51-599: QuayLink was a bus service in Tyne and Wear , England, which connected Gateshead and Newcastle upon Tyne , and later North Tyneside , with the Quayside . Funded by the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive , the service was launched on 22 July 2005. Operated initially by Stagecoach North East , the service was transferred to Go North East in July 2010 – later being operated commercially from July 2015, following budget cuts. QuayLink
102-661: A tax credits call centre for HMRC , and is the former home of Findus UK. The Government National Insurance Contributions Office in Longbenton, demolished and replaced in 2000, had a 1 mile (1.6 km) long corridor. Be-Ro and the Go-Ahead Group bus company are in central Newcastle. Nestlé use the former Rowntrees chocolate factory on the east of the A1. BAE Systems Land & Armaments in Scotswood , formerly Vickers-Armstrongs ,
153-553: A Tyneside unitary authority , again excluding Sunderland, which would have set up a separate East Durham unitary authority. The white paper that led to the Local Government Act 1972 proposed as "area 2" a metropolitan county including Newcastle and Sunderland, extending as far south down the coast as Seaham and Easington, and bordering "area 4" (which would become Tees Valley ). The Bill as presented in November 1971 pruned back
204-520: A cost in the region of £250,000 per vehicle. A prototype arrived in October 2004, subsequently touring across the country as a demonstration vehicle, until April 2005. Delivery of the remaining nine vehicles to the depot at Walkergate followed, after the completion of upgrades to the depot, necessary to receiving the new vehicles. The vehicles were substantially modified for operation in England , notably using
255-410: A diesel engine as an alternative charging system, with the modification planned to be completed on one vehicle on a trial basis, and evaluated in early 2009. The anticipated cost of modifying the whole fleet was estimated to cost around £200,000. Following contract changes in July 2010, the vehicles were withdrawn from service – aged just over five years old. They were later sold for scrap, with plans by
306-442: A leaf door design, over the plug design. Vehicles were dual-doored, with the middle door used only for wheelchair access. Initially, the vehicles were turbine-electric hybrids, in which the wheels were driven only by electric motors, powered by on-board battery packs. The batteries were charged overnight, and then re-charged while the bus was in operation by a liquid-fuelled turbine-generator and through regenerative braking . Even with
357-608: A population of 1.14 million in 2021. After Newcastle (300,125) the largest settlements are the city of Sunderland (the population of Sunderland, UK is estimated to be 347,000 in 2024), Gateshead (120,046), and South Shields (75,337). Nearly all of the county's settlements belong to either the Tyneside or Wearside conurbations, the latter of which also extends into County Durham. Tyne and Wear contains five metropolitan boroughs : Gateshead , Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland , North Tyneside and South Tyneside , all of which form part of
408-469: A proposed Tyne Quayside Link, as well as the manufacture of eight alternatively-fuelled buses. The proposed project, scheduled for launch in 2004, would cost £5 million – with £3 million coming from the local transport plan, £1 million from regeneration funds for Gateshead, and £1 million from Quayside developers. As well as new buses, the project involved the construction of a bus lane, and improvements to some bus stops, making them fully accessible. The brand
459-434: A scheme and the legislation of the time did not allow central government to compel one. Tyneside (excluding Sunderland ) was a special review area under the Local Government Act 1958 . The Local Government Commission for England came back with a recommendation to create a new county of Tyneside based on the review area, divided into four separate boroughs. This was not implemented. The Redcliffe-Maud Report proposed
510-463: A silver and green livery, and also serves Bensham and Saltwell Park . Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear ( / ˌ t aɪ n ... ˈ w ɪər / ) is a ceremonial county in North East England . It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne . The county is largely urbanised. It had
561-528: A total of 23 Optare Versa branded in the QuayLink livery. The vehicles have recently been upgraded to meet Euro 6 emissions standards , ahead of the introduction of Newcastle upon Tyne's Clean Air Zone in the coming months. Under Go North East, the service operated to the same routes and frequency as previously operated by Stagecoach North East. At the end of 2014, it was announced that Gateshead Council and Newcastle City Council would no longer fund QuayLink beyond
