North Tyneside

History

The 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

The 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

Main article: North Tyneside Council

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 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 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.

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, 5.1% compared to 3.7% for the UK in 2022).

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 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 stations are Cramlington, Manors and Newcastle, which is also served by the Tyne & Wear Metro. Northumberland Park will open in 2026 to provide the borough's first heavy rail link since the 1970s.

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.

There is an international ferry terminal at Royal Quays in North Shields, with a service to Amsterdam (IJmuiden).

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
• 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

Local 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

Radio stations that broadcast to the area are BBC Radio Newcastle, Heart North East, Capital North East, Smooth Radio North East, Greatest Hits Radio North East, and Hits Radio North East.

The local newspaper is the Evening Chronicle.

Twinned towns

North Tyneside is twinned with:

• Oer-Erkenschwick in Germany
• Halluin in France

Freedom of the Borough

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of North Tyneside.

Individuals

• Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, better known as Sting : 9 November 2023

Military Units

• 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.
• 2344 (Longbenton) Squadron Air Training Corps: 16 December 2014.

References

References

1. "Your representatives".
2. {{United Kingdom district population citation. area
3. {{United Kingdom district population citation
4. "North Tyneside Local Authority".
5. "Mayoral Election Results".
6. "Types of Elections".
7. {{cite legislation UK. (2024)
8. "Labour Market Profile - Nomis - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics".
9. (2025-07-07). "Bedlington and Northumberland Park stations delayed until 2026".
10. "Ferry - Nexus Tyne and Wear". [[Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive.
11. "Newcastle ferry". [[Direct Ferries]].
12. (1 May 2004). "Full Freeview on the Pontop Pike (County Durham, England) transmitter".
13. "Stadt Oer-Erkenschwick - Städtepartnerschaften".
14. "Halluin à l'international".
15. (8 November 2023). "Music icon Sting to receive Freedom of the Borough of North Tyneside".
16. (9 November 2023). "Sting receives freedom of North Tyneside after 13-year wait".
17. (November 2018)
18. "Rugby star honoured with Freedom of the Borough".
19. "Council Bestows Freedom of the Borough to Longbenton Air Cadets! – 2344 (Longbenton) Squadron".