Lizzie Lovejoy poem for S&DR200

Darlington poet creates new poem created by train passenger memories.

The S&DR200 Festival programme was announced at an event at Darlington Hippodrome on 19 September 2024.

During the event Darlington poet Lizzie Lovejoy performed a poem that she had written that morning. The poem was created by collecting memories from fellow passengers as Lizzie travelled on the LNER 08.30 service from London Kings Cross to Darlington for the event.

World by Rails

The LNER Journey Poem 19 September 2024

We get on board
To find both places unexplored
And places adored
For hundreds of years.
We embrace our fears
Of the unknown
And pass through patchwork fields overgrown.

We went everywhere, not content
'Till we crossed continents,
Collecting tales
From the rails
While meeting new people
For philosophical
chats
Or just looking at pictures of their cats
Or finding a politician
Who helps you make a decision
About your career when torn with indecision.

We fell asleep in one country, woke up in another.
There is so much to discover
On route from Berwick to Edinburgh.
We could watch these views forever.

Grand central station in New York City
With Dazzling Lights, so pretty,
Off to Naples in Italy,
But normally
We are simply
Commuting
Our train time spent contributing
To work with laptop typing,
Our minds always lighting
Up with stories.

These tracks hold so much glory
For me
As the cross the viaduct
And the conductor
Draws
Our attention
With their mention
Of Durham Cathedral on our left hand.

We saw so much, spontaneous and planned,
These memories spanned
For lifetimes as you look into the eyes of each wild
Child
Of yours, sticky fingers at the window
Gleefully watching the world go
By.

We took the Red train
In sunshine, mist and rain
To see the Alps in all their majesty.
The world is alive so magically
As the night
Ignites
With Northern Lights
In Scandinavia.
These views are our saviour!

Do you remember
The cold swim in November
After watching the water from the line?
I hold tight to each moment of mine,
So keep your moments in mind,
Like the sculpture, the Archer
And seeing the arches
Gothic and strong.
Remember when you were pulled along
By your favourite engine on your wedding day?
Remember screaming Hurray
In 2018
When England reached their semi-final dream
At the world cup?
Remember when no one would shut up
On the allegedly quieter carriage?

From football to marriage,
These railways manage
to keep all our history
As more than memory
While we follow the melody
Of the tracks
Clickty clack.

Stations that are just a bench, or Crystal Palace grand.
Laying on a sleeper train, or packed so tight you can hardly stand.
Station to station,
Changing your situation
By changing destination
With views of the sea and stars
And zooming cars
Close and far,
And I am so happy that we are
Here.

In Darlington.

Stockton to Darlington,
We carry on
Your traditions through lines that have shaped
Even how we travel to space.
In this place
The world has changed
In ways that cannot be reversed or re-arranged.

Thankyou for all of the words and stories
That you have so proudly placed before me.