Preston Hall

Likely to be the only fine day of the half term holiday so it was a family outing to Preston Park, last visited some years ago, and Preston Hall, even longer neglected and now a much more interesting museum with well interpreted exhibits linking to Stockton’s heritage; these include three items from the “History of the North East in 100 Objects” collection, including some of John Walker’s friction matches, and much about one-time Preston Hall owner Robert Ropner who left his native Prussia as a young man to sail the world but, suffering from sea-sickness, got off at Hartlepool and eventually became a shipbuilding magnate and local philanthropist.