North Tyneside
North Tyneside is a
metropolitan borough in the
North East of
England, part of the
Tyne and Wear urban area centred on
Newcastle and formerly part of
Northumberland. The local council is
North Tyneside Council.
Location
North Tyneside is bounded by Newcastle to the East, the river
Tyne to the South and
Northumberland to the North. The main towns are
Wallsend,
North Shields and
Whitley Bay, which form a continuously built-up area contiguous with Newcastle. Other places in North Tyneside include:
*
Backworth*
Benton*
Cullercoats*
Killingworth*
New York*
Seaton Burn*
ShiremoorAdministration
see North Tyneside CouncilUnlike most English districts, its council is led by a
directly-elected mayor, currently
John Harrison.
History
The borough was formed on
April 1,
1974 by the merger of the
county borough of
Tynemouth, with the borough of
Wallsend, part of the borough of
Whitley Bay, the
urban district of
Longbenton and part of the urban district of
Seaton Valley.
Economy
North Tyneside lies in the coalfield that covers the South-East of the historic county of Northumberland. It has traditionally been a centre of heavy industry along with the rest of Tyneside, with for example the
Swan Hunter shipyard in Wallsend, and export of coal. Today most of the heavy industry has gone, leaving high unemployment in some areas (over the borough, 3.2% compared to 2.7% for the UK). The borough is the 69th most deprived in England, out of 354. However some parts function as relatively wealthy dormitory suburbs of Newcastle. Recent growth has come in the A19 corridor with new industrial estates and retail parks.
Transport
Two key roads serve North Tyneside:
*The
A19 which leaves the
A1 north of Newcastle and runs through the borough and then through the
Tyne Tunnel to
South Tyneside,
Teesside and towards the South.
*The
Coast Road (A1058) runs from Newcastle to the coast. For most of its length it is grade-separated.
North Tyneside is served by 17 stations on the
Tyne & Wear Metro on a loop from Newcastle through Wallsend, North Shields, Whitley Bay, Benton and back to Newcastle. There are no
National Rail stations in the borough.
The
Shields Ferry links North Shields to
South Shields, in South Tyneside.
There is an international ferry terminal at
Royal Quays in North Shields, with services to
Norway,
Sweden and the
Netherlands.
Places of Interest
*
Segedunum Roman fort is in Wallsend (at the end of
Hadrian's wall).
*The
Stephenson Railway Museum in
New York, named after George Stephenson and Robert Stephenson who hailed from Tyneside and lived in
West Moor in North Tyneside 1802-1824.
*
Tynemouth Castle and Priory
