As you travel across the Britannia Bridge by train, you can't help but notice the four stone lions, a pair located on each corner of the bridge.

The beasts were created in 1848 by Victorian sculptor John Thomas (1813 – 1862). These feline sentinels were created from limestone are about 25ft (8m) long and weigh in the region of 8 tons each.

Local poet John Evans (1826 - 1888) immortalised these lions with his verse.

Pedwar llew tew
Heb ddim blew
Dau 'rochr yma
A dau 'rochr drew

Four fat lions
Without any hair
Two on this side
And two over there

The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) North East helped children from across the region to learn about structural engineering and railway signalling during a week of activity at Locomotion: The National Railway Museum at Shildon.

The sessions, run by volunteers from the Institution of Civil Engineers, ran in parallel with an exhibition of photographs and artefacts organised by the Robert Stephenson Trust, to mark the 150th anniversary of the death of Robert Stephenson, one of the world’s leading railway engineers.

Youngsters learned about the old-style railway signals and how they were used, then were helped to make models using paper tubes.

Mike Gardiner, education co-ordinator for ICE North East, commented: “Semaphore railway signals are not very common nowadays so most of the children had no idea when they arrived about what it was they were being asked to make.

“Fortuitously, however, there was such a signal on the Darlington to Bishop Auckland line immediately outside where they were working. They all seemed to enjoy the experience and each youngster went away with his or her model.  In all, we probably made enough signals to cover the line from Darlington to Newcastle!”

Later this year, celebrations will take place in Berwick to mark the 160th anniversary of the opening of the Royal Border Bridge, another Robert Stephenson structure.

The Trust's exhibition at Wylam Scoutrail is reported in the Hexham Courant