Locomotion No 1 went over Skerne Bridge, Darlington, in 1825

Down a quiet lane, just off a busy main road into Darlington, is a humble looking bridge.

Skerne Bridge might look plain and ordinary, but it is anything but - it is the world’s oldest continuously operated railway bridge and it was the largest piece of infrastructure on the world’s first proper passenger railway.

The bridge spans the Skerne at the north end of Darlington. This was the biggest ravine on the Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR), which opened on September 27, 1825.

Initially, George Stephenson was briefed to build an iron and stone bridge across the ravine, but then his first iron and stone bridge over the Gaunless at West Auckland was washed away, so the railway directors had second thoughts.

They ordered him to seek the advice of Ignatius Bonomi, the well-known Durham Cathedral architect who was also the county bridge surveyor.

His plan was to fill the sides of the ravine with rubble and place a three arch stone bridge over the river.

Francis Mewburn, the world’s first railway solicitor, laid the bridge’s foundation stone on July 6, 1824, and it was complete by early 1825. It cost £2,300 and, as befitted a Quaker railway, it was a simple affair.

A plaque on Skerne Bridge marks its historical significance (Image: ANDREW WHITE)

The S&DR, the first industrial-size railway in the world, had expected to carry 10,000 tons of coal a year from Shildon to Stockton and a few passengers. But by 1828, it was carrying 52,000 tons plus 40,000 people.

By late 1828, the embankments on either side were becoming dangerously damaged, and so the directors called upon their favourite stonemason, John Falcus Carter, to do some repairs.

Carter, born in Heighington in 1787, had already built the world’s first railway themed pubs for the S&DR - The Railway Taverns in Darlington and Stockton, and the Locomotion at Heighington station.

In 1829, Carter added gracefully curving walls to the Skerne Bridge to hold up the embankments.

In 1875, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the S&DR, local artist John Dobbin was commissioned to paint an opening day scene. Dobbin, who grew up behind the Half Moon pub in Northgate, had been at the opening day when he was ten, so he remembered the buzz of the occasion but he couldn’t remember the details of the bridge.

So to refresh his memory, he went back down and, assuming that bridges don’t change much with age, painted it complete with Carter’s curves into his famous image.

John Dobbin's famous view of the opening day of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, with Locomotion No 1 going over a very grand Skerne Bridge, was painted in 1875 (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)

Dobbin may have been one of the last to see the southern face of the bridge in its full glory because soon a gasworks grew up in John Street, blocking the view. Large gas pipes were put across the river, obscuring the bridge, and the walks up to it were fenced off.

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It remained locked away for much of the 20th Century, despite its starring role on the 1990s £5 note, and even when the gasworks vacated the site, the bridge looked too shabby and derelict for anyone to care.

The Skerne Bridge was covered by gaspipes and closed to the public when this picture was taken in August 1948 (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)

The same view of Skerne Bridge, as it looks today (Image: ANDREW WHITE)

Now part of the Skerne valley cyclepath, the area was cleaned and a footpath was opened up from North Road. It could still do with a bit of TLC, but at least the bridge is now accessible to all.

A footpath to the bridge runs from Darlington's North Road (Image: ANDREW WHITE)

• Thanks to Chris Lloyd for his help in compiling this feature.