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South Shields is a coastal town in Tyne and Wear, England, on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne, with a population of about 90,000. It is part of the metropolitan borough of South Tyneside.

[edit] Economy

The town was once famous for its shipyards, its coal mines, its salt pans and glassmaking. The last shipbuilder (Readheads) closed in 1984 the last pit (Westoe Colliery) in 1991. Today, the town relies largely on service industries, leisure and retail, while many residents commute to work in Newcastle, Gateshead, North Tyneside and Sunderland. For many years South Tyneside had the highest unemployment rate in mainland Britain, but between December 2002 and June 2004 unemployment fell by 24%, so the borough climbed up to 21st in the highest unemployment table.^{[citation needed]} There has been extensive work to the town centre of South Shields (2005-2006) to bring it back to its former glory, financed by grants from central government and the European Regional Development Fund.

[edit] Geography

South Shields has six miles of coastline and three miles of river frontage, dominated by the massive, functional if not beautiful piers at the mouth of the Tyne. These are best viewed from the Lawe Top, which also houses the cannon captured from the Russians during the Crimean War. The town slopes gently from Cleadon Hills down to the river, Cleadon Hills are made conspicuous by the Victorian water pumping station (opened in 1860 to improve sanitation) and a now derelict windmill which can be seen from many miles away and also out at sea.

The town has extensive beaches including sand dunes as well as dramatic sandstone cliffs with grassy areas above known as 'the Leas' which cover three miles of this coastline and are a National Trust protected area. Marsden Bay, with its famous Marsden Rock, is one of the largest seabird colonies in Britain.

One of the most historic parts of the town is Westoe Village which consists of a quiet street of Georgian and Victorian homes many being built by Victorian business leaders in the town, including those who owned mines and shipyards. This street was the setting for a number of books by the novelist Catherine Cookson^[1].

[edit] Tourism

As well as being the oldest and largest town in South Tyneside, South Shields is also one of the region's most popular seaside resorts, a status it has built up by marketing itself as Catherine Cookson Country. Thousands of people come to see where the famous author was born and brought up, before visiting the fairground (South Shields Pleasure Beach) and promenade on the seafront. Town planners also intend to make improvements and new additions to the seafront^[2].

[edit] Education

South Shields is home to South Tyneside College, one of the two leading maritime training centres in the UK, with facilities including a marine safety training centre and a simulated ship's bridge for the training of deck officers. The college is also home to the only planetarium in the region, as well as an observatory, making it a popular visitor attraction for local schools and other visitors[2].

[edit] History

[edit] Foundation and Roman Times

The earliest inhabitants of the area were the Brigantes, a strong and fiercely independent Briton tribe however there is no evidence to suggest they built a settlement where the present day town now stands. It was John Leland in the sixteenth century who first suggested the town had been known as 'Caer Urfa.' The Brythonic word 'Caer' meaning a fortified place or seat of royal power, 'Urfa' is suggested to be a simple corruption of 'Vide Infra' the Aramaic name for the Roman stronghold.^[3]

A large Roman fort has been excavated in South Shields on the Lawe Top, overlooking the River Tyne it has been the setting for an investigation by the Channel 4 Time Team programme. Founded c. AD 120 the fort is mentioned in The Notitia Dignitatum (a list of forts and bases compiled in the fourth century) where it is referred to as Vide Infra. This is from the Aramaic for "place of the Arabs" (the local garrison came from the Syrian desert,) A Latinised version of this name is Arbeia, by which the fort is well known. Arbeia was intended as the maritime supply fort for Hadrian's Wall, and contains the only permanent stone-built granaries yet found in Britain. It was occupied until the Romans left Britain in the fifth century AD. A Roman gatehouse and barracks have been reconstructed on their original foundations, while a museum holds artefacts such as an altarpiece to a previously unknown god, and a Roman-era gravestone set up by a native Palmyrene to his freedwoman and wife, a Briton of the Catuvellauni tribe. There is also a tablet with the name of the emperor Alexander Severus (died 235) chiselled off. The fort was at the end of a road named Wrekendike connected to a larger road which lead between Newcastle (Pons Aelivs) and Chester-Le-Street (Congangis), parts of this road are still visible in Wrekington near Gateshead. The Romans also built a small wharf in nearby Marsden Bay for the purposes of loading sandstone from a quarry. The wharfs remnants remain today although time and tide have left little to see. Arbeia was abandoned by the Romans c. AD400, when Emperor Honorius informed the people of Britain that they must look to their own country's defence. One of the many peoples to take advantage of the Roman Empire's collapse were the Anglo-Saxons.

