-art technology and traditional attractions including a working steam engine.

Railway groups joined in tributes on Friday when he left for a new job as museums curator for Redcar and Cleveland Council.

The Hackworth Society, Shildon History Society, the Merlin Locomotive Group and Darlington Railway Preservation Society all sent members to a farewell party where colleagues at Sedgefield Borough Council presented him with a watch.

Mr Pearce had spent five years as a recreation officer with the council when he was appointed to the Timothy Hackworth post.

He said: "When I came here visitor numbers had dropped and it wasn't economic but we managed to turn it round through a lot of forward thinking and successful projects.

"One of the big success stories has been the huge network of volunteer support we have. If Timothy Hackworth had closed, we would never have had the new rail museum and the new tourism infrastructure which will grow round it."

Borough spokesman Graham Robinson said: "Alan's expertise and enthusiasm have been invaluable."

Mr Pearce will be in charge of the Kirkleatham Hall Museum and the Zetland Lifeboat Museum, both in Redcar, as well as the Margrove Park Heritage Centre, near Guisborough, and a new attraction Winkie's Castle due to open at Easter.