Just a few days to go and shaping up to be an excellent weekend. Motive power will be provided by Hawthorn & Leslie No 2 0-4-0ST of 1911, built for Keighley Corporation Gas Works, and Robert Stephenson & Co No 3 'Twizell' 0-6-0T of 1891, built for the James Joicey Colliery railways, operating at the coal mines around Beamish. One train service on Saturday, two train service on Sunday. Rolling stock is the usual excellent four wheeled wooden carriages. Displays wise, there will be;
Durham Pals Living History Group – displaying along the line
The Durham Pals portray the 18th Battalion Durham Light Infantry – the ‘Durham Pals’. Formed in 1914 as one of Kitchener’s ‘New Army’ units raised for the duration of the war, large numbers of men from the Durham area or with links to Durham joined up to fight together. In 2015 we portray the unit as it was in 1915, shortly after the Hartlepool Bombardment when six members of the Battalion were killed and others injured, the first British soldiers killed on home soil by the enemy during the war. The unit continued to train through 1915 before being shipped to Egypt later in the year
http://durhampals.org.uk/
29th Division Field Kitchen – Andrews House Station
The 29th Division Field Kitchen, with their authentic Soyer cookers, depict how the British Army was fed during the First World War
http://www.freewebs.com/29thfieldkitchen/
Beamish Open Air Museum – Andrews House
Beamish will have a display of a Voluntary Aid Detachment post, as well as Great War clothing for children to try on
http://www.beamish.org.uk
Wessington U3A War Memorials Project – Marley Hill Carriage Shed
The Wessington U3A War Memorials Project have been researching the lives of men from the Washington area that served in the Great War. They recently produced, with Lonely Tower, a film entitled ‘Wad Thou Gan?’ funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund which is being shown in the Andrews House Station waiting room
http://wwmp.weebly.com/
Western Front Association, Durham Branch – Marley Hill Carriage Shed
The Western Front Association was founded in 1980 and is dedicated to the study of this conflict. Meetings are held on the second Monday of each month in Durham and feature talks by historians on various topics of the conflict.
http://www.durham-wfa.com
Head of Steam, Darlington Railway Museum – Marley Hill Carriage Shed
Head of Steam are working on a major project entitled ‘North East Railways in World War One’, especially looking at the contribution of railway workers in the North East to the war. Their website has recently been launched and you will be able to view it at their display
http://www.darlington.gov.uk/leisure-an ... -of-steam/
Jo Bath, local author – Marley Hill Carriage Shed
Jo Bath has recently had her book 'Tyneside - Remembering 1914-1918' published by The History Press, and will be selling signed copies
Royal British Legion, Consett Branch – Marley Hill Carriage Shed
The Royal British Legion is Britain’s largest armed forces charity, set up following the Great War. They are dedicated to those killed in war and support those who have served and their families in times of need
http://branches.britishlegion.org.uk/branches/consett
There will also be a display of information relating to the North Eastern Railway in the First World War, Zeppelin raids on the North East, the East Coast Bombardment of 1914,the Seaham Harbour U-boat attack of 1916, the NER-run Darlington munitions factory, and the North Eastern Railway Battalion - the 17th Northumberland Fusiliers