This small park in Eaglescliffe is bounded by Yarm Road, Albert Road and Victoria Road, the names give a clue to its age and origin as the houses are mostly well established of Edwardian design dating back to the late 19th century with larger and slightly older houses being found in The Avenue nearby. The park will be familiar to many as the Eaglescliffe War Memorial stands within it but also here is another piece of history. A brass plaque explaining the quaint naming of the park mounted on a relic of the original Stockton & Darlington railway. A relic I had walked past many times but had never taken the trouble to read and which should be afforded greater provenance given its historic significance. Taken December 2016.
Photographs and details courtesy of David Thompson.
Picture Stockton Archive 
The original alignment of the Stockton and Darlington Railway passed between Burnmoor Drive and the present line to Darlington through Urlay Nook, then along what is now part of Clarence Road, still clearly visible on ‘Google Earth’. It then crossed Victoria Road and passed through the park and across the Yarm Road. Reference to the crossing gates being in use until the 1870’s is interesting as the route was abandoned when the Leeds Northern was opened in 1852. The plaque does not specify if the gates were over Victoria Road or Yarm road or which bridge the stone came from. It is also surprising that the road came to be called ‘Clarence Road’ as the Clarence Railway was built to be in direct competition with the S&D.
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Lovely little park I pass it every day walking the dog … let’s just hope the bike youth about at the minute don’t vandalise it
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Born and bred in Stockton 80 yrs ago but have no idea where the said park is.
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Its on the opposite side of the road to Preston Park.
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John, the park is at the junction of the south end of Albert Road and Victoria Road which itself is almost opposite Eaglescliffe golf club on Yarm Road. The plaque stands between two trees and close to the dwarf boundary wall which makes it difficult to see from a distance!
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John I think the road is Albert Road. It is almost opposite the Golf Club nearest to the Stockton end. My brother once lived at 606 Yarm Road which is 2 doors down from this road and next door to him in the 3rd house was the old Club House which eventually moved into the golf club grounds.
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