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#1732901533097612-587: A yellow and black livery. In September 2021, the Q1 and Q2 service was split, with the section in East Gateshead reverting to operate as circular services 51 and 52. Circular services VOLTRA 53 and 54 were altered to additionally serve the Quayside section of the former Q1 and Q2 routes, running up to every 12 minutes (Monday to Saturday). The service is operated by a fleet of nine fully-electric Yutong E10 buses, branded in
663-548: Is also an inter-urban line of belt helping to keep the districts of South Tyneside, Gateshead, and Sunderland separated. It was first drawn up from the 1950s. All the county's districts contain some portion of belt. Although Tyne and Wear County Council was abolished in 1986, several joint bodies exist to run certain services on a county-wide basis. Most notable is the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority , which co-ordinates transport policy. Through its passenger transport executive , known as Nexus , it owns and operates
714-575: Is home to the Biscuit Factory (open gallery), the Mushroom Works (open first weekend of the month), Testhouse 5 (appointment only), North Grange Glass (stained glass gallery and cafe), 36 Lime Street and Cobalt Studios. The Valley is also the home of Seven Stories , the national centre for children's books. The Ouseburn Trust remains a landlord and developer in the Valley, and seeks to involve people in
765-574: Is named and along which its major settlements developed. The county is also notable for its coastline to the North Sea in the east, which is characterised by tall limestone cliffs and wide beaches. In the late 600s and into the 700s Saint Bede lived as a monk at the monastery of St. Peter and of St. Paul writing histories of the Early Middle Ages including the Ecclesiastical History of
816-671: Is the main producer of British Army tanks such as the Challenger 2 . A Rolls-Royce apprentice training site is next door. Siemens Energy Service Fossil make steam turbines at the CA Parsons Works in South Heaton . Sir Charles Parsons invented the steam turbine in 1884, and developed an important local company. Domestos , a product whose main ingredient is sodium hypochlorite , was originated in Newcastle in 1929 by William Handley, and
867-586: Is the name of the valley of the Ouseburn , a small tributary of the River Tyne , running southwards through the east of Newcastle upon Tyne , England . The name refers particularly to the urbanised lower valley, spanned by three impressive bridges, which is nowadays a cultural and social oasis close to the centre of Newcastle. The lower Ouseburn was the cradle of the Industrial Revolution in Newcastle. There
918-886: Is the world's largest submersible robot. The car dealership Evans Halshaw is in Sunderland. The car factory owned by Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK between North Hylton and Washington is the largest in the UK. Grundfos , the world's leading pump manufacturer, builds pumps in Sunderland. Calsonic Kansei UK, formerly Magna , make automotive instrument panels and car trim at the Pennywell Industrial Estate. Gestamp UK make automotive components. Smith Electric Vehicles originated in Washington. The LG Electronics microwave oven factory opened in 1989, closed in May 2004, and later became
969-681: The Byker Viaduct carrying the Tyne and Wear Metro , and the Byker road bridge . Hadrian's Wall crossed the Ouseburn just to the south of the Byker road bridge, and is thought to have run through the site of the City Farm. No trace of the wall can now be seen above ground, though an illustrated information board can be seen at the eastern end of a new block of flats on the east side of the river, which were built on
1020-551: The North East Combined Authority , along with County Durham and Northumberland . The county was established in 1974 and was historically part of Northumberland and County Durham, with the River Tyne forming the border between the two. Its county council was abolished in 1986, but the county continues to exist. The most notable geographic features of the county are the River Tyne and River Wear , after which it
1071-507: The Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service and Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums , which was created from the merger of the Tyne and Wear Archives Service and Tyne and Wear Museums . These joint bodies are administered by representatives of all five of the constituent councils. In addition the Northumbria Police force covers Northumberland and Tyne and Wear. There have been occasional calls for Tyne and Wear to be abolished and
