DARLINGTON FORGE built parts for the world’s largest ships – including the Titanic and its sister ships – but how many of its workmen on Albert Hill did it kill in the process?

“I read with interest the article about Titanic’s rudder being made at the Forge,” says Stan Summers, referring to Memories 646, “and I remember back in the 1950s talking to the old men who had worked at the Forge around the time those parts were made.

READ THE FULL STORY: LEGO IN THE LIBRARY COMMEMORATES DARLINGTON'S LINKS TO THE TITANIC

The Northern Echo: A splendid photograph of a super-large part probably for a liner leaving Darlington Forge on Albert Hill around 1920, would you say? Men on the roof of the building behind, the bronze foundry, are peering down as a marvellous Pickfords contraption takesA splendid photograph of a super-large part probably for a liner leaving Darlington Forge on Albert Hill around 1920, would you say? Men on the roof of the building behind, the bronze foundry, are peering down as a marvellous Pickfords contraption takes up the load. Pickfords were moving materials to the south of Manchester in 1646 so they are one of the oldest of UK firms. This vehicle doesn't seem to have a chimney, so can we conclude from that it is not steampowered? If you can tell us anymore, please email chris.lloyd@nne.co.uk

“They told me some interesting stories, especially about the disasters that occurred there.

“One in particular happened in the late 1920s or early 1930s when some men were killed in the foundry when there was an explosion as water got into a mould in which they were casting steel.

“The story that I was told was that the men’s bodies ended up in the steel casting they were making.

“The casting couldn’t be sent to its end user and so it was moved over the River Skerne and dumped – the Forge used to have a bridge next to the Five Arch railway bridge that carries the East Coast Main Line over the river and they used to take waste slag over it for dumping.

“I was told the men’s remains were buried there, too.

“This has always had me wondering if it was true or not. Do you know?”

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Stan’s story looks plausible enough. Work in the foundry was particularly brutal, and old maps show that the Forge did have its own bridge which took waste to a large dump on the north side of the river.

The bridge is now gone and the riverbank has been cleared up to make the Five Arches Nature Reserve.

The slagtip on the north bank must also have been cleaned up as now houses are on top of it in streets named after colleges at Cambridge and Oxford universities, like Peterhouse Close.

So can you tell us anymore about explosions at Darlington Forge, or bodies beneath the college estate?

And why should Darlington have more streets named after Oxbridge colleges – Campion, Fitzwilliam, Girton, Emmanuel, Downing – than an entire series of University Challenge?

If you can tell us anymore, please email chris.lloyd@nne.co.uk

SEE MORE: A LOOK BACK AT THE FORGE IN PICTURES