Birtley, Tyne and Wear

Birtley
War Memorial Garden
Birtley  Birtley shown within Tyne and Wear
Population	11,377 (2001)
OS grid reference	NZ271563
Metropolitan borough	Gateshead
Metropolitan county	Tyne and Wear
Region	North East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CHESTER LE STREET
Postcode district	DH3
Dialling code	0191
Police	Northumbria
Fire	Tyne and Wear
Ambulance	North East
EU Parliament	North East England
UK Parliament	Blaydon
List of places: UK • England • Tyne and Wear

Birtley is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, in Tyne and Wear, England. It is situated to the south of Gateshead town and is physically linked to Chester-le-Street across the County boundary in County Durham. Until 1974, Birtley and the adjoining areas of Barley Mow, Vigo and Portobello were part of the old Chester-le-Street Rural District. Since 1974, these neighbouring areas have been considered part of 'greater' Birtley. Birtley was a civil parish with a parish council (which also covered the adjoining neighbourhoods) until April 1, 2006 after a local referendum agreed to abolish it. The former parish has a population of 11,377. Birtley lies within the historic county boundaries of County Durham and uniquely among settlements in Gateshead, Birtley forms part of the Chester-le-Street post town in the Durham (DH) postal area.

Industry

Birtley is the home of the Royal Ordnance Factory, ROF Birtley, and the Komatsu Heavy Engineering Company which operates from the previous premises of Birtley Iron Works (1827-, which became premises of the Caterpillar Company in the mid 20th century). A 'CarCraft Hypermarket' was built on the site of an old factory in south west Birtley, reclaiming much wasted brown field site. The Royal Ordnance Factory was a major target of the German Luftwaffe in World War II. Thanks to its reputation as a 'misty valley', Birtley and the factory survived any hits. The phrase 'misty valley' was coined by Tommy Lawton, a worker at the ROF in the 1970s.

The ROF factory which is operated by BAE was replaced in late 2011 by a new purpose built 350,000 sq ft (33,000 m²) factory in nearby Washington replacing the old Dunlop Tyre factory. The entire Birtley workforce moved to this site.

The Japanese heavy engineering is now the town's main employer.

It was announced in 2011 that the supermarket Morrisons had agreed to build a 25,000sq ft new supermarket development in the town which will create hundreds of jobs. The development will take place on the site of the former Safeway supermarket and will include the redevelopment of the land at the rear of the building adjacent to the East Coast mainline.

Just near to the site of the old station, is where the well known Birtley Brick Works was located. Once employing most of the town's workforce, it is a shadow of its former self. Mining was a very important industry in Birtley. Birtley Iron Company had 10 pits in the area surrounding Birtley employing 3736 below ground and 960 people above ground. There was also a lot of coal mining in the area with the earliest recorded instance was in 1351. This continued until the 1960s when the trade declined.

Angel of the North

Angel of the North

Antony Gormley's famous Angel of the North completed in February 1998 is situated on high ground on the site of the baths of the old 'Betty Ann Pit' to the north of Birtley and overlooks the area. It seen by around 90,000 people per day by people on the A1 and on the east coast mainline. In the summer of 2011 a landscaped car park near the Angel was laid to accommodate the increased number of cars and coaches visiting the site.

Housing developments

The town itself, has been host to major housing developments since the 1950s. Several council estates were created to replace the old squatters camps, taken over at the end of the second world war and also the village created to house Belgian refugees during the first world war. In the 1960s and 70s - private housing was built on the Vigo Estate. The construction of modern housing has continued in the North West of the town until recently.

Schools and education

There are several primary schools in Birtley including one large senior school, Lord Lawson of Beamish School, situated in the West. The school was rebuilt in 2007 and the old build later demolished. There are several famous past students from Lord Lawson, including footballers Bryan Robson, Gary Madine, the broadcaster and TV presenter Matthew Davies and Chris Felton, a radio presenter and producer for Metro Radio , CFM Radio , TFM Radio and the Magic Network.

Religion

There are altogether three mainstream Churches in Birtley; these consist of:

1. St Joseph's (RC)
   Built in 1843 after the 1791 Catholic Relief Act and designed by John Dobson in early Gothic style. Currently serving in this parish are Fr Antony Duffy and Deacon Peter Lavery.
2. St John the Evangelist (CofE)
3. Birtley Methodist Church
4. Birtley also has a large Cemetery with a Chapel and Crematorium.

Transport links

Remains of Birtley Station in 1965

The main road through Birtley is the non-primary A167, which runs from Topcliffe, North Yorkshire through to the north of Newcastle upon Tyne, and is the same road which runs across the Tyne Bridge. This was an original route for the Great North Road and the A1 until a bypass was built (which was upgraded to motorway standard in the 1960s).

The main East Coast railway line is used as a county border to the west of the town. Mainline trains used to stop at the town's long dismantled station. Birtley Railway Station was closed on December 5, 1955. Her sister, The Station Hotel, was closed in 1971, having been opened in 1868 or earlier.

The bus operator in the town is Go North East. It operates local services to nearby Washington. Birtley is one of the main stopping areas on 'The Angel' route which travels from Newcastle to Durham every 10 minutes.