38-456: Howdon is a largely residential area in the eastern part of Wallsend , Tyne and Wear , England . It consists of High Howdon and the smaller settlement of East Howdon . Much of the High Howdon area was formerly called Willington prior to post-World War II urbanisation. The North Tyneside ward population at the 2011 Census was 11,129. Howdon is an industrial settlement on the north bank of
76-538: A TV studio: productions from there include the hit ITV drama Vera starring Brenda Blethyn and Inspector George Gently starring Martin Shaw . Much of Wallsend's early industry was driven by coal mining. The Wallsend Colliery consisted of seven pits which were active between 1778 and 1935. In the 1820s the pits became incorporated as Russell's Colliery, which then became the Wallsend and Hebburn Coal Company Ltd. By 1924
114-703: 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). Two key roads serve North Tyneside: 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
152-419: A large percentage of former council properties becoming privately owned. Apart from the railway, High Howdon was separated from the industry of Willington Quay by Howdon Park, that featured tennis courts, bowling greens, a children's play area (including a paddling pool) and flower beds. This fell into disarray but was partly restored, due to pressure from the local community, during the 1990s. Early education
190-478: A population of 43,826 compared with 42,842 in the previous census. In Wallsend, 4.9% of the population is non-white British, which is the same as the surrounding borough. It also has the same percentage of Asian people, but has slightly more black people. Wallsend is the second least ethnically diverse major urban subdivision in Tyneside and has a larger percentage of white British people compared with Tynemouth which
228-399: A small library, and shops along Tynemouth Road and at the southern end of Churchill Street. Close to the library was a set of dwellings that were once used to house police officers and their families. It also once functioned as a police station. A former maternity hospital, named Willington Quay Maternity Hospital, was closed in the 1970s. Before World War II, the north end of Churchill Street
266-556: A time of peace and progress. This time of peace came to an abrupt end in 794 when the Danes (or Vikings ) swarmed up the Tyne in great numbers. In the years before the Norman conquest there was a struggle for mastery between Danes and Angles. Several urban sanitary districts were formed in the parish in the late 19th century: Willington Quay , Howdon and Wallsend itself. The first two joined to form
304-495: A very close community feel with one local restaurant, two social clubs and a community centre all belonging to three streets. High Howdon is served by Howdon Metro station on the Tyne and Wear Metro . This station replaced the original one from the Newcastle & North Shields Railway of 1839, which was demolished. The footbridge was preserved at Goathland railway station (a similar bridge from Percy Main station can be found in
342-519: Is also hometown and birthplace to internationally successful musician Sting , whose song All This Time refers to the Roman wall and fort. The musical The Last Ship , composed and written by Sting, is set in Wallsend. Wallsend Town Hall , a large Edwardian Baroque style building in High Street East, was completed in 1908. In dedication to its Roman heritage, Wallsend's historic name Segedunum
380-400: Is also slightly larger in population. However it has more ethnic minorities than Jarrow , which is south of the river Tyne. North Tyneside 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
418-533: Is believed to have been an attempt to prevent inhalation of the gas which eventually killed them. The bodies were extracted and buried in St Peter's churchyard at the top of the bank overlooking the Wallsend Burn. A plaque has been erected within the churchyard to commemorate this tragedy. The town has expanded greatly in terms of housing since the end of World War II, and since the 1960s. Wallsend Town Centre—including
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#1732855557648456-534: 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 . The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the county borough of Tynemouth , with
494-554: 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 . North Tyneside lies in the coalfield that covers the South-East of the historic county of Northumberland. It has traditionally been
532-417: 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. Unlike 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
