Tell me about Darlington

There's a good choice of restaurants in Darlington but none that I'd say are first class. You need to go outside the town for that.

Rockcliffe, The Coach House, The Bay Horse at Hurworth and the Crathorne Arms are probably the best for me.
I've tried the Two Starred Raby Hunt twice and felt disappointed both times.... too fancy and unfulfilling for me but each to their own.
 
zzzzz said:
Being born and raised in Darlo and now living in one of the outlying villages TBH if you can afford it I'd go for one of the villages every time.
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Not for me. We're retiring and want to be close to facilities. When my parents retired they moved to a village up the dale a bit, which is fine to start with, but not so great after you age a bit more....
 
not knocked about in Darlington for 20 odd years, but the west end, Coniscliffe Road and some of the areas around Stanhope Park were always very nice
 
I think Darlo town centre is pretty good. There are quite a few smaller individual bars around the grange road area, if they have survived, that remind me of Baker Street in the Boro.

Restaurant wise it’s not bad at all. The feethams complex has your Nando’s and the like but also has an Estabulo and a Tomahawk and the Tapas bar is good. Some really good food just outside the town such as hurworth and Croft.

There is a Pizza Hut, McDonald’s and Burger King in the town centre, two kfc drive throughs, one good Wetherspoon and one ropey one.

Shopping is ok, good rail connections. Newcastle centre, Durham, Chester Le street all 15-25 mins away.
 
Easy to get to the boro for the Home matches A66 all the way... also near the Indian on the A66 - Sadberge way - (name escapes me) -always had good quality - now live abroad so havnt been in 3 years.....
 
Went on a night out in Darlington years ago, Mechanics Yard, Number 22, cracking beer, great night out. Really enjoyed it. Didn’t find it particularly rough, never felt uneasy. Mind, I am from Redcar 🙂 so I suppose it’s all about perspective.
Go there occasionally for work, some lovely properties and nice looking areas.
 
Lots of music now in Darlington thanks to Tracks Music Collective - who run music events for all ages - though at present all online but usually in bars, venues and outside regular Saturday shows to encourage people to shop in the centre. They also run a couple of music festivals through the year.
The Hippodrome is magnificent now following the massive renovation and there is a wonderful intimate children's theatre Hullabaloo as part of the complex including a cafe/bar.
I love the Head of Steam museum as well. A hidden gem with Locomotion no.1 and so much trainsporting you back to the first steam passenger railway of 1825 including something old, something new - a short walkway to the oldest working railway bridge in the world, Skerne Bridge, as used to be on the back £5 notes.
The parkrun through South Park is one of the most popular in the whole region so that always speaks a lot about the strength of the community. No doubt everyone is missing it madly.
 
fmttmadmin said:
Lots of music now in Darlington thanks to Tracks Music Collective - who run music events for all ages - though at present all online but usually in bars, venues and outside regular Saturday shows to encourage people to shop in the centre. They also run a couple of music festivals through the year.
The Hippodrome is magnificent now following the massive renovation and there is a wonderful intimate children's theatre Hullabaloo as part of the complex including a cafe/bar.
I love the Head of Steam museum as well. A hidden gem with Locomotion no.1 and so much trainsporting you back to the first steam passenger railway of 1825 including something old, something new - a short walkway to the oldest working railway bridge in the world, Skerne Bridge, as used to be on the back £5 notes.
The parkrun through South Park is one of the most popular in the whole region so that always speaks a lot about the strength of the community. No doubt everyone is missing it madly.
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Cheers, sounds good. I had looked up the South Park, parkrun as I'm a big fan, used to be a regular round the original Bushy Park course a few years ago.
 
BeanBeany said:
Cheers, sounds good. I had looked up the South Park, parkrun as I'm a big fan, used to be a regular round the original Bushy Park course a few years ago.
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If you like parkruns then Darlo is ideal because you are also within easy driving reach of Hackworth at Shildon, Catterick (race course), Tees Barrage and Sedgefield, which is a beautiful setting round the lake and Georgian pleasure park grounds. There is also a really helpful and friendly running shop in Up and Running. And in normal times they team up with running groups in Darlo.
I have run at Darlo parkrun a couple of times, it is a lovely run and whilst not as packed out as Bushy Parkrun, the daddy of them all, it regularly attracts really high numbers. It has a really nice park cafe too near the finish line.
 
fmttmadmin said:
Lots of music now in Darlington thanks to Tracks Music Collective - who run music events for all ages - though at present all online but usually in bars, venues and outside regular Saturday shows to encourage people to shop in the centre. They also run a couple of music festivals through the year.
The Hippodrome is magnificent now following the massive renovation and there is a wonderful intimate children's theatre Hullabaloo as part of the complex including a cafe/bar.
I love the Head of Steam museum as well. A hidden gem with Locomotion no.1 and so much trainsporting you back to the first steam passenger railway of 1825 including something old, something new - a short walkway to the oldest working railway bridge in the world, Skerne Bridge, as used to be on the back £5 notes.
The parkrun through South Park is one of the most popular in the whole region so that always speaks a lot about the strength of the community. No doubt everyone is missing it madly.
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I'll second this on the live music. One of the CAMRA places puts live blues bands on, Avalon does some indie stuff, Voodoo Cafe has live acts on from all over (I've seen a few that appear at Twisterella/Stockton Calling) with a great selection of rum by the way. Forum, Hullabaloo get good music and they also get good comedy at Hullabaloo, replacing the Art Centre for that as well as bigger names at the Hippodrome. There are a few fledgling Twisterella's on the go, Last Train Home is the best of them, but hey, Stockton Calling, Twisterella itself, Live at Leeds and Hit The North Festivals are all a short train ride away.

I don't know if Darlo is a great place to live, but it's a place I often visit.
 
Some good proper pubs in darlo like the black swan near the station.
Semi-hipster type pie/pub/venue - hole in the wall has a nice selection of ales and pies. soapbox (music) sessions on a sunday and sporadic comedy nights
Hash Bar is canny relaxed atmosphere - has a cool roof terrace also
Crossfit Darlo has a nice vibe
 
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I remember delivering to the Skerne Park Hotel once. The estate surrounding it made Brambles Farm look like South Kensington.
 
There is a good free Blues Festival in the summer. Its in the square in the centre on town and you just go into the surrounding pubs to get your refreshments or bring your own. Very civilised.

The Forum gets some good live music but its only small.

One of the good things about Darlo is you can go watch bands or a show in Newcastle and usually catch a train home afterwards. Unlike going from Boro.
 
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