The world’s oldest railway station ravaged by vandals and left to rot could be given a new lease of life by passionate volunteers. Heighington station, in County Durham is where Locomotion No 1, designed by George Stephenson, was placed on the track before its first journey in 1825.
The Grade II* listed station was commissioned in 1826 and was in use until the 1970s before being turned into a pub called Locomotion.
But after its closure in 2017 criminals targeted the property and it became a sad, derelict and in desperate need of intervention.
Now a band of volunteers has banded together in a bid to save it with The Friends of the Stockton & Darlington Railway estimating that £500,000 is needed to buy and restore it – and that they would like to achieve this by the railway’s 200th anniversary which is only 18 months away.
Niall Hammond, the chairman of the Friends, said: “It is where Locomotion No 1 was first placed on the tracks, it is where three boys became its first passengers, and it is the world’s first railway station – the cobbles outside it may well be the world’s first railway platform.
“All these things make it incredibly historically important, which is why it is a Grade II* listed building and so is among the top eight per cent of most important buildings in the country,” reports The Telegraph.
He added “we have to do something” as it would be “such an embarrassment” if the building is left to rot. The Friends website explains what the plan would be if the group achieves its aim – including a food and drink establishment.
It says: “The world’s oldest railway station is of international heritage importance, and we want people from around the world help us save and make it accessible to all.
“Once purchased the Friends will seek to restore the buildings to reflect their origins as an early station and inn.
“This will include a Georgian themed inn offering food and drink to visitors and local residents as well as a space for local businesses and communities to meet.”
It added: “The first phase of the campaign is to acquire the building and stabilise it. The second and longer-term phase is to bring it back into economic and community use, perhaps as an 1825 pub or restaurant with accommodation.”
Paul Howell, the Conservative Sedgefield MP, said: “When I worked nearby at Perstorp-Warerite in the late 1980s, that was our place for a drink at the end of the day, and so it is sad to see it as it is.
“It is proper history and it really should be in a condition to take part in the bicentenary celebrations, so the Friends have my full backing and support.”
