|
|
On the edge of Castle Eden Country Park heading north to Wingate.
The Castle Eden walkway and cycle track takes its name from the Castle Eden Railway Line, completed for the North Eastern Railway Company in 1880 which connected the stations in the Stockton area with Hartlepool, Sunderland and on to Tyneside. Minerals and goods were the main source of business, with the small volume of passengers ending in 1931. Goods traffic was also discontinued in 1951 and the once profitable minerals traffic ceased in 1966.
Revitalised, the old track is busy again, with new bridges leading into County Durham and cyclists and walkers keeping old stations busy on weekends. It's mostly quiet now though, and the Country Park is a reminder of times when the trains passed this way every day of the week. And although the engines and locomotives have disappeared some coaches are still here and educating local school children on their local natural habitat and some history a hundred years ago.