Should you search on the internet for Shildon, a small town in County Durham in the North East corner of England, you will find out that it has house prices one-tenth of those in London, but that is not the town’s major claim to fame. Shildon is world famous for being the cradle of the Railways (a.k.a. Rail Roads), which were launched in the first quarter of the 19th century. Its location on the eastern edge of the Auckland (south-west Durham) coalfield, made its proximity to the coal mines an ideal spot for a rail head for a proposed railway line from Stockton-on-Tees via Darlington; the celebrated Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR).
The S&DR opened on the 27th September 1825 after what was a long period of gestation, as the need for better transportation of coal from pit to port was first realised in the mid 18th century. There was a talk of a canal and then a tramway but...
