A SERIES of public engagement meetings about the future of a North-East railway museum produced many useful suggestions, according to the man leading the project.

The future direction of the Head of Steam – Darlington Railway Museum has been discussed at length in recent events held at the attraction as Darlington Borough Council looks to make it more profitable and a more welcoming site for visitors.

Tim Crawshaw, the council officer responsible for developing the plan for the future of the museum, said an engagement event held today (Thursday, October 23) provided many useful suggestions.

The ideas from the three engagement sessions, which included a family fun day, will be used to create a document outlining firm proposals for changes to the railway museum in the new year, when official public consultation will begin.

Mr Crawshaw said many of the ideas put forward by the public followed a similar theme, with people particularly keen to link Head of Steam with the town centre and Bank Top Railway Station.

He said: “The views from today and all the rest of the engagement events will be used to inform the action plan.

“There have been a number of fairly consistent messages and people have been telling us about similar successful museums they have visited in the UK and around the world.

“The main thing of importance is that people are aware of our heritage from the moment they step off a train at Bank Top or walk around the town centre.

“People also want to see events and attractions at the museum, not just aimed at rail enthusiasts but at people who perhaps have other interests like food or markets but could enjoy a visit to the museum.

“It’s about how we take the strong heritage that Darlington has and use it as a catalyst to benefit a site that has global significance.”