570-549: Is planned with many improvements such as a skate and BMX park, better pathways, and a rebuilding of the Duffy Memorial Fountain. On Rheydt Avenue in Wallsend is Centurion Park Golf Club, previously named Wallsend Golf Club. It has 18 holes and a driving range. The town is home to Wallsend Boys Club , which has produced many famous football players such as Alan Shearer , Lee Clark , Steve Watson , Peter Beardsley , Robbie Elliott , Mick Tait and Michael Carrick . It
608-524: Is provided by Denbigh Community Primary School, St. Aidan's RC Primary School (formerly Holy Cross RC Primary School) and Stephenson Memorial Primary School. The local high school is Churchill Community College . Formerly known as Willington High School, it was built on derelict land in Churchill Street in the 1960s. A Community Centre was founded on the site of the former Willington Middle School on Denbigh Avenue. Other amenities in High Howdon include
646-618: Is retold in the movie The Red Tent , starring Sean Connery and Peter Finch . Charles Parsons launched his revolutionary Turbinia here in 1894, thus not only revolutionising the navies of the world, but also, through the large-scale production of affordable electricity, making a significant contribution to the modern age. He features in a BBC film called The Inventor of the Twentieth Century . Russian novelist Yevgeny Zamyatin worked at Swan Hunter in 1916–17, and used it as background for his great anti-utopian work We which
684-526: Is shown in many places in the town, and signs with Latin wordings can also be found. Wallsend Metro Station has some signs in English and Latin. Such translations tend to amuse, with contrasts between today's and ancient times. Segedunum Roman Fort Museum has displays on Roman history as well as reconstructions of a bath house and a section of the Roman Wall which once stood on the site. In 2011, Wallsend had
722-663: Is the High Street. To the north of this street is Wallsend Green, the town's most picturesque area, consisting of large houses as well as the Sir G B Hunter Memorial Hospital , surrounding a green square. Behind the Green, where the Burn runs through the parkland of the Hall Grounds lies Wallsend Park, a traditional British municipal park, whose restoration has frequently been demanded by local residents and
760-542: The Labour Party . She was most recently elected on 6 May 2021. 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. North Tyneside is part of the North East Mayoral Combined Authority , which
798-619: The National Railway Museum in York). Wallsend Wallsend ( / ˌ w ɔː l z ˈ ɛ n d / ) is a town in North Tyneside , Tyne and Wear , England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall . It has a population of 43,842 and lies 4 miles (6.5 kilometres) east of Newcastle upon Tyne . In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum . This fort protected the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall , which did not terminate at
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#1732855557648836-724: The RMS Mauretania . This express liner held the Blue Riband , for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic , for 22 years. Other famous ships included the RMS Carpathia which rescued the survivors from the Titanic in 1912, and the icebreaker Krasin (launched as Sviatogor ) which rescued the Umberto Nobile expedition on Spitzbergen in 1928, when Roald Amundsen perished. The story
874-476: The 1990s to make way for low-lying housing. The area is bordered by the areas of Rosehill and Holy Cross to the west, Hadrian Park and New York to the north and North Shields and Percy Main to the east, as well as Willington Quay to the south. There is also a small community suburb called East Howdon, which is located between Percy Main and the Tyne River. Since being bypassed it is quite isolated. As such it has
912-644: The Angles, sailing from near the mouth of the River Elbe with frequent raids both from sea and from land. Ida the Saxon laid waste to the whole of the north in 547 and Wallsend doubtless suffered in the general devastation. It was not until the golden age of Northumberland under Edwin of Northumbria , and the subsequent introduction of the Christian faith by King Oswald of Northumbria (635-642) and St Aidan , that Wallsend enjoyed
950-679: The Nativity and the Shepherds (1919); Angel of the Resurrection with St George and St Christopher (1921); Our Lord walking on water (1921); and a window by Ethel Rhind , also of An Túr Gloine, depicting The Good Shepherd, Mary of Bethany, David (1921). Wallsend has a history of shipbuilding and was the home of the Wigham Richardson shipyard, which later amalgamated to form Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson , probably best known for building
988-565: The River Tyne estuary, to the north of Howdon Pans (a Tyne water feature) and to the north-east of Willington Quay . In the mid-nineteenth century, it consisted of Old Howdon Pit situated on what is now the northern toll area of the Tyne Tunnel ; and to the east, Howdon Bank Top, nowadays given the appellation East Howdon. A separate area, High Howdon was built after the Second World War , as
