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Lancashire Times
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Phil Hopkins
Group Travel Editor & Theatre Correspondent
@philhopkinsuk
1:00 AM 26th December 2024
travel

Hope You’ll Visit Award Winning Darlington!

Hopetown Darlington has won the Visitor Economy Award at the County Durham Together Awards 2024.

The ceremony, held at Hardwick Hall, follows hard on the heels of winning the North East Culture Award for Best Museum or Cultural Venue 2024 and the Welcome accolade and Quality Assessed Visitor Attraction accolade awarded by VisitEngland.

Now, local tourism chiefs are urging people to ‘put Darlington on your list as a place to visit!’

Hopetown Darlington, previously known as Head of Steam and formerly known as the Darlington Railway Centre and Museum, is a railway museum located on the 1825 route of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, which was the world's first steam-powered passenger railway.

It is based inside the station building at the North Road railway station. Its exhibits are devoted to the area formerly served by the North Eastern Railway with a particular focus on the Stockton & Darlington Railway and the railway industry of Darlington.

Leona White-Hannant, Hopetown Darlington’s Development Director, said: “The entire team are so grateful for this award win. Everybody across Hopetown Darlington works really hard to provide a quality visit for everybody who steps through the door.

"It is great to see the positive impact our hard work is having on the local community and how Hopetown is benefitting the local visitor economy in Darlington and County Durham.”

On 16 July 2024, Hopetown Darlington marked a milestone in celebrating Darlington’s railway heritage and opened its doors following a £37 million investment, which was heralded by a week of special events including live music and street theatre. So far, the award-winning visitor attraction has welcomed over 80,000 visitors.

More details: https:www.hopetowndarlington.co.uk