The Wooden Dog Heads of the Stores

The Stores contain a veritable treasure trove of railway artefacts and oddities, from model locomotives to fine crested China, and everything in between. However, seemingly far from the theme of railways, sits a trio of carved wooden dog heads...

If you've visited The Stores before, you may well have spotted these delightful busts, and you'd have no doubt wondered what they were and why they're within our collection. Thankfully, unlike the fourth head that whose location is purported to be a mystery, we can share more information.

Before joining our collection, this charming trio (plus their missing member) could be found on Blackwellgate lording over the streets atop Sydney Wood's Tudor-façade photography gallery and studio in 1911. While Wood was one of the country's most esteemed photographers of his time, he eventually sold his building to Darlington Borough Council, who in turn sold to Binns.

It was during this purchase that the three carvings came into the possession of the council, who elected to have them displayed in Tubwell Museum. Upon its closure, they again were moved to Head of Steam Museum, which opened in 1975 and became Hopetown Darlington in 2024.

Armed with knowledge of their journey, we should turn our attention to their creator. They were actually a commission piece requested by Wood of Ralph Hedley, a north east born artist renowned for his work at capturing the magic in the banal. Boasting a repertoire of over 500 paintings, many of which are on display in art galleries across the country, his work was invaluable in displaying the everyday life of the average person - a story that would usually go untold by most artists. 

Now these three heads are on public display, available for anyone to see for free in The Stores.