This year Britain celebrates “Rail 200”, the bicentennial of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, which had its opening on the 27th September 1825. It was not the first public railway, that honour was bestowed on the Surrey Iron Railway of 1803 (horse drawn & goods only), but it was the first to envisage and employ steam loco-motion (the Iron Horse).
BOOK REVIEWS
‘Geomotional’ is a remarkable and beautifully illustrated exploration of – as the sub-title says – ‘Geometric art, past and present’. The book, which has us journey through images, words, poetry and song, and gives account of a ‘performance-installation’, is compiled by Mary Elizabeth Lange, who is prolific in her writings on Indigenous art and story, and various intersections with heritage.
BLUE PLAQUES
Designed in 1927 by Gordon Leith for Donald James Laing, the house was among the first built in Lower Houghton and is an interesting synthesis of vernacular architecture and the Arts and Crafts style. Laing was a co-founder of the quantity surveying firm of Farrow Laing in 1922, which would grow into a giant in its industry.