Pioneer sees his factory restored

Yesterday marked the beginning of the final stage of the restoration of the Robert Stephenson and Company boiler shed and offices, in Newcastle, from which thousands of locomotives were produced for rail networks worldwide.

Restoration work - watched yesterday by Stephenson himself, played by Press officer Roy Stockdale - is being carried out thanks to an English Heritage grant of more than £18,000, match-funding raised by the Robert Stephenson Trust and cash from Newcastle City Council.

The latest project is the culmination of nine years' work, at a cost of half a million pounds.

English Heritage's acting North-East regional director, Peter de Lange, said: "The buildings are of great interest given their significant contribution, not only to the heritage of the North-East but the world, because of their pivotal role in the development of the railways."

The trust's company secretary, Jim Coulson, said that, once the work was completed, the trust intended to develop the site into a museum and archive centre dedicated to Stephenson's work.

He said: "It has been a real labour of love for the trust and, although a lot of the restoration work on the physical structure of the building is nearing completion, this is just the beginning of another chapter in the development of this incredibly important site."

Stephenson began construction at South Street in the 1830s and the work was completed by 1859.

They are his company's earliest surviving buildings and are recognised as some of the most important unaltered 19th Century structures.

Among the features are the use of a glazed pitched roof for the first time in this kind of construction and the installation of a drainage system using the cast iron pillars to carry rainwater underground.

The buildings fell into disrepair following the closure of the engine works in 1904 and their subsequent use for aircraft production and later as a car workshop