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#17329015330971122-640: The Tyne and Wear Metro light rail system, and the Shields ferry service and the Tyne Tunnel , linking communities on either side of the River Tyne. Also through Nexus, the authority subsidises socially necessary transport services (including taxis) and operates a concessionary fares scheme for the elderly and disabled. Nexus has been an executive body of the North East Joint Transport Committee since November 2018. Other joint bodies include
1173-461: The 1970s, have increasingly been utilised as creative workspaces by artists, musicians and performers. From 1996, a development trust (the Ouseburn Trust ), in partnership with the local authority, has led the area's regeneration as a cultural hotspot. This has been so successful that Ouseburn is now marketed as a trendy place to live. The area is now a hub for the arts and creative industries, and
1224-551: The 51 and 52 circular services. A new yellow and purple livery was introduced for the Q1 and Q2, with a yellow and green livery for the Q3. As of September 2021, the QuayLink brand was discontinued, with most of the previously allocated vehicles repainted and distributed across the Go North East fleet. Services now operate under the QuayCity and VOLTRA names. In December 2020, the Q3 service
1275-543: The English People . Roughly 150 years ago, in the village of Marsden in South Shields , Souter Lighthouse was built, the first electric structure of this type. The Local Government Act 1888 constituted Newcastle upon Tyne , Gateshead and Sunderland as county boroughs (Newcastle had " county corporate " status as the "County and Town of Newcastle upon Tyne" since 1400). Tynemouth joined them in 1904. Between
1326-544: The North Sea east of Newcastle and inland Durham in County Durham around 20 kilometres (12 mi) south-west of Sunderland. There are some clear differences between the stations temperature and precipitation patterns even though both have a cool-summer and mild-winter oceanic climate . Tyne and Wear contains green belt interspersed throughout the county, mainly on the fringes of the Tyneside / Wearside conurbation. There
1377-458: The Quayside, with stops at Theatre Royal , Grey Street and Guildhall . Initially, passenger numbers were low, with the routes carrying around 11,000 passengers each week. Ridership later increased, with one million passenger journeys having been made by May 2007. In September 2007, following the re-development of the Ouseburn Valley , service Q2 was extended east to St Peter's Basin. Prior to
1428-496: The Royal Commission, published in 1937, recommended the establishment of a Regional Council for Northumberland and Tyneside (to be called the "Northumberland Regional Council") to administer services that needed to be exercised over a wide area, with a second tier of smaller units for other local-government purposes. The second-tier units would form by amalgamating the various existing boroughs and districts. The county boroughs in
1479-447: The Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive to use them on other routes not coming to fruition. A partial service launched on 22 July 2005, with QuayLink operating as a free shuttle service, coinciding with the 2005 Tall Ships Race . Full service commenced on 29 July 2005, with two routes, operating at a ten minute frequency: Both routes combined on a short section between Grey Street and
1530-650: The Tyne in South Shields. Bellway plc houses is in Seaton Burn in North Tyneside . Cobalt Business Park , the largest office park in the UK, is at Wallsend , on the former site of Atmel , and is the home of North Tyneside Council. Swan Hunter until 2006 made ships in Wallsend, and still designs ships. Soil Machine Dynamics in Wallsend on the Tyne makes Remotely operated underwater vehicles , and its Ultra Trencher 1
1581-838: The Wear at Deptford . The outdoor clothing company Berghaus is in Castletown . Vaux Breweries , who owned Swallow Hotels , closed in 1999. ScS Sofas are on Borough Road. There are many call centres in Sunderland, notably EDF Energy at the Doxford International Business Park , which is also the home of the headquarters of the large international transport company Arriva and Nike UK . Rolls-Royce planned to move their production of fan and turbine discs to BAE Systems' new site in 2016. 54°58′26″N 1°36′48″W / 54.974°N 1.6132°W / 54.974; -1.6132 Ouseburn Valley The Ouseburn Valley
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1632-480: The area would lose their status. Within this area, a single municipality would be formed covering the four county boroughs of Newcastle, Gateshead, Tynemouth, South Shields and other urban districts and boroughs. A minority report proposed amalgamation of Newcastle, Gateshead, Wallsend, Jarrow, Felling, Gosforth, Hebburn and Newburn into a single "county borough of Newcastle-on-Tyneside". The 1937 proposals never came into operation: local authorities could not agree on