1026-469: The River Tyne. To the east of the Burn is the old area of Holy Cross, which contains the ruins of a medieval church, the pre-war estate of Rosehill and the mainly post-war estate of Howdon. To the south of Howdon lies Willington Quay which, as its name suggests, once served shipping but which is now dominated by industry and housing. East Howdon forms a small enclave between Willington Quay and North Shields. The town's principal thoroughfare and shopping street
1064-729: The Willington Quay urban district under the Local Government Act 1894 , with the portion of the parish outside any urban sanitary district forming the parish of Willington in Tynemouth Rural District . Wallsend was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1901, and in 1910 took over Willington Quay and Willington, and also part of the parish of Longbenton . St Peter's church ( Church of England ) has four fine stained glass windows by Michael Healy of An Túr Gloine : St Patrick, St Peter and St Luke (1913); Our Lord with
1102-612: 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. There is an international ferry terminal at Royal Quays in North Shields, with a service to Amsterdam ( IJmuiden ). Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC North East and Cumbria and ITV Tyne Tees . Television signals are received from
1140-589: 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. The following places are located in North Tyneside: North Tyneside is split by the A19 : the west of the borough is more urban, and
1178-508: The colliery employed 2,183 people. Its most prominent manager was mining and railway engineer John Buddle who helped develop the Davy Lamp . Between 1767 and 1925 there were 11 major incidents recorded at the colliery resulting in over 209 deaths. On 18 June 1835 a gas explosion in one of the tunnels killed 102 miners, the youngest of whom was aged eight and the oldest 75. Many of the dead were found with their cloth caps in their mouths. This
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1216-414: The consequence of a drive for improved, low-cost housing for working-class families. This housing was mainly in the public sector, being owned and maintained by the local council. It was built on what had been agricultural land to the north of the main railway line (from Newcastle to Tynemouth) that was to separate the new council housing from the earlier Howdon Pit, Pans and Hill Top sites locations, and from
1254-475: The main shopping area known as the "Wallsend Forum"—is in fact to the west of the land covered by the town. To the north of this area lies the older estate of High Farm and the new estate of Hadrian Lodge. The town centre of Wallsend is separated from the eastern areas of the town by the Wallsend Burn, a stream running through a small glacial valley from north-west to south-east and through the Willington Gut into
1292-464: The older, industrial area of Willington Quay, where a great deal of housing had either been destroyed by wartime bombing, or by programmes of slum clearance . Although most of the housing in High Howdon belonged to the local council, a number of privately owned and rented properties always existed in the centre of the area. Since right-to-buy legislation was introduced in the 1980s, many former council tenants have bought their homes, which has resulted in
1330-596: 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
1368-624: The western wall of the fort, but continued from its south-eastern corner down to the shore of the River Tyne . As David Breeze writes, "In the early nineteenth century, as recorded by Bruce , John Buddle the Younger had often seen the Wall foundations extending far into the river when swimming there as a boy." The withdrawal of the Romans from the Wall immediately brought the Picts from the north and shortly afterwards
1406-557: Was a major influence on George Orwell 's Nineteen Eighty-Four . World War II ships built here include HMS Sheffield and HMS Victorious which took part in the sinking of the Bismarck . Other ships built there include the new HMS Ark Royal in the 1980s. The shipyard closed in 2007. The musical The Last Ship by Sting is set in the shipyard. The former Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Company Shipyard continues to operate, constructing offshore oil rigs and as
1444-561: Was divided between colliery and agricultural land. During WW2, a secret military installation was said to exist in this area. Later, the Willington Square flats (known locally as the "14 storeys" or "14ers") were built here. These three tower blocks became a Tyneside landmark, and were featured in the film version of the BBC sitcom Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? . They were demolished in
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