[edit] Dark Ages

Britain in the Sixth century AD is often considered a confused and violent place, the Romans taking their laws, gods and legions with them, when they left. However, the north east of England became a centre of learning and education, a beacon of light throughout Europe. King Oswald of Northumbria united the kingdoms of Bernicia to the north of the River Humber and Deira to the South creating the powerful and influential Kingdom of Northumbria. In AD 647 King Oswy of Northumbria (Oswald's Brother)^[4] at the request of St. Aidan allowed a monastery to be built. The site today is in the very town centre of South Shields and is named St. Hilda's Church^[5] although the original Anglo-Saxon building is but a remnant under the present Norman nave. St. Hilda's was one of many monastic institutions along the coast of north east England including Jarrow, where the Venerable Bede lived and worked.

C. AD 865 the monastery at St. Hilda's was raided by the Vikings . However the Vikings or Danes weren't just raiders; they created settlements, brought new customs, laws and Gods, effectively controlling all of northern England. This form of government was known as the Danelaw. The Anglian (or Danish) influence can be seen to this day; the Geordieaccent which contains words of Danish origin (e.g's: hjem - home and gan - go))with many more Anglo-Saxon pronunciations than standard English. Another interesting fact is that in South Shields, there is a greater concentration of people with blue eyes than any part of the United Kingdom.

[edit] Middle Ages

In 1100 the Normans built St Hilda's church where the nunnery once stood, in the town's market place. The church remains one of the oldest churches in the UK.

The first reference to 'Scheles' (fishermens' huts) occurs in 1235, and the town proper was founded by the Prior and Convent of Durham in 1245 . On account of the complaints of the burgesses of Newcastle Upon Tyne, an order was made in 1258, stipulating that no ships should be laden or unladen at Shields, and that no shoars or quays should be built there. However, South Shields continued to be popular by sailors through out the world, because of the friendly people. South Shields then developed as a fishing port.

Salt panning along the Tyne began in 1499 and achieved major importance; Daniel Defoe speaks of the clouds of smoke being visible for miles, while a witness in 1743 mentions two hundred boiling-pans. Glass manufacturing was begun by Isaac Cookson in 1650 and there were eight glass works by 1827 . Coal mining and chemical manufacture also became important. South Shields had the largest alkali works in the world.

In 1644, during the English Civil War, Parliament's Scottish allies under Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven laid siege to Newcastle Upon Tyne and captured the watch tower on the Lawe Top at South Shields, (Sunderland declared for Parliament and invited the Scottish army in). The Royalist forces retreated to the south but turned to fight at the small town of Boldon (half way between South Shields and Sunderland), the ensuing battle is known as the Battle of Boldon Hill and was a victory for the Scots who later destroyed the rest of the Royalist army at the Battle of Marston Moor.

[edit] Nineteenth Century

Turner made an engraving of Shields on the River Tyne in 1823^[6]. This is now in Tate Britain in London. He also painted Keelmen Hauling Coals by Night in 1835, having himself rowed out into the Tyne at Jarrow Slake in order to do so.

The town became famous for its maritime industries and the Marine School was founded by Dr Thomas Winterbottom in 1837^[7]. Originally in Ocean Road, it is now part of South Tyneside College in Westoe Village, and has an international reputation. It possesses the nationally unique combined public observatory and planetarium, which has provided education and entertainment for twenty thousand children a year.

The world's first self-righting lifeboat was designed and built in South Shields by William Wouldhave.

The nineteenth century also saw the creation of the Marsden Grotto, a famous public house built into the cliffs of Marsden Bay.

South Shields was able to elect an MP after the Great Reform Act of 1832 and was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1850 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. It became a county borough in 1889 with the passing of the Local Government Act 1888, and remained as such until 1974 when it became part of the Metropolitan Borough of South Tyneside in the County of Tyne and Wear.