1683-560: The areas of local government north and south of the river Tyne from the sea to the boundary of the Rural District of Castle Ward and Hexham in the County of Northumberland and to the Western boundary of the County of Durham, to consider what changes, if any, should be made in the existing arrangements with a view to securing greater economy and efficiency, and to make recommendations. The report of
1734-466: The county boroughs, various other settlements also formed part of the administrative counties of Durham and of Northumberland . The need to reform local government on Tyneside was recognised by the government as early as 1935, when a Royal Commission to Investigate the Conditions of Local Government on Tyneside was appointed. The three commissioners were to: examine the system of local government in
1785-492: The end of the contract, due to finish in July 2015. Go North East opted to continue to operate the service on a commercial basis, with minimal funding from the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive, which itself would also end three years later. In late July 2015, Go North East relaunched QuayLink, with a new look and significant route changes: The relaunched services continued to use the existing QuayLink fleet, in addition to additional Optare Versa vehicles formerly used on
1836-556: The former fleet, as well as on-board next stop audio-visual information displays. In February 2015, operations were later transferred within the company, following the opening of the new Riverside depot in Dunston, Gateshead. Throughout 2017, the fleet was fitted with free on-board WiFi. Contactless payment was trialed on service Q3 in June 2017, and subsequently rolled out across the Go North East network soon thereafter. By March 2020, there were
1887-415: The heritage and regeneration of the area through its programme of free walks, talks and volunteering activities. The valley is home to a number of pubs known locally for live music and real ale , these include: There is a large variety of food available to suit most tastes: There are three high-level bridges that cross the valley in close proximity to each other. These are the Ouseburn railway Viaduct ,
1938-669: The re-awarding of the QuayLink contract by the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive, it was decided that the service should receive new vehicles, owing to the overall poor reliability of the existing fleet. In July 2010, Go North East was awarded the five-year contract to operate the services, with operations transferred to the company's Saltmeadows Road depot in Gateshead. The fleet consisted of nine Euro 5 diesel-powered Optare Versa vehicles, which entered service in August 2010. The vehicles provided increased seating capacity, when compared to
1989-411: The region's five unitary authorities were controlled by Labour in 2019. Newcastle and Sunderland are known for declaring their election results early on election night. Therefore, they frequently give the first indication of nationwide trends. An example of this was at the 2016 European Union referendum. Newcastle was the first large city to declare, and 50.6% of voters voted to Remain; this proportion
2040-646: The second largest in the UK market. Petards make surveillance equipment including ANPR cameras, and its Joyce-Loebl division makes electronic warfare systems and countermeasure dispensing systems such as the AN/ALE-47 . Sevcon , an international company formed from a part of Smith Electric, is a world leader in electric vehicle controls. AEI Cables and Komatsu UK construction equipment at Birtley. J. Barbour & Sons make outdoor clothing in Simonside , Jarrow. SAFT Batteries make primary lithium batteries on
2091-509: The site of the Tanfield Group . Goodyear Dunlop had their only UK car tyre factory next to the Tanfield site until its 2006 closure. BAE Systems Global Combat Systems moved to a new £75 million factory at the former Goodyear site in 2011, where they make large calibre ammunition for tanks and artillery. The government's child benefit office is in Washington. Liebherr build cranes next to
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2142-438: The southern edge of the area, and gave it the name "Tyneside". The name "Tyneside" proved controversial on Wearside , and a government amendment changed the name to "Tyne and Wear" at the request of Sunderland County Borough Council. Tyne and Wear either has or closely borders two official Met Office stations, neither located in one of the major urban centres. The locations for those are in marine Tynemouth where Tyne meets
