Michael O'Neill, chairman of the Bishop Auckland Station History Group, and local author and history

Member Article

Raising the Banner High at Auckland Castle

A colourful and historic century-old reminder of Bishop Auckland’s industrial heritage is to go on public display in the town for the first time in 50 years.

The recently rediscovered railway banner that was once proudly paraded during the 1926 General Strike, will go on show for two days only at Auckland Castle.

The evocative oil painted, double sided, silk standard belonged to the Bishop Auckland branch of the National Union of Railwaymen.

It has been brought back into public focus after members of the newly formed Bishop Auckland Station History Group were alerted to its existence and tracked it down to the National Railway Museum at Shildon where it had been in storage.

Now the eye-catching banner, which depicts a group of railway workers being urged on to a better future by a classic female figure draped in a sash bearing the words ‘light, education, industrial organization, political action,’ is to take centre stage in Auckland Castle’s majestic Throne Room on May 9-10.

It will be the first time the free standing banner has been on general show in its hometown since being paraded in the 1960s and then disappearing from public view.

Ironically, the well preserved 14ft by 10ft flag is to be exhibited under the gaze of some of the early trade union movement’s greatest critics, the Bishops of Durham, whose portraits hang in the castle’s Throne Room.

They include Hensley Henson, who during his tenure as Bishop of Durham between 1920-1939, frequently spoke out against strike action, both during and after what he saw as the ‘criminal act’ of the 1926 dispute.

Georgina Ascroft, Auckland Castle’s Community Archivist, says: “Bishop Henson’s eyebrows in his portrait are already raised in consternation, but they will probably shoot another few inches higher when the banner goes on public view!

“It is a sign of how times and views have changed, however, that it is going on display at the castle.

“The castle is very supportive of community heritage projects and we are very proud that this banner is going on public view in the Throne Room.

“It highlights the story of the area’s shared industrial past and its heritage.

“It’s also a beautiful piece of art in its own right. Everyone knows about coal miners’ banners, but railway banners have tended not to be admired in the same way.

“Bishop Auckland Station History Group is anxious that the banner shouldn’t go into storage again and that as an important part of the town’s industrial heritage it should be seen and remembered.

“We hope this will be the start of a new chapter in its life.”

The banner is being exhibited to celebrate the re-launch of Bishop Auckland market on May 9.

The history group will be manning a stand in the Market Place on that day with the aim of raising awareness about the important part Bishop Auckland has played in the nation’s railway story.

The town’s original station opened on Church Commission land in 1843. It was later pulled down and a larger station built which included both passenger and freight lines as well as two goods’ depots.

Gerald Slack is a member of the Bishop Auckland Station History Group and author of Bishop Auckland and the Railways: A Brief History. He says in its heyday hundreds of people would have worked at Bishop Auckland Station and on the local rail network and been members of the National Union of Railwaymen.

The banner was an outward sign of the Bishop Auckland branch’s high status and may well have cost the equivalent of thousands of pounds in today’s money to make.

The year it was commissioned in 1915 coincides with when the National Union of Railwaymen was opened up to female members in recognition of their having stepped in to fill the employment void with so many men away fighting in the First World War.

Gerald says the banner – which on its reverse shows Bishop Auckland Station – would have been a sign of “brotherhood and unity.”

“The general view was that it was gone and would never be seen again. But it seems it had been housed at various places across the county before being tracked down to the National Railway Museum at Shildon after the history group learnt of its existence from a retired signalman.

“It’s in tremendous condition and is a local treasure. It is fantastic that it is again now going on public display in its home town, and particularly at Auckland Castle.

“While the relationship between the Church and the railway was not always amicable, Bishop Auckland Station was built on Church land and there is no question that the Bishops used the train to get to and from Auckland Castle.”

The Bishop Auckland Station History Group is working towards the banner being displayed more permanently in its home town as a symbol of the area’s railway heritage.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jane Hall .

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