Locomotion garden blooms with £20,000 grant

A North East railway museum is on track to enhance its biodiversity and visitor experience through a major new garden project funded by a £20,000 grant.

The Locomotion museum in Shildon, County Durham, the very spot where a small steam locomotive called Locomotion No. 1 coupled up with a train on 27 September 1825 and changed the world, is developing the Locomotion Railway Garden, a kilometre-long stretch featuring habitats to attract pollinators and rare species such as the Dingy Skipper butterfly.

Supported by the Banks Group and Northumbrian Water Branch Out Fund, the garden will also include hedgerows for hedgehogs and bat boxes on existing trees.

The project complements the museum’s wildflower meadow and existing pollinator initiatives, while forming part of Locomotion’s ongoing transformation by surrounding New Hall, the new collections building which opened earlier this year.

Sarah Price, head of Locomotion, said: “The railway revolution had a significant impact on the natural environment, with new railway routes creating a corridor in which certain plants and animals could thrive.

“The planting design for the Railway Garden draws inspiration from the self-seeded railway lines found across the UK and will be supported by interpretation to engage visitors with this distinctive habitat.

“This project will deliver substantial benefits for both wildlife and the local community, transforming an area that was previously wasteland to create new volunteering and learning opportunities for local people and museum visitors.”

Lucy Hinds, executive assistant at the Banks Group, added: “Locomotion is one of the region’s most important cultural and heritage venues, and demonstrates the huge impact that the railways had on the development of both our home county and the wider world.

“The Railway Garden is a key part of the Locomotion team’s ambitions to provide an even better museum experience and we can’t wait to see how it looks when it opens.”

Set to bloom by early 2025, the garden coincides with the bicentenary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway and will create opportunities for 70 volunteers, including free family workshops including bug hotel building and seed bomb making.

Locomotion attracts 200,000 visitors annually and plays a vital role as the sister site to the National Railway Museum in York.

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