The scrapbook of James Clemmet Junior, who wrote short travel pieces for a newspaper, is one of the pieces for sale at the Durham Book Fair

In the depths of this dispiritingly blustery winter, it is nice to think of the warmth of summer. Gone are the grey clouds, the chill wind and the driving rain; instead the sky is blue, the sun is out and we’ve got time on our hands. What shall we do? Where shall we go for a murderously good day out?

IN 1859, a newspaper called the Darlington Telegraph ran a series of articles entitled Days Out, written by James Clemmet Junior.

We know nothing about the author, except that he cut all 15 of his articles out and pasted them into a pretty little scrapbook along with some illustrations of the places he’d visited.

His scrapbook is one of the thousands of items that will be on sale at next Saturday’s Durham Book Fair, at Durham County Hall, which is attended by scores of dealers from across the country selling antiquarian and secondhand books, plus other curiosities, like Mr Clemmet’s scrapbook.

Mr Clemmet, who seems to have lived in Stockton, was writing for a local weekly newspaper that was just a year old.

He was also writing for the first generation of readers for whom travel was not a difficulty – they could take the train to almost any holiday spot that they wished.

In fact, if Michael Portillo were to buy the scrapbook, he could get a whole new series about Victorian train journeys out of it. This, for example, is how Mr Clemmet begins his day out to Raby Castle: “The journey from Stockton to Darlington is a monotonous ride, but between Darlington and the destination for Raby (Winston station), a change comes over the spirit of the scene, and the landscape is highly romantic and picturesque.

The Tees – noble river! – along the beautiful but unnavigable banks of which we are hurried by the train, is seen to perfection and the hanging woods, romantic cliffs, and rural beauties of Winston, Gainford and the neighbourhood require the aid of a skilful photographer to do them justice.”

However, the trains were still so new in 1859, that Mr Clemmet feels his readers need guidance about how to buy train tickets. On his day out to Redcar on the Stockton and Darlington Railway, he advises his readers that the cheapest tickets “are available at ‘Return’ fares”.

Many of his days out were aboard special excursion trains that the railway company laid on to take daytrippers to an event, such as Bishop Auckland Gala Day. It was held in Auckland Park – amid “the most enchanting and diversified sylvan scenery imaginable” – and attended by 20,000 visitors, many of whom had come by train.

The Northern Echo:
An illustration from James Clemmet Junior’s scrapbook recounting days out in 1859

The visit to Raby Castle was also on a special. “On Monday last,” wrote Mr Clemmet, “through the kindness of the Duke, the building was thrown open to visitors, (an excursion train ran from Middlesbro and Stockton), and beyond a doubt the scenery and sights well repaid the visit.” But even in those days, the trains were not wholly reliable.

Mr Clemmet was among 3,000 excursionists who took a special to the Stanhope Temperance Gala, but it rained so much that the gala was abandonned.

The Northern Echo:
An illustration from James Clemmet Junior’s scrapbook recounting days out in 1859

The train home, though, was timetabled to run at the end of the day and so all the sodden non-drinkers were shunted into a siding at Frosterley where they waited, watching the rain fall, for six hours.

“We must confess both we and all the teetotallers present had that day, at least, a drop too much – of rain,” he writes, with surprising good humour.

The Northern Echo:
An illustration from James Clemmet Junior’s scrapbook recounting days out in 1859

MR Clemmet was back on the train for his day out to Durham, which was obviously a popular destination for day-trippers.

“Msrs Fossick and Hackworth’s workmen had a trip to Durham on Monday last,” he wrote, “and two heavily-laden trains conveyed the men and their sweethearts and wives to their destination. The brass band accompanied the trip, and enlivened the journey with their performances.”

The Northern Echo:
An illustration from James Clemmet Junior’s scrapbook recounting days out in 1859

Mr Clemmet was overwhelmed by the romantic nature of the city – he was able to find romance in every scene – and the history and the walks around the river. But he must also have stumbled up to the Crown Court.

“On July 26, 1859, on the sitting at 9 o’clock am, the first prisoner before Baron Watson is a tottering old man,” he wrote. “Fifty-five summers had passed over his head.”

The Northern Echo:
An illustration from James Clemmet Junior’s scrapbook recounting days out in 1859

The defendant was John Shafto Wilthew, a father of 11, who was accused of murdering his wife. “Barely a week had elapsed since the husband cut the wife’s throat, and attempted on his own, alleging jealousy as the cause,” said Mr Clemmet. “He is found guilty, and the judge assuming the black cap sentences him to death on the gallows.

“When this paper gets into our readers’ hands, the miserable man will have expiated his crime in front of Durham Gaol, and his body interred within its walls. Our streets will have hawkers crying “the last dying speech and confession”

The Northern Echo:
An illustration from James Clemmet Junior’s scrapbook recounting days out in 1859

of the wife-murderer John Shafto Wilthew, who within four weeks has followed his innocent victim to the world of spirits, to be judged again and re-sentenced according to his deserts.

“It is an awful thought upon which we must let the curtain drop.”

An awful thought indeed, but it certainly added some drama to Mr Clemmet’s day out in Durham.