With the 200th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) just 18 months away, an appeal has been launched to preserve the world’s oldest railway station.

Heighington station is in a derelict state and the Friends of the Stockton and Darlington Railway have launched an appeal to raise £100,000 from members of the public.

Although the purchase price and stabilisation work come with a £500,000 price tag, the Friends are confident that they can raise £400,000 through grant applications.

That way, the historic station which sits beside the line at the edge of Newton Aycliffe, will not be an embarrassing eyesore when the anniversary celebrations take place.

The station was built beside the spot where George Stephenson’s legendary Locomotion No 1 was first placed on the rails.

The railway itself had been built by Stephenson and was opened in 1825 and is generally regarded as the first modern railway in the world.

Heighington was one of three buildings commissioned by the S&DR in 1826 to handle goods and passengers.

It became operational in 1827 and predates the concept of a specially designed building which would act as a railway station as we know them today.

There is a revealing description of the new station, which was recorded in the Durham Chronicle of September 15, 1827. It forms the first description of what we now widely recognise as a railway station. “To that spot persons come, in the most stormy seasons, at all hours of the day and night, to load and unload goods, and to await the arrival and departure of the numerous coaches which now traverse the railway,” it noted. “It is, indeed, the only place, for a considerable distance, where such individuals could procure any refreshment.”

The building remained in railway use until the 1970s when it became derelict. Restored in 1984, it reopened as the Locomotion No 1 inn, but it closed in 2017.

Since then, it has been subject to vandalism and criminal damage. Attempts by local authorities to rescue the building have failed, so the volunteer Friends group has stepped in.

While their first objective is to acquire and stabilise the building in readiness for next year’s celebrations, the second, longer-term phase is to bring it back into economic or community use.

Suggestions have been to establish an 1825 pub or to launch a new restaurant, with accommodation.

Railways had existed before the S&DR started operations, but for a specific purpose. This railway was designed to carry anything, including passengers, for an advertised fee.

Upon payment of the fee, people could use the new, large-scale public railway. It operated to a timetable and was powered by a locomotive. So revolutionary was this concept that engineers from around the world came to the S&DR to learn how to operate a railway.

Newton Aycliffe is also the place where the railway locomotive practically had its birth. Locomotion No 1 had been made 30 miles away in Newcastle and was transported to the new railway on horse-drawn wagons and assembled on site by Stephenson.

Three boys were sent to a nearby spring to bring water to the locomotive while someone else – a Mr Taylor – was dispatched to a nearby village to get a flaming torch with which to light the fire for the boiler.

A local labourer called Robert Metcalf offered Stephenson the use of his ‘burning glass’ – a piece of glass akin to a magnifier – which he used to focus the sun’s rays to light the tobacco in his pipe. By the time the messenger returned with his torch, Locomotion No 1’s first was well alight. Once he got the engine moving, Stephenson thanked the boys for their help. A mere 11 days later, on 27 September 1825, the railway was open for business.

It is stories such as these that the Friends hope will bring to life the cycle and footpath that is being planned along the 26-mile length of the line in time for the bicentenary.

All details are on the Friends’ website sdr1825.org.uk where there is a ‘Save Heighington station’ tab.

Niall Hammond, Chair of the Friends, said: “I know times are tough but if you want one place that encapsulates why the S&DR is internationally important, this is it,” said Niall Hammond, the chair of the Friends.

“It is where Locomotion No 1 was first placed on the tracks, it is where three boys became its first passengers, and it is the world’s first railway station – the cobbles outside it may well be the world’s first railway platform! All these things make it incredibly historically important, which is why it is a Grade II* listed building and so is among the top eight per cent of most important buildings in the country.

“In terms of the bicentenary celebrations for which so much is being planned in Durham, Darlington and Stockton, its current condition is a blot on our collective endeavours and Historic England have recently added it to their Heritage At Risk Register.

“There are so many great stories attached to it that it should be a source of inspiration and education to the next generation, and it should be an object of pride to local people and the businesses around it that their forefathers were involved in something revolutionary that changed the world.

“It is a key location on the route, and it could provide a completely different experience for the visitor if it is turned into a Georgian-themed railway inn,”

“This is a great way for people to get involved – even just signing our online petition, which will cost nothing but could be very important, will show the size of local support to potential funders.

“We have to do something: it would be such an embarrassment if, in 2025, this building of international importance still stands there rotting away.”