To develop the narrative framework, feasibility study and masterplan for Historic England's Stockton & Darlington Railway Heritage Action Zone, a 26-mile corridor along the world's first public railway, and Darlington's Railway Heritage Quarter, commissioned by Tees Valley Combined Authority.

The S&DR was approaching its 200th anniversary in 2025. The project needed to integrate tourism, heritage, education, community and economic development needs with historical authenticity and conservation, across three existing museums, dozens of historically significant buildings, bridges and early railway infrastructure, and a partnership of local authorities, cultural institutions, rail operators and engineering companies.

Narrative Masterplanning | Feasibility Study | Research | Community and Stakeholder Engagement | Interpretation Planning | Content Development

We undertook a full programme of research, site investigations, archive activation, collections research and community and stakeholder consultation, bringing together an extraordinarily diverse coalition of partners around a shared narrative vision. Those partners ranged from Darlington Borough Council and Durham County Council to the Science Museum Group, Network Rail, Hitachi, Virgin Trains and the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust.

The core narrative framework we developed, An Ecosystem of Innovation, placed the historic railway not as a museum piece but as a living meeting point of skills, invention, engineering and creativity, connecting the story of 1825 to the best of modern engineering and creative practice in the region today. That framing gave the HAZ its organising principle: heritage as a catalyst for economic and social development rather than a record of the past, with local business and education organisations as integral parts of the heritage offer.

The impact of this plan saw investment in the project rise from around £5m to over £20m.

"TGAC created a compelling narrative, inspired by historical knowledge and community understanding. This narrative has drawn together a diverse set of ambitions and stakeholders to create a lasting legacy for the north of England.", S&DR Development Board

Historic England's Heritage Action Zone model represents a genuinely different approach to heritage funding and evaluation, one that measures success not by visitor numbers alone but by the contribution of local heritage assets to regional social and economic development.

Working within that framework requires a narrative methodology that can speak simultaneously to conservationists, local authorities, families, engineering companies, community organisations, educators, rail operators and national cultural institutions, finding the common story that makes all of their different ambitions coherent.

An Ecosystem of Innovation did that work through a synthesis that emerged from deep engagement with the archive, the communities and the partners, and that gave everyone involved a reason to be in the same room working toward the same vision.

Client: Tees Valley Combined Authority, Historic England

TGA: Narrative Masterplanning, Feasibility Study, Research, Community and Stakeholder Engagement, Interpretation Planning, Content Development

Delivery Partners: Haraclark (Design) · Julia Holberry Associates, Bauman Lyons (Architecture), WSP (Engineering)

Project Partners: Darlington Borough Council, Durham County Council, Stockton Borough Council, Science Museum Group (Locomotion), A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, Network Rail, Northern Rail, Hitachi, Friends of the S&DR, Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership