Judith McNicol and Sarah Price were delighted to welcome the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, for a tour of Locomotion on Thursday 9 December.
The Chancellor was visiting the area following the recent success of Durham County Council’s application for £20million from the government's Levelling Up scheme. The funding has matched investment by the council and the Science Museum Group, which will enable £31million to be spent delivering a heritage corridor masterplan focused on Locomotion and the Stockton & Darlington Railway.
The Levelling Up funding will be used to help build on Shildon’s status as the world’s first railway town and the engineering pedigree that gave birth to the world’s first passenger railway. This will make a huge contribution to the bicentenary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 2025—a key part of County Durham’s bid to be named UK City of Culture in 2025.
About Locomotion
- Locomotion offers visitors the chance to see highlights of the national collection of railway vehicles in Shildon - the world’s first railway town
- Locomotion forms part of the Science Museum Group, along with the Science Museum in London, the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester, the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford and the National Railway Museum in York
- Locomotion is a partnership between the Science Museum Group and Durham County Council, which is a major funder of the museum
- Admission to Locomotion is free
