Stockton West John Walker's Walk, historical walk instructions

The start point is the lovely bandstand located at the centre of Ropner Park. Walk towards the lake passing the café on your right, perhaps stopping off for a coffee at the café operated by the Friends of Ropner Park and next to the playground.

Walk down the hill and turn right walking around the lake in an anti-clockwise direction. On the way you might want to feed the ducks and stop and read a little bit about Sir Robert Ropner and his contribution to the shipping industry. Top tip, bring duck food - the good stuff mind you as these ducks are fussy!

Ropner Park

In 1890 Stockton-on-Tees Town Council appointed a committee to consider the purchase of land for a public park. On 11 June 1890 the committee recommended that 36 acres and 26 perches (c 14.6ha) of land known as Hartburn Fields be bought for the sum of £8250, but concerns were raised by the Council regarding the financial burden to the town.

In the same month the Council received an offer from Major (later Sir) Robert Ropner of Preston Hall, a highly successful local businessman, to pay the cost of the ground. The offer was accepted and, in recognition of the gift, Ropner was made the first Freeman of the Borough and, although not a Councillor, accepted the office of Mayor in November 1892.

In 1890 the Council purchased, for £1026 11s 3d, a further 3 acres, 1 rood and 371/2 perches (c 1.2ha) of adjoining ground to the west which sloped down from the level Hartburn Fields and extended to a stream, Lustrum Beck. This land included a small area of water and the exchange of some parcels of land with an adjoining owner enabled the stream to be realigned and the water extended to form an ornamental lake

Competitive designs were invited for the park and from the fifteen entries received the first award was given to Messrs Backhouse and Co of York, the second to Mr H Kershaw of Bradford, and the third to Mr G I Rose of Manchester (North Eastern Daily Gazette 1893). The Borough Surveyor, Mr K F Campbell, was then instructed to prepare a final plan for the park on the basis of the three best designs. Laying out of the park commenced on 25 July 1891 with the cutting of the first sod by Mrs Ropner (Northern Review 1893). Contracts were awarded to Messrs Meston of London for excavation, drains, and roads, to W C Atkinson of Stockton for the lodges, railings, and fences, and to Messrs Little and Ballantyne of Carlisle for trees and shrubs, the total cost of laying out the park amounting to c £17,000.

The park was unofficially opened to the public on 8 June 1893 followed by a grand official opening by the Duke and Duchess of York on 4 October 1893.

The park then included three lodges, a cast-iron fountain by Carrons of Glasgow, a stone drinking fountain relocated from Stockton High Street, a bandstand by MacFarlanes of Glasgow, a recreation ground, a bowling green, a tennis lawn, gymnasia for boys and girls at the south-west and north-east corners and, to the west of the bandstand, stone steps leading down to a lake and terrace walks.

The main lodge was occupied by the park's curator, Mr H A Mann. A small nursery area to the north-west of the park was extended by c 0.5ha in 1938. An open-air theatre constructed in the south-west of the park in 1951 to celebrate the Festival of Britain was demolished in c 1984. A lodge in the north of the park was sold to private owners in 1981. The stone drinking fountain was, prior to 2002, re-sited in the centre of Stockton.

A two-year regeneration of the park was completed between 2004-06 to restore the park back to its former splendour. This included the replacement of original features, including the grand golden entrance gates.

Halfway round you may want to stop and have a photograph taken on the tree that looks as if it was made just to sit on. After doing a full loop around the lake - watching out for the owl, go back up the hill and turn left, you will pass one of the old Park Keepers Lodges.

The Ropner Owl

The Co-op stores in Stockton have raised over £4,000 towards the FoRP sculpture trail around Ropner Park (now called "Stories from the park"). The first sculpture "The Ropner Owl" was placed in the morning of Tuesday April 30th, 2019 near to the park lake.

Turn right to continue on the path around the edge of the park, passing the Bowling Club on your right. Keep your eye open for the Fish-Eating Bird sculpture or is it the Bird Eating Fish? You decide.

Fish Swallowing Bird

The Fish Swallowing Bird (when viewed from the correct angle) was designed by Mick Thacker and erected in September 2005. The sculpture has, as its starting point, the work by Gaudier Brzeska Bird Swallowing Fish and also refers to the fishmonger anecdote and nearby decorative fountain, which is adorned with cast iron herons. Thus, the form of the work is a leaping salmon with the silhouette of a heron in its stomach

The sculpture was designed to replace a Victorian drinking fountain, which had been temporarily sited in the park. Originally located in the towns market square, the fountain had been moved because fishmongers had used it to gut and clean fish in. The sculpture was commissioned as part of a programme of refurbishments including renovation of the cast iron park gates and decorative fountain.

Continue on the path turning right at the edge of the park to leave the park by the main gated entrance. Cross over Hartburn Lane turning right to follow the road down, around the bend towards West End Bowling Club.

Just before the entrance you will see a cycle track on your left. Walk along this track taking you through Six Fields. You are now on the old railway line and will pass The Bricky (Hartburn Brick Pond) on your

left. There are little tracks taking you to the bricky if you decide to stop and take a look, it's well worth it. Be careful as the water is deep and the path can be a little bit overgrown or slippy when wet.

