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Shildon

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Shildon
Population10,079 (2001) [1]
OS grid referenceNZ226263
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townSHILDON
Postcode districtDL4
Dialling code01388
PoliceDurham
FireCounty Durham and Darlington
AmbulanceNorth East
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
County Durham

Shildon is a town in County Durham, in England. It is situated to the 2 miles south east of Bishop Auckland and 11 miles north of Darlington. It is 13 miles away from Durham, 23 from Sunderland and 23 miles from Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Shildon is part of the Bishop Auckland Parliamentary constituency, which is represented by Helen Goodman MP.

Railways

Shildon is considered to be the "Cradle Of The Railways". The town grew considerably when the Stockton and Darlington Railway established its workshops there in 1825. The company owned much of the land and the population grew to around 9000.

Today, Shildon's connections with the birth of the railway industry, notably through the efforts of Timothy Hackworth, are marked by the Shildon Locomotion Museum, which opened in September 2004 and is part of the National Railway Museum. Daniel Adamson, Hackworth's apprentice and a renowned engineer in his own right, was born in Shildon. Shildon and the Locomotion Museum are served by Shildon railway station, which is on the Tees Valley Line.

General

Shildon was the birthplace of the writer, Sid Chaplin for whom the local library was named.

Shildon was once a busy, vibrant community with many manufacturing industries. The most notable of these was the railway wagon works which was closed in 1983 by the government.[citation needed] The closure had a severe and lasting economic impact on the town and many businesses closed.[citation needed]The opening of the Locomotion annex of the National Railway Museum did help restore some local pride but due to the site's physical location, it has failed to revitalise the town centre.

Local side Shildon A.F.C. competed in the Arngrove Northern League Division One. In November 2003, they reached the FA Cup First Round for the first time in 42 years, however they were beaten 7-2 on the day by Notts County. They have a very successful history in the 1930s of which can be seen on their website [2]

Shildon also has a number of societies and clubs running in the town. "Shildon Recall" is a local history group that meets in the Shildon People's Centre[3] (formerly the Police Station). [4] Shildon Running & Athletic Club is based at the Stadium 2000 situated on Middridge Lane in Shildon and was founded in 1986.[5]

Education

Shitole

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