Our Society was founded in 1968 as the result of a conversation between Barry Harrison, a university lecturer’ and Tom Sowler, the Stockton historian, so naturally we are looking forward to celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 2025.
At the moment, we are working in partnership with the Friends of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in planning a prize essay competition We are looking for essays based on original research on any subject connected to the history of the Stockton & Darlington Railway up to 1863, including its impact beyond that date. It can be about people, technology, events, archival research – the choice is yours. The final date for entering this competition will be 31st August 2025 so there’s plenty of time for research and writing.
A sizeable cash prize will be provided jointly by Cleveland & Teesside Local History Society and The Friends of the Stockton & Darlington Railway.
The winning essay will be published by Cleveland & Teesside Local History Society and The Friends of the Stockton & Darlington Railway.
Essays that do not win the prize but which are deemed to be of sufficient merit may also be published.
General Guidance
The resulting papers must be factual, not fictional, and based on original research by the author(s). If you are interested in writing fictional work, then do enter the Write on Track competition; details elsewhere in this Globe.
We are looking for papers that add to our historical knowledge and understanding of the S&DR. We are looking for fully referenced work with a bibliography and illustrations if relevant. Papers should be no more than 10,000 words including the bibliography but they can be a lot less.
Dates
31 August 2025: Final Date for Submission of Essays
31 October 2025: Announcement of winner and subsequent publication
COMPETITION RULES
Cleveland and Teesside Local History Society and the Friends of the Stockton & Darlington Railway are collaborating in offering an S&DR 200 Research Prize Competition for original research into the S&DR. Entries are governed by the following rules:-
- Submissions must be received on or before 31st August 2025. Late entries may be disqualified at the discretion of the judges.
- Entries may be singly or multiply authored but must be original work.
- No author may submit or jointly submit more than one entry.
- Submissions must be in Word format, via email.
- The original research can be on any subject connected to the history of the Stockton & Darlington Railway up to 1863, including its impact beyond that date.
- Entries must include references, footnotes/endnotes and a bibliography.
- Entries must not exceed 10,000 words including the bibliography. Entries much shorter than 10,000 words are welcome – the focus is on originality and quality.
- Any images used in the submission should be appropriately acknowledged and consents obtained for reproduction.
- The winning entry will be published in Cleveland History and The Globe. Further entries of suitable quality may also be published. However, if there are several good submissions, a separate publication may be printed containing all of them, at the discretion of the two organisations.
- There is no right of appeal, but the judges will consult their organisation’s committees in the event of difficult decisions.
- A clear winning entry may attract the full amount of prize money of £1,000, but if there is more than one entry of similar quality, the judges reserve the right to divide the prize money appropriately. There will be no negotiation or discussion with entrants.
- The judges will, if necessary, use plagiarism-detecting software and check for evidence of AI-generated work, which is not permitted.
- Any images used in the submission should be appropriately acknowledged and consents obtained for reproduction.
- Winner(s) will be announced on 31st October 2025
If you have any questions concerning the rules, do not hesitate to seek advice from one of the joint editors:-
Caroline Hardie, editor of The Globe: caroline@aenvironment.co.uk
John Little, editor of Cleveland History: jklittle@btinternet.com
