Morton Palms

Ann Heron was a British woman who was murdered on 3 August 1990 at her home in Darlington, County Durham, by an unidentified killer. The case was heavily featured in British media as well as on the BBC programme Crimewatch in October 1990, but her murder remains unsolved. Her husband, who was having an affair at the time, was charged with the murder in 2005 after his semen was found in samples taken from Heron's throat, but the case was subsequently dropped due to lack of evidence. He claims he has an alibi but police feel he cannot adequately account for his movements for the crucial part of the day. He remains a suspect in the case.In 2020 a self-proclaimed investigator claimed that Michael Benson, an escaped prisoner who was on the run in Hampshire at the time, was a possible suspect. Jen Jarvie had watched the October 1990 edition of Crimewatch that featured Heron's murder and then watched the following month's edition, concluding that one of the criminals featured fitted her profile of the killer. However, Durham Constabulary investigated the alleged links to Benson and found there was no evidence to place Benson in the area at the time of the murder, and also revealed that they were "all but certain" he was living abroad at the time of the attack. Durham Constabulary eliminated Benson from their enquiries, concluding that he "is not and never has been a suspect".

The Brick Train is a brick sculpture located on the outskirts of the town of Darlington, in the English county of Durham. The sculpture was created by David Mach in 1997 to celebrate the town's railway heritage, and is modelled on the steam locomotive Mallard, which set a UK rail speed record of 126 miles per hour (203 km/h) in 1938. The locomotive is depicted as if just having exited a tunnel, with the billowing smoke typical of such an exit.The sculpture is situated adjacent to Morrisons supermarket in the Morton Park shopping area to the east of Darlington town and in the civil parish of Morton Palms. A total of 185,000 Accrington Nori bricks were used in the sculpture's construction, and it is 7 metres (23 ft) high and 29 metres (95 ft) long, covering an area of 600 square metres (6,500 sq ft). It is hollow inside and special bricks provide gaps that enable bats to fly inside and roost. The sculpture is visible from the nearby A66 road, and was officially unveiled by Lord Palumbo of Walbrook on 23 June 1997.The work cost £760,000, which was provided by the National Lottery Heritage Fund along with smaller contributions from Darlington Borough Council, Northern Arts and Morrisons.

Fighting Cocks railway station was a railway station on the original route of the Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR), which served the villages of Middleton St George and Low Dinsdale in County Durham, as well as the once popular Dinsdale Spa Hotel from 1829.

Dinsdale is a railway station on the Tees Valley Line, which runs between Bishop Auckland and Saltburn via Darlington. The station, situated 3 miles 65 chains (6.1 km) east of Darlington, serves the village of Middleton St George, Darlington in County Durham, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

Neasham Fen is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Darlington district of County Durham, England. It lies on the floodplain of the River Tees, 5.2 km south-east of Darlington. Neasham Fen is a small in-filled kettle hole. Analysis of the deposits at the site has provided an important record of the vegetational history and changing climate of the area during the Flandrian period. Radiocarbon dates of between 9082±90 and 1213±60 yr BP have been obtained from the deposits, which have also yielded pollen records covering the same period.

Lingfield Point is a 107-acre (0.43 km2) business park in Darlington, County Durham created on a historic industrial site previously home to Europe's largest wool manufacturing plant developed by Patons & Baldwins.

Middleton St George is a large village and civil parish in the borough of Darlington and the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is situated approximately 3.5 miles (5.6 km) east of Darlington. According to the 2011 UK Census the population was 3,779, including Middleton One Row, Low Middleton and Oak Tree. It has grown rapidly since the mid-1990s, becoming a commuter area for Darlington. The population of the Darlington ward in question again taken at the 2011 Census was 4,650.

Dinsdale Park is a 19th-century mansion and former Spa hotel at Low Dinsdale, near Darlington, County Durham, England now converted into residential apartments. It is a Grade II listed building. Low Dinsdale Manor estate, anciently the seat of the Surtees family, was acquired by John Lambton of Lambton in 1770. In 1789, during drilling for coal, a natural spring of sulphurated mineral water was discovered on the northern bank of the River Tees at Dinsdale. The first Spa was established there in 1797. In 1829 John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham built the Dinsdale Spa Hotel on his estate to a design by architect Ignatius Bonomi. The three storey seven bayed mansion provided accommodation for seventy visitors. The business was not greatly successful and the property was sold for residential use, together with the manor, in 1844 to Henry George Surtees (High Sheriff of Durham) a descendant of the ancient family. Following the sale of the property in 1914 by Aubone Surtees, the building has had various uses, including a psychiatric hospital, a local authority residential school and a nursing home. The grounds were laid out as a golf course and more recently the building has been converted into residential apartments.

Great Burdon is a village in the borough of Darlington and the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is situated to the north-east of Darlington.

Sadberge () is a village in County Durham, England, situated between Darlington and Stockton-on-Tees. It is administered as part of the borough of Darlington.

Haughton-le-Skerne is a village in the borough of Darlington in the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is situated in the north east of Darlington. The village lies to the west of the River Skerne. At the centre of the village green, is the main road towards Darlington town centre going across the river, south of the church. There used to be a linen mill on the riverbank on the east side of the village. Part of the mill leat can still be seen today. St Andrew's Church at the west end of the village green is the oldest church in Darlington, circa 1125. Some of the stones may have originated in a previous church on the same site. Parts of the existing rectory have monastic ruins built into the foundation and some inner walls, speculated to be evidence of an earlier building on this site. On the north side of Haughton-le-Skerne, a turnpike led over the river to the ports on the Tees estuary, carrying traffic including salt from the Bishop's salt mines. Haughton-le-Skerne is now connected to a large suburb of Darlington, with areas including Springfield and Whinfield. The community was referred to in the ITV series Downton Abbey as it was the location where Mrs. Beryl Patmore (Lesley Nicol) would find a cottage which would serve as a boarding house, and when she retired, would serve as her home for her retirement days. John Wrightson (1840-1916), founder of Downton Agricultural College and great grandfather of Downton writer Julian Fellowes was born in the village.

Middleton One Row is a village in the borough of Darlington and the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is situated approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) south east of Darlington. The village was originally developed as a spa resort in the late 18th century with properties developed on one row, overlooking the banks of the River Tees.