Darlington is an historic market town (and county) in the North East of England near Durham and has almost 100,000 inhabitants.

The development and spread of the railway owes a debt to Darlington; over the years the town has been a significant manufacturer of carriages with three Darlington plants made locomotive parts supplying the industry in the UK. In addition to that the town was also concerned in the upkeep of lines and other rail related work

Darlington is home of Quaker leader Edward Pease and has always been associated with the Quaker movement. Darlington was the first place to have a Quaker MP (Edward Pease) and even the local football team is nicknamed ‘The Quakers’

Darlington has various music and cultural festivals including arts, jazz, blues and real ale events.