Darlington's Head of Steam railway museum to be transformed

Willmott Dixon now have the keys to the Head of Steam Railway Museum for its re-fit as part of the £35million Darlington Railway Heritage Quarter project.

Reopening in 2024, the Head of Steam will be transformed as part of plans to bring an exciting new museum experience to Darlington.

Essential improvements will be carried out on the wider site, combining together to create a cluster of attractions that will showcase Darlington’s innovative history

While the redevelopment is taking place, the activities members of the community have come to know and love will still be continuing away from the museum.

An empty-looking Head of Steam Museum. Picture: Sarah Caldecott (Image: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest)

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You can still join in with the following activities in 2023:

• Station Scamps

• Special events and activities

• Education visits

• Adult Craft Workshops

• Museum on the Move (from April)

• Hard hat tours

• Railway Coffee Morning

• Dementia Café

The popular Station Scamps will be making a return on the first week of March and the finishing touches are still being made to the rest of the programme of events and activities for 2023.

The new Railway Heritage Quarter will be an authentic visitor attraction that reveals the story of the Stockton and Darlington Railway.

The ambitious project has received £20m financial backing from the Tees Valley Combined Authority.

Picture: Sarah Caldecott (Image: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest)

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Mike Crawshaw, head of culture and heritage at Darlington Borough Council, said: “We’re closing temporarily and reopening on June 1, 2024, to prepare for the bi-centenary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 2025.

“We’ve got some really exciting things planned including holograms to make the museum more interactive and to teach children about the history of the railway in a fun and engaging way.

“During the temporary closure of the museum, the ‘museum on the move’ and will be touring the area so we’ll be bringing history to the people before we reopen.”

Sign up to the Head of Steam e-mail list at www.head-of-steam.co.uk to stay up to date with all of the latest news.

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