Gateshead: Guide, Hotels, Map & Photos
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GBP 40 - 75 Royal Hotel
 Royal Hotel is a convenient and friendly base just off the A1, between the Newcastle/Gateshead Quayside and the Metro Centre.
Newcastle city centre i… MoreGBP 40 - 55 Rowers Hotel
 Less than a mile from Gateshead’s MetroCentre, Europe´s largest shopping mall, this charming hotel offers comfortable, well-appointed en suite… MoreGBP 55 - 160 Sutherlands Hotel
 In Gateshead, Sutherlands Hotel offers stylish, air-conditioned rooms with free Wi-Fi. There is free private parking and Newcastle is a 5-minute drive… MoreGBP 29 - 100 The Bewick Hotel
 The Bewick Hotel has stylish facilities available for business meetings, private dinners and celebrations.
Our priority at The Bewick Hotel is to pr… MoreGBP 85 - 120 The Stables Lodge
 The Stables Lodge is a hunting lodge themed luxury bed and breakfast situated in a quiet area, a 10-minute drive from NewcastleGateshead. It offers fr… MoreGBP 42 - 160 The Ravensworth Arms Hotel
 Situated on the site of Clubbon Hall, taking its name from the nearby Ravensworth Castle, this characterful pub offers quality food and accommodation,… MoreGBP 35 - 110 Ravensdene Lodge
 Ravensdene Lodge Hotel is 5 minutes from Newcastle city centre and the Metro Centre. It is located in a leafy suburb and easily accessed by road, ferr… MoreGBP 41 - 111 Premier Inn Newcastle Team Valley
 With free parking and good-value en suite rooms, this stylish and modern hotel is just off the A1(M) and only 2.5 miles (4 km) from Newcastle´s … MoreGBP 75 - 120 Gibside Hotel
 Set in the old village centre of Whickham, the hotel provides a perfect blend of good food and pleasant surroundings, while friendly staff offer a war… MoreGBP 55 - 150 Eslington Villa
 Nestled amid 2 acres of beautifully landscaped gardens, this fine Victorian property boasts a peaceful setting in a leafy district of Gateshead, yet w… MoreGBP 41 - 185 Holiday Inn Express Newcastle Metrocentre
 Conveniently located off the A1 at the Metro Centre, this hotel is 10 minute drive from Newcastle city centre. It is walking distance from 3 restauran… MoreGBP 57 - 169 Newcastle Marriott Hotel Metrocentre
 Just off the A1 and right outside the MetroCentre, Europe´s largest leisure and retail complex, this 4-star hotel offers a convenient location, … MoreGBP 40 - 109 Premier Inn Newcastle (Metro Centre)
 With free parking and family-friendly rooms, this Premier Inn hotel is 1 mile (1.6 km) from the Metro Centre and Metrocentre Rail Station (10-minute r… MoreGBP 60 - 70 Bowes Incline Hotel
 Ten miles from Newcastle, The Bowes Incline Hotel offers en suite rooms and a 100-seat restaurant. Rooms are well equipped with SkyTV, free Wi-Fi and … More | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gateshead: Guide
Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear in north-east England on the south side of the River Tyne, England|River Tyne opposite Newcastle upon Tyne which covers the North Bank. It is the main settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. Gateshead and Newcastle are linked by ten bridges .
Gateshead is part of the postal county of Tyne and Wear and historically within the traditional county of County Durham.
History
In 1068 William the Conqueror defeated Malcolm III of Scotland and his allies on Gateshead Fell.
In 1553, in the reign of Edward VI of England|Edward VI Newcastle briefly annexed Gateshead, and made another attempt in 1574.
Ambrose Crowley a Quaker nail-manufacturer moved in 1691 to Winlaton, where he set up furnaces and forges on the River Derwent. The river was ideally suitable for tempering steel as the sword-makers of Shotley Bridge also found. Crowley not only produced high-quality nails, but also iron goods such as pots, hinges, wheel-hubs, hatchets and edged tools. He could also make heavy forgings like chains, pumps, cannon carriages and anchors up to four tons in weight. The Crowley works were a tourist attraction and regarded as the largest manufactory of the kind in Europe.
Crowley founded two model settlements near his works, where his employees and their families lived in socialist fashion, with welfare services provided - a forerunner of Robert Owen’s better-known community at New Lanark in Scotland a century later. There were arbitration courts, sickness insurance, and a resident clergyman, teacher and doctor were employed. North of the bridge at Swalwell are fragments of the Crowley works.
William Hawks, originally a blacksmith, started business in Gateshead in 1747, working with the iron brought to the Tyne as ballast by the Tyne colliers. Hawks and Co. eventually became one of the biggest iron businesses in the North, producing anchors, chains and so on to meet a growing demand. There was keen contemporary rivalry between 'Hawks' Blacks' and 'Crowley's Crew'. The famous 'Hawk's men' including Ned White, went on to be celebrated in Geordie song and story.
In 1854, a catastrophic explosion on the quayside destroyed most of Gateshead's mediaeval heritage, and caused widespread damage on the Newcastle side of the river.