One of the most historic parts of the town, which was developed mostly around this period, is Westoe Village which consists of a quiet street of Georgian and Victorian homes, mostly built by mine and shipyard owners in the town, as well as politicians and doctors. This street was later the setting for a number of books based on the early 20th centuary by the novelist Catherine Cookson^[8].

The Shields Gazette, founded in 1849, is the oldest provincial evening newspaper in the United Kingdom.^[9]

[edit] Twentieth Century

The impressive Town Hall of 1910 bears a copper weather vane in the form of a galleon. The town's crest (pre-1974) featured the lifeboat and the associated motto - Always Ready - which was later adopted as the motto of South Tyneside.

Zeppelin airships raided the Tyne in World War I and the town's seafront amusement park was attacked in 1915. In World War II, South Shields suffered well over 200 air raid alerts and 156 people were killed. Many houses were damaged, particularly by incendiary bombs and parachute mines. One direct hit on the market place killed more than 40 people who had taken shelter in tunnels below the square. There was a memorial to them in the form of a cobbled Union Flag on the ground of the market square, however this was removed as part of an overhaul of the town centre in the late 1990s.

In 1977 the town was visited by boxer Mohammed Ali, whose wedding was blessed in the local mosque. The visit has since been the subject of a BBC documentary. Ali visited the town after receiving an invitation from a local boys' boxing club.^[10]

[edit] Regional identity

Residents of South Shields identify as "Geordie" (with a historical example found in Dickens, Jnr, Charles (1872). All Year Round, new ser.:v.8. Charles Dickens, 487. ““the engineer, a brawny Geordie from South Shields, imbued with a thoroughly English contempt for every thing foreign;”” ^[11]), a term commonly associated with all residents of Tyneside^[12].

It seems like the north eastern term Geordie has original historical links with the working coal mining industry in the north east of England ^[13] and then latterly to the connected ship building industry that employed the working man who were either descendant of earlier coal miners who had migrated to pit places along the Tyne, or the original miners who found a place of work in the Tyne just before or at the beginning of the industrial revolution. With the coal mining industry once being the major employers of the working man in the north east of England; and the Tyne once being the biggest coal trading shipping hub^[14] in the world attracting migrant workers from near and far; and then with the Tyne along with the river Clyde being a major hub for ship building^{[15][16] [17][18][19][20]} .

It is interesting to note that Geordie was the most common name given to Keelmen and pitmen in the early 19th centuary and to note that Geordie or Geordy was noted in ballads and songs as early as 1793.

Wales^[21]observes that "Geordy" and "Geordie" was a common name given to pit-men in ballads and songs of the region, noting that one such turns up as early as 1793. It occurs in the titles of two songs by song-writer Joe Wilson (1841–1875): Geordy, Haud the Bairn and Keep your Feet Still, Geordie. Citing such examples as the song Geordy Black written by Rowland Harrison of Gateshead, she contends that, as a consequence of popular culture, the miner and the keelman had become icons of the region in the 19th century, and "Geordie" was a label that "affectionately and proudly reflected this", replacing the earlier ballad emblem, the figure of Bob Crankie.

A less commonly used colloquial term, specifically for people from South Shields, is Sandancer (sometimes written as Sand-Dancer or Sanddancer). The term is widely presumed to originate from the town's beach and its large Yemeni population.^{[citation needed]} The Sand-dance was a popular music-hall act that parodied Egyptian and Arab culture as it was understood in Britain at the time.

[edit] People

[edit] Famous residents (past and present)

A full list of famous residents of South Shields can be found here.

[edit] Demographics

Having been a predominantly rural economy with some small-scale shipbuilding, glass making and salt processing along the riverside, the area was populated in the main by migration at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. The majority of the people are descendants of those who migrated to the area during the industrial revolution from up the Tyne, with others from rural County Durham, Northumberland, Scotland and Ireland who settled there to work in coal mines and ship yards.

[edit] Yemeni community

South Shields has been home to a Yemeni community since the 1890s. The main reason for the Yemeni arrival was the supply of seamen, such as engine room firemen, to British merchant vessels. Similar communities were founded in Hull, Liverpool and Cardiff.^[32] In 1909, the first Arab Seaman's Boarding House opened in the Holborn riverside district of the town. At the time of the First World War there was a shortage of crews due to the demands of the fighting and many Yemenis were recruited to serve on British ships at the port of Aden, then under British protection. At the end of the war, the Yemeni population of South Shields had swelled to around 3,000.

