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South Shields

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South Shields high street and Metro station

Template:GBmap South Shields is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne, with a population of about 90,000.


Overview

The town was famous for its shipyards and its coal mines. The last ship builder (Readheads) closed in 1984 and the last pit (Westoe Colliery) in 1991. Today, the town relies largely on service industries, leisure and retail, with many residents commuting to work in Sunderland, Gateshead and Newcastle upon Tyne.

South Shields has six miles of coastline and three miles of river frontage, dominated by the massive piers at the mouth of the Tyne. These are best viewed from the Lawe Top, which also house the famous cannons that once defended the river.

The town has extensive beaches and the Leas, which stretches along more than three miles of the town's coastline, is a National Trust protected area. Marsden Bay, with its famous rock, is one of the largest seabird colonies in UK. .

The Grotto, a pub built into the cliff opposite Marsden rock, is the only pub/restaurant of its type in Europe.

As well as being the largest town in South Tyneside, South Shields is also the region's most popular seaside resort, a status it has built up thanks to cleverly 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 and promenade on the seafront.


History

A large Roman fort, Arbeia, has been excavated in South Shields. It was the maritime supply fort for Hadrian's Wall, and contains the only permanent stone-built granaries yet found on any Roman frontier. A Roman gatehouse and barracks have been reconstructed on their original foundations, while a museum holds artefacts such as an altar piece to an 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.

Salt panning began in the town in 1499 and achieved major importance. Daniel Defoe speaks of the clouds of smoke being visible for miles. A witness in 1743 mentions two hundred boiling-pans. Coal mining,glass and chemical manufacture were also important and South Shields had the largest alkali works in the world.

South Shields was also famous for its maritime industries and the Marine School, originally in Ocean Road, now part of South Tyneside College in Westoe Village, has an international reputation. The world's first self-righting lifeboat was designed and built in South Shields by William Wouldhave.

The impressive Town Hall of 1910 bears a copper weather vane in the form of a lifeboat. 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.

The Shields Gazette (1881) is the oldest evening newspaper in the country.

Zeppelins raided the Tyne in WWI and the Shields amusement park was destroyed in 1915. In WWII, 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.

Shields is a town of wide ethnic diversity. There is a large Asian population, and also a long-established Yemeni community, the largest outside of Yemen. The main reason for the Yemeni arrival was the supply of seamen, such as engine room firemen, to British merchant vessels. At the time of the First World War there was a shortage of crews due to the demands of the fighting and the Yemenis were recruited to serve on British ships at the port of Aden, then under British protection. Eventually a small community was established in South Shields as they paid off the ships. After the end of the war, when returning local seamen went to get their jobs back, they found Arabs had taken them all, which caused the anger that would fuel one of the first race riots in the UK. In WWII some 4000 Tyneside seamen were lost, including 800 Yemeni Arabs.

The slang term for people from South Shields is Sandancers, a term that derives from the town's attractive beach, as well as its Yemeni population. The Sand-dance was a popular music-hall act that parodied Egyptian and Arab culture as it was understood in Britain at the time.

Famous Residents (past and present)

Sandhaven Beach

Politics

South Shields is a safe Labour Party Parliamentary seat, currently held by cabinet minister David Miliband. South Shields has never elected a Conservative MP and is the only seat in the country not to have done so.

The local council is also controlled by Labour.

The town has its own political party, the Progressives, which was formed in the 1950s to address hostility towards the Conservative Party. The Progressives are right of centre and have no representation beyond South Shields. Having controlled the old County Borough of South Shields council until 1974, they are now experiencing a resurgence in the town.

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.

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

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See also

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