Robert Stirling Newall took out a patent on the manufacture of wire ropes in 1840 and in partnership with Messrs. Liddell and Gordon, set up his headquarters at Gateshead. A world-wide industry of wire-drawing resulted. The submarine telegraph cable received its definitive form through Newall's initiative, involving the use of gutta percha surrounded by strong wires. The first successful Dover-Calais cable on 25 September 1851, was made in Newall's works. In 1853, he invented the brake-drum and cone for laying cable in deep seas. Half of the first Atlantic cable was manufactured in Gateshead. Newall was interested in astronomy, and his giant 25 inch telescope was set up in the garden at Ferndene, his Gateshead residence in 1871.
In 1831 a locomotive works was built by the Newcastle and Darlington railway, later part of the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway. In 1854 the works moved to a new site and became the manufacturing headquarters of North Eastern Railway (UK)|North Eastern Railway. In the same year was the Great fire of Newcastle and Gateshead, which destroyed a great deal of riverside property and killed more than 50 people. In 1910, locomotive construction was moved to Darlington railway works|Darlington.
Economy
Retail
Gateshead is the location of the MetroCentre, which regained its place as the biggest shopping centre in Europe when the new red mall opened in October 2004. Gateshead is also the location of the Team Valley Trading Estate (area)|Estate, initially the largest and still one of the largest purpose built commercial estates in the United Kingdom|UK.
However, this has had a knock on effect on the shops in the Gateshead Town Centre, as this has led to many of them closing due to lack of patronage. Most recently the Gateshead Co-Op.
Shops still thriving in the town centre though include Tesco's and Iceland, as well as Gateshead Indoor Market.
Industry
Dunston, Tyne and Wear|Dunston, an area of Gateshead was the home of one of the most advanced power stations in the world in the 1930s. An extension was built after the World War II|Second World War and the power station ran until the 1970s when the site was used for the MetroCentre, the largest shopping centre in Europe.
Architecture
Having been overshadowed by its near neighbour, Newcastle upon Tyne for many years, Gateshead has recently seen a cultural resurgence. Building on the success of the MetroCentre and the International Stadium, the council has more recently invested in riverside redevelopments that include the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, erected in 2001. The bridge won the James Stirling Prize for Architecture in 2002.
The BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art has been established in a converted flour mill. The Sage Gateshead, a Norman Foster-designed venue for music and the performing arts opened on 17 December 2004. The Brutalist Trinity Centre Multi-Storey Car Park still dominates the town centre. A product of attempts to regenerate the area in the 1960s it is largely derelict but has gained an iconic status due to its appearance in the film Get Carter.
Gateshead is also home to a large number of public art works, including the Angel of the North|The Angel of the North, Britain's largest sculpture with a height of 20 metres and a 54 metre wing span. This was a bold step for the council and has succeeded in drawing national attention to Gateshead. It was erected in 1998, and designed by Antony Gormley. It is visible from the A1 road immediately south of Gateshead, as well as from the East Coast Main Line. There is also Gateshead College.
Image:Millenium_bridge_close.jpg|Gateshead Millennium Bridge
Image:Angel_of_the_North modified.jpg|The Angel of the North
Image:tyneview.jpg|The Sage centre viewed across the Tyne
Image:Get Carter carpark.jpg|Trinity Centre car park seen from Newcastle Castle Keep
Sport
Gateshead International Stadium regularly holds international athletics (track and field)|athletics meetings over the summer months. It is also host to rugby league fixtures, and the home ground of both Gateshead Thunder Rugby League Football Club and Gateshead F.C.|Gateshead Football Club. Both clubs have had their problems: Gateshead FC were controversially elected out of the Football League to make way for Peterborough United F.C.|Peterborough United in the 1960s, whilst Gateshead Thunder lost their place in Super League (Europe)|Super League as a result of a takeover (officially termed a merger) by Hull FC. Both Gateshead clubs continue to ply their trade at lower levels in their respective sports, thanks mainly to the efforts of their supporters. Also Based at the International Stadium are the Gateshead Senators, 2006 Northern Conference champions in the British American Football League.
Transport
Gateshead is served by the Tyne and Wear Metro. There are stations at Gateshead Interchange, Gateshead International Stadium, Felling, Pelaw and Heworth, Tyne and Wear|Heworth. Heworth is also served by main-line train services, as are Blaydon railway station|Blaydon, Dunston railway station|Dunston and MetroCentre railway station|MetroCentre stations. Bus services are mainly provided by Go North East in conjunction with the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive.
The A1 road passes through Gateshead starting from the South it runs past the Angel of the North then past Team Valley and the Metro Centre before crossing Blaydon bridge and into Newcastle. This section is often referred to as the Western Bypass, and is one of the most congested sections of dual carriageway in Europe.
Religion
The most practised religion in Gateshead is Jews, the North East Jewry|Jewish community is the largest in North East England and an important community in the Orthodox Jewish world. Gateshead is home to the Gateshead Talmudical College|Gateshead Yeshiva, one of the most important yeshivas of the Lithuanian Judaism|Lithuanian branch of Haredi Judaism.
Famous residents
Writer Daniel Defoe and footballer Paul Gascoigne are two of Gateshead's most famous former residents. See also list of famous residents of Gateshead.
See also
AIRS A Gateshead-based talking newspaper
- Gateshead's own football team, currently playing in the Unibond Premier League
This "Travel Guide" section is drawn from the Wikipedia article "Gateshead". We hope you will edit and improve it. It is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.