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Ashington

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Template:Infobox England place with map

For Ashington in West Sussex, see Ashington, West Sussex

Ashington is a village/town in Northumberland, England, with a population of around 28,000 people. It is located four miles east of Morpeth and 15 miles north of Newcastle upon Tyne.

The village was built up from being a small hamlet in the 1840s, as the Duke of Portland constructed housing to encourage workers escaping the potato famine to come and work at the local collieries he was founding. As in many other parts of Britain, "deep pit" coal mining in the area declined during the 1980s and 1990s leaving just one colliery, Ellington, in production until January 2005. During the peak time of coal-mining, it was considered to be the "world's largest coal-mining village". There is now a debate about whether Ashington should be referred to as a town or a village, because its population has increased quite dramatically since the peak of its coal mining days.

Famous footballers Jackie Milburn, Bobby Charlton, Jackie Charlton and England fast bowler Steve Harmison were all born in Ashington. The town is also home to Ashington A.F.C., who were previously members of The Football League.

Ashington is also the name of a village in West Sussex. In the Ashington village hall, a 'Hooky Mat' is on display. This mat was given as a gift by the mining workers of the Northumberland Ashington to their friends in Sussex.

Inhabitants of Ashington have a distictive accent and dialect, known as Pitmatic. This varies slightly from Geordie.

See also

See also List of towns in England.