Middlesbrough
Encyclopedia : M : MI : MID : Middlesbrough
- redirect [[Template:Infobox England place]]
Middlesbrough is different from the other districts in the Tees Valley, as the town itself forms the majority of the borough, thus making it the largest town in terms of area and population, but the smallest district. The Town of Middlesbrough is officially defined as the area within the boundaries of the pre-1968 Municipal and County Borough. However, what is locally regarded as Middlesbrough also includes the northern parts of the Greater Eston area, these being South Bank and Grangetown. These areas are not actually part of Middlesbrough itself, but feature in what is recognised by the ONS as the Middlesbrough Urban Area, along with the rest of Eston.
Middlesbrough is situated on the south bank of the River Tees on the edge of the North York Moors National Park, recognisable from such television programmes as "Heartbeat". The Yorkshire Dales are only a short distance away.
Teesport, is one of the UK's 3 largest ports, lies 3 miles to the East, and Durham Tees Valley Airport lies 8 miles to the West, near Darlington. North East of Middlesbrough, the Tees estuary with its colony of breeding seals, has extensive sandy beaches in both directions. Some 7000 salmon and 13,000 sea trout migrated upstream through the estuary in 2000. Saltburn boasts some of the best and most challenging surf in Britain, and beyond, sheer cliffs rise to Boulby Head, the highest point on the east coast of England.
History
Although often thought of as a settlement with no early history, the name Middlesbrough can trace its roots back a long way. Mydilsburgh is the earliest recorded form of the name (n.d.) and the element '-burgh', from Old English burh, meaning 'fort' denotes an ancient fort or settlement of pre-Saxon origin. It is solely by retrospective conjecture that the first element of the name, Mydil, has come to be identified as a development of the Old English middel (subsequently morphing into middle and supposedly a tribute to the settlement's position between the great Christian centres of Durham and Whitby). The burgh, though, may have included a monastic cell and was probably situated on the elevated land where the Victorian church of St Hilda's (demolished in 1969) was later built.
In 686 a monastic cell was consecrated by St Cuthbert at the request of St Hilda Abbess of Whitby and in 1119 Robert Bruce granted and confirmed the church of St Hilda of Middleburg to Whitby. Up until its closure on the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII in 1537, the church was maintained by 12 Benedictine monks, many of whom became vicars or rectors of various places in Cleveland. The importance of the early church at “Middleburg”, later known as Middlesbrough Priory, is indicated by the fact that in 1452 it possessed four altars.
After the Saxons the area became home to Viking settlers and it is argued by some that 'old' Cleveland has the highest density of Scandinavian parish names in Britain. Names of Viking origin are abundant in the area - for example, Thornaby, Ormesby, Stainsby, Lackenby, Maltby, Normanby, Tollesby and Lazenby which were once separate villages that belonged to Vikings called Thormad, Orm, Steinn, Hlakkande, Malti and Toll, but now form suburbs of Middlesbrough. Lazenby was the village belonging to a Leysingr - a freeman; Normanby, a Norseman's village and Danby (in neighbouring North Yorkshire), a Dane's village. The name Mydilsburgh is the earliest recorded form of Middlesbrough's name and dates to Saxon times (400 to 1000 A.D.), whilst many of the aforementioned mentioned villages appear in the Domesday Book of 1086.
In 1801 Middlesbrough consisted of just four farmhouses, but during the latter half of the 19th century experienced a growth unparalleled in England. It was famously dubbed by Gladstone 'an infant Hercules' in 'England's enterprise.'
Development began with Joseph Pease the Darlington industrialist, who saw the possibilities of Middlesbrough as a port for North East coal, but the great leap forward began with the discovery of ironstone in the Eston Hills in 1850. In 1841, Henry Bolckow (pronounced Belko), who had come to England in 1827, formed a partnership with John Vaughan of Worcester, and started an iron-foundry and rolling mill at Middlesbrough. It was Vaughan who discovered the ironstone deposits. Pig-iron production rose tenfold between 1851 and 1856. Bolckow became mayor in 1853 and Middlesbrough's first MP.
It took only until 1890 for the town to extend its boundaries southwards, into the villages of Linthorpe and North Ormesby and acquire the status of a municipal borough with around 90,000 residents. In 1930 a now 130,000-strong Middlesbrough had become both a county borough and rural district with parliamentary control over the affairs of neighbouring towns, such as areas of Thornaby-on-Tees and Eston, while its own boundaries proceeded to hit Acklam and Marton in the South.