2193-525: The traditional border between Northumberland and County Durham to be restored. Tyne and Wear is divided into 12 parliamentary constituencies . Historically, the area has been a Labour stronghold; South Shields is the only Parliamentary constituency that has never returned a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons since the Reform Act of 1832 . At the level of local government , all of
2244-414: The turbine running, the buses were credited with a markedly quiet ride, when compared to regular diesel-powered vehicles. By the end of 2008, the turbines were unable to keep the batteries charged for the whole day, leading to some instances of service cancellations, and vehicles being temporarily withdrawn from service. Stagecoach North East announced its intention to replace the turbine and generators with
2295-883: The two campuses of Northumbria University as well as the Newcastle University main campus. Offshore Group Newcastle make oil platforms . Sage Group , who produce accounting software , are based at Hazlerigg at the northern end of the Newcastle bypass. Northern Rock , which became a bank in 1997 and was taken over by Virgin Money in November 2011, and the Newcastle Building Society are based in Gosforth . The Gosforth-based bakery Greggs now has over 1,500 shops. The Balliol Business Park in Longbenton contains Procter & Gamble research and global business centres and
2346-576: Was a cluster of heavy crafts and industries in the area. Coal was brought from the Town Moor along the Victoria Tunnel , where the tidal nature of the Ouseburn allowed wherries – the local barges – to be loaded at low tide and pulled out to the collier brigs and snows waiting in the Tyne. The lower Ouseburn Valley had fallen into disuse and dereliction by the mid-twentieth century, but its industrial heritage had left many large buildings which, since
2397-439: Was designed as a frequent, high quality bus service, for the newly developed and expanding Quayside area. Despite being located a short distance from the town centre of Gateshead and city centre of Newcastle upon Tyne , the area was poorly served by public transport. In June 2002, both Gateshead Council and Newcastle City Council , along with the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive, invited tenders for operation of
2448-854: Was distributed from the area for many years. Clarke Chapman is next to the A167 in Gateshead. The MetroCentre , the largest shopping centre in Europe, is in Dunston . Scottish & Newcastle was the largest UK-owned brewery until it was bought by Heineken and Carlsberg in April 2008, and produced Newcastle Brown Ale at the Newcastle Federation Brewery in Dunston until production moved to Tadcaster in September 2010. At Team Valley are De La Rue , with their largest banknote printing facility, and Myson Radiators ,
2499-1375: Was far lower than predicted by experts. Sunderland declared soon after and gave a 62% vote to Leave, much higher than expected. These two results were seen as an early sign that the United Kingdom had voted to Leave. Italics indicate the district centre. For a complete list of all villages, towns and cities see the list of places in Tyne and Wear . Birtley Blaydon Low Fell Rowlands Gill Ryton Sheriff Hill Whickham Byker Blakelaw Elswick Fenham Gosforth Jesmond Heaton Newburn North Kenton Throckley Walbottle Walker Westerhope West Moor Annitsford Backworth Benton Cullercoats Dudley Earsdon Fordley Forest Hall Killingworth Longbenton Monkseaton North Shields Preston Tynemouth Whitley Bay Wideopen Boldon Cleadon Harton Hebburn Jarrow Westoe Whitburn Castletown Fulwell Hendon Herrington Hetton-le-Hole Houghton-le-Spring Hylton Red House Newbottle Penshaw Rainton Ryhope Seaburn Shiney Row Silksworth South Hylton Southwick Springwell Village Warden Law Washington Two campuses of Sunderland University are in Sunderland, while Newcastle contains
2550-517: Was launched on 22 July 2005, using a fleet of ten Designline Olymbus turbine-electric hybrid vehicles – a project costing £7.7 million. Prior to the launch, all ten vehicles were pictured, along with local dignitaries and partner representatives, at an opening ceremony held on the Quayside. Stagecoach North East won the contract to operate the service, with a fleet of ten Designline Olymbus turbine-electric hybrid vehicles, built in New Zealand – at
2601-410: Was rebranded QuayCity , running to the previous 15 minute frequency (Monday to Saturday) between Newcastle Great Park and Wallsend, with evening services operating as far as St Peter's Basin only. In March 2022, the service was revised to run via Jesmond (Osborne Road), with the section between St Peter's Basin and Wallsend withdrawn. The service is operated by a fleet of Euro 6 Optare Versa, branded in
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