Lost Stockton Darlington railway plaque replaced

A lost plaque commemorating the first sale of a passenger rail ticket has been replaced after being spotted in the back of a TV report.

The 93-year-old plaque went missing from an old Stockton and Darlington Railway building about 10 years ago.

But it has been restored after the chairman of the homeless charity which now owns the building spotted it in the background of a TV report at a foundry.

The original plaque was unveiled by the then future King George VI in 1925.

The plaque, which marked the centenary of the railway, read: "Here in 1825 the Stockton and Darlington Railway Company booked the first passenger thus marking an epoch in the history of mankind."

The buildings the plaque was placed upon were built by the railway as a weigh house and tavern.

Homeless people started using them for shelter after they fell into disrepair so, in 1985, the Stockton Church's Mission bought the buildings and turned them into an official hostel, Bridge House.

It is not known when exactly the plaque was taken but it was found broken in a beck before being taken in by the William Lane Foundry in Middlesbrough.

John Wilson, chairman of the Church Mission, said: "I saw a TV report about the foundry and, in the background of an interview with the managing director, I saw the plaque."

Local historians and railway enthusiasts then worked with Bridge House to have the plaque restored.

Barry Thompson of the Friends of Stockton and Darlington Railway said: "It's great to see (the plaque) back where it belongs and to right a wrong."

The 26 mile-long Stockton and Darlington Railway was the first public steam railway in the world.