The rapid growth of the town saw the prophetic words (probably spoken by Pease), 'Yarm was, Stockton is, Middlesbrough will be' come true. Indeed, the motto chosen by the first body of town councillors was in fact 'Erimus'; Latin for 'We will be'. The population of Middlesbrough as county borough peaked at almost 172,000 in the late 1960s but has been in decline since the early 1980s. From 2001 to present, the recorded population has jumped significantly, from 134,000 to 147,000.
-->The Bell brothers opened their great ironworks on the banks of the Tees in 1853. Steel production began at Port Clarence in 1889 and an amalgamation with Dorman Long followed. After rock salt was discovered under the site in 1874, the salt-extraction industry on Teesside was founded. By now Bell Brothers had become a vast concern employing some 6,000 people. Isaac Lowthian Bell's own eminence in the field of applied science, where he published many weighty papers, and as an entrepreneur whose knowledge of blast furnaces was unrivalled, led to universal recognition. He was the first president of the Iron and Steel Institute, and the first recipient of the Bessemer Gold Medal in 1874. Bell was Lord Mayor of Newcastle in 1854-1855, and again in 1862-1863. He served as MP for Hartlepool in 1875-1880.
Middlesbrough gained a "twin" in 1890 when the town of Middlesborough, Kentucky was incorporated in the United States; it was named after its English namesake due to the discovery of ironstone deposits in the region.
For many years in the 19th century Teesside set the world price for iron and steel. The Sydney Harbour Bridge (1932) was designed and built by Dorman Long of Middlesbrough, and has MADE IN MIDDLESBROUGH stamped on the side. The company was also responsible for the earlier New Tyne Bridge across the river at Newcastle.
Via a 1907 Act of Parliament the Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Company also built the great Transporter Bridge (1911) which spans the Tees itself between Middlesbrough and Port Clarence, and at 850 feet long and 225 feet high, is the largest of its type in the world, remaining in daily use (although it is worth noting, that unlike as is suggested by the plot of popular BBC drama/comedy Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, the bridge was not at any point dismantled and removed to Arizona. It is, indeed, a Grade II* listed building).
The great steelworks, chemical plants, shipbuilding and offshore fabrication yards that followed the original Middlesbrough ironworks, have in the recent past contributed to Britain's prosperity in no small measure and still do to this day.
Middlesbrough is twinned with the German city of Oberhausen, Masvingo in Zimbabwe and Dunkerque in France.
Middlesbrough and The Green Howards
The Green Howards is an British Army infantry regiment very strongly associated with Middlesbrough and the area south of the River Tees. Originally formed at Dunster Castle in Somerset to serve King William of Orange, later King William III, this famous regiment became affiliated to the North Riding of Yorkshire in 1782. As Middlesbrough grew, its population of men came to be a group most targeted by the recruiters.
Middlesbrough and the Luftwaffe
Middlesbrough has the distinction of being the first major British town and industrial target to be bombed during the Second World War when the Luftwaffe visited the town on the 25 May 1940. Most notably in 1942 a lone Dornier 217 picked its way through the barrage balloons and dropped a stick of bombs onto the railway station. It is a local tale that one or two fish and chip shops also became a cropper to the raids.Middlesbrough today
Middlesbrough is, naturally, not abundant in ancient buildings, and the townscape is largely workaday. There are, however some relatively old buildings still to be found. Located in the suburbs and by some distance the town's oldest domestic building is Acklam Hall of c.1680-3. Built by Sir William Hustler, it is also Middlesbrough's sole Grade I listed building. The Restoration mansion, accessible through an avenue of trees off Acklam Road, has seen progressive updates through the centuries, such that it makes for a captivating document of varying trends in English architecture.
Ormesby Hall, a Palladian mansion actually technically located within the neighbouring borough of Redcar and Cleveland, but within one of the town's seven conservation areas, was largely built around 1740, but an older wing dating from around 1599, still exists.
Not to be ignored either are a clutch of interesting churches, for example at Acklam, Marton and Stainton (c.12th century), or the modern St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral at Coulby Newham, replacing in the 1980s the previous structure on Sussex Street that was left gutted at the mercy of arsonists in 2000.
