North Tyneside is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It forms part of the greater Tyneside conurbation. North Tyneside Council is headquartered at Cobalt Park, Wallsend.
North Tyneside is bordered by Newcastle upon Tyne to the west, the North Sea to the east, the River Tyne to the south and Northumberland to the north. Within its bounds are the towns of Wallsend, North Shields, Killingworth, Tynemouth and Whitley Bay, which form a continuously built-up area contiguous with Newcastle upon Tyne.
History
editThe borough was formed on 1 April 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, all of which were in Northumberland. Killingworth was built as a new town in the 1960s and became part of North Tyneside.
Geography
editThe following places are located in North Tyneside:
- Annitsford
- Backworth
- Battle Hill
- Benton
- Burradon
- Camperdown
- Cullercoats
- Dudley
- Earsdon
- Forest Hall
- Holystone
- Howdon
- Killingworth
- Longbenton
- Meadow Well
- Monkseaton
- Moorside
- Murton
- New York
- North Shields
- Northumberland Park
- Palmersville
- Percy Main
- Preston
- Seaton Burn
- Shiremoor
- Tynemouth
- Wallsend
- Wellfield
- West Allotment
- West Moor
- Whitley Bay
- Willington Quay
North Tyneside is split by the A19: the west of the borough is more urban, and is mostly contiguous with the city of Newcastle. The towns in the east of the borough are more separate from the central part of the Newcastle urban area. Many of the most affluent neighbourhoods in Tyne and Wear are found in the coastal part of the borough.
Governance
editUnlike most English districts, North Tyneside Council is led by a directly elected mayor; since May 2013, this post has been held by Norma Redfearn of the Labour Party. She was most recently elected on 6 May 2021.[5]
The council has sixty elected members, three from each of the twenty wards in the borough. Elections are staggered into thirds, with one councillor from each ward elected each year for three consecutive years, and the mayoral election held on the fourth year.[6]
North Tyneside is part of the North East Mayoral Combined Authority, which is chaired by the directly elected Mayor of the North East; there are therefore two directly elected mayors covering North Tyneside. The combined authority was established in 2024 covering North Tyneside, County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Sunderland.[7]
Economy
editNorth 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, 5.1% compared to 3.7% for the UK in 2022).[8]
Transport
editTwo 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 and Wear Metro on a loop from Newcastle through Wallsend, North Shields, Whitley Bay, Benton and back to Newcastle. Trains operate at least every 15 minutes, with extra services in the peak hours. Most of the stations serving North Tyneside fall into fare zones B and C.
There are no National Rail stations in the borough, despite the East Coast Main Line and Blyth and Tyne routes passing through. The nearest National Rail station is Newcastle, which is also served by the Tyne & Wear Metro.
North Tyneside has an extensive bus network, with most areas benefiting from direct services to Newcastle. Many areas have direct bus services to Cramlington, Blyth or Morpeth. The principle bus operators in the area are Arriva North East (all areas), Go North East (most areas) and Stagecoach in Newcastle (Benton, Forest Hall, Killingworth and Wallsend).
The Shields Ferry links North Shields to South Shields, in South Tyneside.[9]
There is an international ferry terminal at Royal Quays in North Shields, with a service to Amsterdam (IJmuiden).[10]
Places of interest
edit- 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
- North Tyneside includes coastline covering Tynemouth, Cullercoats and Whitley Bay
- Blue Reef Aquarium in Tynemouth
- St. Mary's Island in Whitley Bay
- North Shields Fish Quay, Clifford's Fort and the High and Low Lights of North Shields
Media
editLocal news and television programmes are provided by BBC North East and Cumbria and ITV Tyne Tees. Television signals are received from the Pontop Pike TV transmitter [11]
Radio
editRadio stations that broadcast to the area are:
- Heart North East
- Capital North East
- Smooth Radio North East
- Greatest Hits Radio North East
- Metro Radio
Newspapers
editThe area is served by the local newspaper, Evening Chronicle.
Twinned towns
editNorth Tyneside is twinned with:
- Oer-Erkenschwick in Germany[12]
- Halluin in France[13]
Freedom of the Borough
editThe following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of North Tyneside.
Individuals
editMilitary Units
edit- 216 squadron (Tyne/Tees) Squadron Royal Corps of Transport (Volunteers) now 216 Tynemouth Squadron RLC. 23 February 1972.
- Royal British Legion (Whitley Bay and Forest Hall Branches): 15 October 2009.[16][17]
- 2344 (Longbenton) Squadron Air Training Corps: 16 December 2014.[18]
References
edit- ^ "Your representatives". North Tyneside Council. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
- ^ "Mid-Year Population Estimates, UK, June 2022". Office for National Statistics. 26 March 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
- ^ "Mid-Year Population Estimates, UK, June 2022". Office for National Statistics. 26 March 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
- ^ a b UK Census (2021). "2021 Census Area Profile – North Tyneside Local Authority (E08000022)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
- ^ "Mayoral Election Results". North Tyneside Council. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
- ^ "Types of Elections". North Tyneside Council. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
- ^ "The North East Mayoral Combined County Authority (Establishment and Functions) Order 2024", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2024/402, retrieved 6 May 2024
- ^ "Labour Market Profile - Nomis - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics".
- ^ "Ferry - Nexus Tyne and Wear". Nexus. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
The Shields Ferry operates a daily passenger service across the river Tyne which connects the local communities of North and South Shields.
- ^ "Newcastle ferry". Direct Ferries. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
The Newcastle to Amsterdam ferry route is operated by DFDS Seaways and the sailing itself is from around 15 hours 30 minutes.
- ^ "Full Freeview on the Pontop Pike (County Durham, England) transmitter". UK Free TV. 1 May 2004. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
- ^ "Stadt Oer-Erkenschwick - Städtepartnerschaften". Retrieved 5 June 2021.
Oer-Erkenschwick - Twin Towns.
- ^ "Halluin à l'international". Retrieved 5 June 2021.
Halluin Twintowns.
- ^ "Music icon Sting to receive Freedom of the Borough of North Tyneside". ITV. 8 November 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
- ^ "Sting receives freedom of North Tyneside after 13-year wait". BBC North East. 9 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
- ^ http://www.northtyneside.gov.uk/ntsp/browse-display.shtml?p_ID=509805&p_subjectCategory=23 [permanent dead link]
- ^ "Rugby star honoured with Freedom of the Borough". North Tyneside Borough Council. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
- ^ "Council Bestows Freedom of the Borough to Longbenton Air Cadets! – 2344 (Longbenton) Squadron". 2344.org.uk.