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Heritage Open Day September 2011 - 1

Heritage Open Day September 2011

Every year in September thousands of buildings of all ages, styles and functions are made accessible to the public free of charge by guided walks and special events.
Coordinated nationally by English Heritage, Heritage Open Days are England’s contribution to European Heritage Days and a Council of Europe initiative in which 50 countries take part.
Westbrook Villas is of historic and archaeological importance in the history of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, having archaeological remains associated with it and Victorian residents who played a part in the development of railways.

Why We Joined In The Heritage Day - 2

Heritage Day Sept 2011
Westbrook Villas Heritage Open Day 2011
In 2011 Westbrook Villas Residents were awarded a grant of Ł7000 from the Fair Share Trust of the Durham County Community Foundation which provides support to local communities. The grant allowed them to purchase and install Victorian Style street lamps. The aim was to replace the more modern street lamps with Victorian replicas more in keeping with the streets Victorian architecture, helping to restore the street to its original appearance and atmosphere.
In our application we were supported by a number of people and organisations. Sara of the Darlington Railway Museum was particularly helpful with advice and preparation of documentation. At a meeting with Angela Jones and Shirley King she also suggested that we might consider taking part in the national Heritage Open Day Scheme. We eagerly welcomed the idea.
Earlier in the year we had been asked to host a guided walk for members of Darlington’s Historic Society with members being allowed to go inside a small number of houses to see internal features. Judith and Hazel of no 21 very generously provided refreshments in their garden. The Society limited the number attending to 26. This visit proved very successful and the members insisted on giving us a donation of Ł3 each which we used to repair our vandalised street gate. With our experience of this success we felt we could tackle the heritage open day and proceeded with our application. We decided on just the one day Sunday September 11th at 2 pm. We decided on a guided walk lasting approximately 2 hrs, highlighting the street’s architecture and social history over the last 160 years.

Display of Internal Features Open Day - 3

Display Board of Internal Archaeological Features

Rob of no 8 suggested that we might display photographs of some of the interior features of some of the houses and he photographed, prepared and mounted several photographs. He also prepared a quiz. We have now included a separate page in our website showing these interior archaeological features.

Welcome Group of Visitors Open Day -4

Heritage Open Day's Visitors

We had no idea how many people would turn up, nor, of course, what the weather and its effects on numbers might be.
We were lucky with the weather and an amazing 70 people turned up.

Heritage Open Day -5

Heritage Open Day
Most people met near Housams at the junction of Westbrook and Northgate but a few met at the gate into Station Road not far from the Railway Museum. The Railway Museum kindly allowed participants to park in their car park.

Heritage Open Day - 6

Heritage open day Sept 2011.
We toured the bottom half of the street, then the back lane where the coal drop walls and tallyman’s cabin of the Stockton and Darlington Railway still remain. We pointed out the building that had been a Quaker boy’s school and then retraced our steps to the bottom of the back lane. From there we pointed out the house that had been built as a Quaker girls’ school and moved on to the house that had been built for William Hobson, George Stephenson’s head of passenger services.

Heritage Open Day - 7

Heritage open day.
Further up the street participants saw two houses built by GG Hoskins, locally famous architect, then that built for Samuel Elton, first Head of Darlington’s School of Art.

Heritage Open Day Sept 2011 -8

Heritage open day 2011

After the walk refreshments were generously provided at No 21 by Judith and Hazel to whom we owe a big, big thank you and there was plenty of time for people to chat and exchange ideas.

Heritage Open Day September 2011- 9

Heritage Open Day September 2011

We learned a lot from our visitors, several of whom brought new information and pictures. Attendees were offered the opportunity to give donations for the refreshments. A total of Ł 75 was given to St Teresa’s Hospice, Chris Lloyd’s chosen charity.