Until 2006, for 101 years, and three generations, the Carters had a butcher’s shop on Yarm Road in Darlington – as well as its prime cuts, it was renowned for its display of local history pictures.
Carter’s butchers on Yarm Road before the Second World WarJohn’s grandfather, William, had started the business in 1905 in what was believed to be the town’s first purpose-built butchers: it had a slaughterhouse at the back and cellars for curing bacon, and in those pre-refrigeration days, it had cold water dribbling down the front window to keep the meat fresh.
To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Stockton & Darlington Railway in 1975, John and his father, another William, created a window display of Locomotion No 1 made out of meat. There was a joint of sirloin for the boiler, brisket for the wheels, black pudding for the funnel and domes made of brawn. It was flanked by two glazed pig’s heads.
A young John Carter puts finishing touches to a traditional butcher’s display in the early 1970sThe Carters have good reason to celebrate the railway because John’s great-great-grandfather was John Falcus Carter, a stonemason born in Heighington in 1787. He built the world’s three oldest railway-named pubs for the S&DR shortly after 1825: the one, now derelict, which acted as the station at Heighington, and the Railway Taverns in Darlington and Stockton.
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Then, in 1829, he saved the Skerne Bridge: as trains got heavier, it quickly became damaged but John Falcus Carter built the curving wing walls that shored it up.
Perhaps he would have gone on to do more great things for the railway, but he died on January 23, 1831, aged 43, as buried beneath a weathered headstone in Heighington churchyard. He left three small houses in the village which were sold to support his widow, Jean, and their six children.
Look at John Falcus Carter’s graceful wing walls on the Skerne Bridge on John Dobbin’s paintingHis graceful wing walls are a main feature of the famous painting of the opening day by John Dobbin, which features in the Echo’s bookazine.
The Echo’s 116-page bookazine, which is sponsored by LNER and acts as the programme to the year’s SDR200 events, is available from all good newsagents for £9.95.
It is to be formally launched at 10am on April 8 at Hopetown, Darlington’s new railway visitor attraction, with an illustrated talk by Chris Lloyd, who has written it.
There are two types of tickets for the talk: for £10, you get a free copy of the bookazine and admission to the talk, and for £5, there’s admission to the talk. Both sets of ticketholders will be refreshed with tea or coffee.
To book a ticket, please go to store.newsquest.co.uk and click on the “tickets” button. Or call 01325-505062, and we’ll reserve you a space.
At the online store, you can also buy copies of the bookazine – if you point your phone at the QR code (which we will remember to print this week) it will take you straight there.
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