Hartburn West Curve

Part of the Cuckoo Railway. A curve connecting with the Leeds Northern Railway between Bowesfield Junction and Hartburn West Junction was added in 1901 it runs alongside The Bricky that served the Eaglescliffe Brick and Tile Works.

Six Fields

A new area of wetland developed in Stockton-on-Tees to create a haven for wildlife to thrive.

Keep going along the track and you will reach the underpass at the A66 on your left. Turn right and walk along the public footpath. You will see the roofs of the houses and the exit out of Six Fields ahead of you.

There is a small footbridge that is quite narrow, cross over this and continue along the path through the fields which brings you to a gate into Quebec Road.

Can you find our John Walker metal tin? If you have the 'What3words' app search for 'lions.fled.chairs' to find the location. If not, look for a Canadian city sign and see what's behind!

If you find the tin, make sure you log your name and the date you found it. Read the poem and perhaps - inspired by the walk, think of ways you could contribute.

Continue the walk by going straight ahead onto Fraser Road and turn right into Hartburn Village and walk past the Church on your left. You could stop and read the memorial stone.

Hartburn Village

Hartburn is made up of a number of estates situated around Hartburn Village. The area was originally called East Hartburn, with West Hartburn being located close to Middleton St George.

Hartburn was originally an agricultural community and remained little more than a village until the growth of Stockton engulfed the settlement and the suburb of Hartburn developed around the original village. Today, 'greater 'Hartburn is one of the most attractive suburbs of Stockton, and one of the most affluent.

The village was founded centuries ago and the surrounding area has been developed extensively, mostly with semi-detached housing.

The oldest existing buildings in the village date from the late C17. On the South side of the village No95 Hartburn village is built of irregular blocks of yellow sandstone and probably dates from the mid-17th century. It is quite possible that this stone was from Stockton castle, demolished in 1652, as other identifiable stonework from the castle buildings has been found in the Hartburn area.

The Masham public house is a grade II listed. Built in 18^th C it has the gone through many modernisations however retains its original charm and character of an early inn.

Hartburn lodge was built in approx 1897 for the Raimes family. The initials and figures FR 1903 MR are carved in stone above the main entrance, this may be a marriage lintel depicting the date of marriage for the occupiers or a date stone for the building. An impressive building set with stable block and extensive grounds the building had impressive, panelled rooms, and rear balcony and conservatory.

In June 1897, a large stone was erected outside All Saints' church to commemorate the 60th year of the reign of Queen Victoria. All Saints' church had originally been the village school and was eventually altered to include pews and chancel steps etc., although these no longer exist.

Just outside the centre of the village is the Elmwood Centre. Now a community centre, Elmwood was the first of Hartburn's large, detached properties, built in 1873. Originally the home of Mr Lewis Dodshon, owner of one of the largest wholesale grocers in the area, son of John Dodshon, whose memorial is in the centre of Stockton. In the 1880s, it was the home of the Mountjoy Pearse family, who employed thousands in shipbuilding yards on the Tees and an iron company in Hartlepool.

You will leave the village with the Stockton Arms on your left and The Village Deli on your right. Turn right and head back up Darlington Road towards the West End Bowling Club.

Cross the road here and look for the cycle track on your left that goes ever so slightly up hill. You are now on the old Cuckoo Railway. Keep going along the shaded track until you reach a point where a couple of cycle paths cross over each other.

The Cuckoo Railway

The Castle Eden Railway was a railway line built by the North Eastern Railway between Bowesfield Junction near Stockton-on-Tees and Wingate, County Durham, Northeast England. Although its route actually never went near Castle Eden, it was also informally known as the "Cuckoo Line".

Passed under an Act of Parliament as the Stockton and Castle Eden Bridge Railway, it was built by contractor Thomas Nelson. The main civil engineering structure was the viaduct at Thorpe Thewles to cross Thorpe Beck and its valley, which consisted of 22 arches, used 8 million bricks and cost £37,000.

The first section of the line was opened on 1 May 1877 between Bowesfield Junction to Carlton South Junction (later Redmarshall), with a curve to Carlton West, to give access to the coalfields of South County Durham. The remainder of the line was opened for freight traffic on 1 August 1878, and passenger traffic between Stockton and Wellfield on 1 March 1880. A curve connecting the line with the Leeds Northern Railway between Bowesfield Junction and Hartburn West Junction was added in 1901.

In 1905 the Durham Coast Line between Sunderland and Hartlepool was completed, which started the decline of the importance of the Castle Eden Branch as an express passenger mainline. In 1931 it lost its passenger services, and it closed to freight services in 1951. Its final demise even as a bypass route occurred as a result of the Beeching Axe review, closing in stages between 1966 and 1968. The track, ballast and other equipment were all removed by contractors soon afterwards.

In 1977 part of the line was acquired by Cleveland County Council with financial help from the Department of the Environment and the Countryside Commission. In 1979 the viaduct was demolished to make the Thorpe Thewles bypass. The residual section reopened to the public as the Castle Eden Walkway in 1981, while the old stationmasters house at Thorpe Thewles was opened as a Visitor Centre in 1983.

Turn right taking you onto Kilburn Road. Take the path on the left walking alongside a small beck, crossing a bridge and towards the main road.

Turn right onto Hartburn Avenue and walk along the road back towards one of the small gates that lead you back into Ropner Park on the opposite side of the road.