A crowd of about 500 cheered loudly as Alfonso XIII, the King of Spain, stepped from the 10.03 p.m. train onto Bank Top platform. A further 500 were noisily awaiting him at the Imperial Hotel, in Grange Road. ‘As he stepped out of his car and heard the cheering, he took off his hat and waved a greeting to the crowd,’ reported The Northern Echo. ‘A woman standing near the door shouted “cheerio”, and very softly the king answered: “Same to you”.’
The next morning, hundreds lined the streets and Spanish flags flew from the chimneys as he was driven to Darlington Forge, on Albert Hill, for a mystery visit. The Echo declared that ‘no one supposes that King Alfonso is going to spend seven hours in the works for the good of his health’.
He spent all day apparently fascinated by a new casting process devised by a French engineer, Sgr Bernardini. ‘The king talked fluently in English in a slightly foreign accent, and showed an extensive knowledge of metallurgical processes,’ said the paper. He was ‘loath to leave’, but the 5.30 p.m. express was waiting for him. The Echo continued: ‘He was given a memento of his visit in the shape of a steel ashtray cast from the steel which he had seen in liquid form passing from the converter in the small casting shop.’
(‘Memories’, The Northern Echo, 2013)