Disputes over jobs led to resentment that would fuel one of the first race riots in the UK in 1919. In 1930 a dispute broke out over working practices which the Yemeni seamen felt to be discriminatory, which led to a further rioting. However, over time attitudes to Yemenis in the town were softened and their was no significant recurrence of this violence.^[33]

After World War II, the Yemeni population declined, partly due to migrations to industrial areas such as Birmingham, Liverpool and Sheffield.^[34] Today, the Yemeni population of South Shields numbers around 1,000^[35]. Many Yemeni sailors also married local women, which has caused the population to become less distinct than many immigrant communities in the UK.

[edit] Football

South Shields FC is the town's main football team. Originally formed during the first decade of the twentieth century, the team played in the Football League during the 1920s, when the world record transfer was held by the team. In 1922, Warney Cresswell moved from South Shields to Sunderland AFC for a then-world record fee of £5,500. The record was not broken again for three years. Later in the 1920s, the team folded and moved to Gateshead.

The team reformed and played in various leagues until it became a founding members of what was to become the Unibond League. In 1974 the Progressive councillor Jim Leighton sold Simonside Hall and again moved the side to Gateshead.

A new side was formed from the ashes and competed successfully in the Northern Alliance and Wearside League before finally gaining promotion to the Northern League. Since then Shields have been promoted and relegated within the league. They finished in fourth place in the Second Division in 2007 but are still expected to advance further in the coming seasons.

[edit] Rugby

South Shields is the home to Westoe RFC. The club has been established on the same ground in Wood Terrace since 1875.

In 1875 a young South Shields man called Charlie Green and a bunch of his friends, all aged between 16 and 19, accepted a challenge to play Tynemouth, a prominent local rugby club at that time, and beat them. In high spirits, they discussed forming a rugby club of their own as they returned home on the ferry crossing the River Tyne. The outcome was a meeting at Green’s home in Westoe, then a village a mile from the town then clustered along the bank of the river, but now part of the urban sprawl - and Westoe Rugby Club was formed that night.

The club is currently in North Division 1. They recently had a big Powergen Intermediate Cup run and got to the Twickenham final in 2005, and on the run despite being the underdogs they beat mighty Staines in the semi-final, taking many travelling fans^[36]; but unfortunately in the final they were beaten 21-10 by Morley RFC from Yorkshire.

[edit] Politics

South Shields is a safe Labour Party Parliamentary seat, currently held by cabinet minister David Miliband,who is currently Foreign Secretary. He is seen by some as a prospective future leader of the Labour Party.^[37]

South Shields has never elected a Conservative MP and is the only seat in the country not to have done so.^[38]

The local authority (South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council) is also controlled by Labour.

The town also has a local independent political party, the Progressives. This broadly centre-right party was formed in the 1950s to address hostility towards the Conservative Party. The Progressives have no representation beyond South Shields. Having controlled the old County Borough of South Shields council until 1974, they still hold several seats on the borough council and have experienced a resurgence in recent years, sitting in alliance with independent members of the council[3].

[edit] Public transport

The Tyne and Wear Metro links South Shields to Newcastle and Sunderland city centres, and Newcastle Airport. There is a Metro station in South Shields town centre (on King Street), with further stations at Chichester, Tyne Dock and Brockley Whins. A new station is planned for Simonside.^[39]

There is a pedestrian ferry service connecting the town to North Shields, on the opposite bank of the Tyne.

South Shields bus operations are operated by both Stagecoach North East and Go North East. Local bus routes are planned to interchange with the Metro. Buses operate as far as Washington, Durham City and the MetroCentre.

[edit] See also

• South Shields (UK Parliament constituency)
• North Shields

[edit] References

2007-South Shields Community School opened

[edit] External links

• SouthTyneside.info - Local Council website
• [4] - Arbeia information website
• [5] St. Hilda Parish website
• South Shields Sanddancers - Local Information website

• Curly's Corner Shop - Local information website
• South Shields Daily Photo - a picture a day from South Shields and the North of England, comments are welcomed.
• Curly's Corner Shop, the blog! - commentary on politics, news, and sport from South Tyneside's premier blogger.bg:Саут Шийлдс

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