A lost station at Middleton St George has been given a new lease of life thanks to a new mural and restoration operation.
Fighting Cocks was a small station on the original Stockton & Darlington Railway line which opened in the early 1830s.
The S&DR line came through there, where a crossing on the road linking Middleton St George (and Dinsdale) and Sadberge crossed.
Fighting Cocks station when in use.
Trains would regularly stop here to drop coal for distribution to local residents, and eventually a cottage was built along with provision for passengers to join trains.
Next to it, the Fighting Cocks pub was also built to cater for thirsty travellers, as well as the growing brickworks and ironworks which had sprung up in Middleton St George.
A train passes through Fighting Cocks station, with the lost signal box visible on the right.
In the 1880s a new line was laid, with a new station serving Dinsdale and Middleton St George to the south. Fighting Cocks stopped serving passengers at this point, but the line continued in use handling freight until 1967 when the tracks were lifted.
Fighting Cocks Today
Fighting Cocks Station and trackbed today.
The Fighting Cocks pub continued in use until only a few years ago, with many original interiors. However, the building was recently converted into a Sainsbury’s Local supermarket.
The station cottage still remains, with a S&DR 1825 sign on the wall of the former stationmaster’s house. The cottage is much the same as it always was, and easily recognisable as a former station.
The tracks and platforms are long gone, but the trackbed is now a walkway running from Darlington to Middleton St George.
Other remains are also visible around the site, such as coal drops and walls for former buildings.
At the end of April, a mural was unveiled on the former Fighting Cocks station building. It was created by Lewis Hobson of Durham Spray Paints and unveiled on 27 April, and depicts a train at the former station, with the village and its lost windmill in the background.
Some cleared stone sleepers and foundations near the station.
At the same time the site has been cleared and landscaped by Friends of the Stockton & Darlington Railway.
With the S&DR celebrating its 200th anniversary next year, this is a great way to mark this lost station’s park in railway history.