Middlesbrough is no longer a heavy industrial town, though there are areas around which still support chemical, fertiliser and iron and steel production.
Neighbourhoods
- Acklam
- Beechwood
- Berwick Hills
- Brambles Farm
- BrookFields
- Coulby Newham
- Easterside
- Grove Hill
- Hemlington
- Linthorpe
- Marton
- Marton Grove
- Netherfields
- North Ormesby
- Nunthorpe
- Ormesby
- Pallister
- Park End
- Priestfields
- Saltersgill
- St Hildas
- Stainton
- Thorntree
- Town East
- Town Farm
- Town West
- West Lane
- Whinney Banks
Film
The Ironopolis Film Company was recently established in Teesside. A studio has been created at the Teesside Technology Centre in Grangetown to the east of Middlesbrough Centre. Its aim is to make films within the area using local actors.
The companies remit is to encourage, promote and develop a film and media culture for the Middlesbrough area which will further expand and increase the profile of Middlesbrough nationally and internationally. Six Bend Trap is the first ever feature film made in the Middlesbrough area. Further points of interest, the movie is the first ever independent script to screen shot in High Definition in the UK. Quite a coup for Middlesbrough.
Town Centre
Architecture
Middlesbrough does not have an abundance of old architecture due to its youth as a town, not being incorporated until 1853. Even so, Middlesbrough is home to a variety of raw unique structures as well as some newer architecture such as 'Spectra-txt'. The surrounding landscape of industry has its own sense of beauty, much of it lying outside of the Middlesbrough boundaries in Billingham and Wilton. The terraced Victorian streets surrounding the town centre are characterful elements of Middlesbrough's identity. The vast streets surrounding Parliament Road and Abingdon Road are a reminder of the area's wealth and rapid growth during industrialisation.
The Town Hall, built between 1883 and 1887 and a Grade II Listed Building, is nonetheless a most imposing structure, while the earlier Old Town Hall of 1864 has undeniable charm. Of comparable grandeur alongside these municipal buildings is the erstwhile Empire Palace of Varieties of 1897, the finest surviving theatre edifice designed by Ernest Runtz in the U.K. The first artist to star there in its guise as a Music Hall was Lily Langtry. Later it became an early nightclub (1950s), then a bingo-hall and is now once again a night club in the form of 'The Theatre'. It has recently, as of 2005, had the missing ornate glass and steel over-canopy to the front entrance fully restored. Further afield in Linthorpe, can be found the Little Theatre (now Middlesbrough Theatre), the first new theatre built in England after World War II.
The town can also boast this country’s only public sculpture by the celebrated modern American artist Claes Oldenburg, the "Bottle O' Notes" of 1993, which relates to Captain James Cook. Based alongside it today in the town's Central Gardens is the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, the successor to previous art galleries on Linthorpe Road and Gilkes Street. Recently refurbished is the Carnegie library dating from 1912. The Dorman Long office on Zetland Road, constructed between 1881 and 1891, is the only commercial building ever designed by Philip Webb, the great architect who worked for Sir Isaac Lowthian Bell.
The town's centre has been undergoing a modernising makeover in recent years, including the addition of 'Spectra-txt,' a 10 metre high interactive tower of metal and fibre-optics inspired by Blade Runner. 'Spectra-txt' allows the public to send an SMS (text) message via mobiles phones to change the colours of the lights. Texting various codes, such as 'Chromapop' produce a display of changing colour lights.
Shopping
There is a large and comprehensive shopping district made up of several separate shopping centres, which include 'The Mall Cleveland' renamed in 2005 from 'Cleveland Shopping Centre,' 'Dundas Street Shopping' renamed in 2005 from 'Dundas Shopping Arcade,' 'Hill Street Shopping Centre' and 'Captain Cook Square.' Linthorpe Road is home to several independent and national fashion shops, most notably the multi-award winning [Psyche], regularly scooping accolades over the likes of the Selfridges, Harvey Nichols & Liberty stores in London, and hence regarded as one of the finest of its kind in the United Kingdom. A recent four-part BBC documentary was made about the store, which highlighted how seriously Teessiders take fashion in this solidly working class area.
Nightlife
During university term time Middlesbrough is busy throughout the week with student nights taking place throughout the towns bars and clubs. During the holidays the town is predominantly busy from Thursday to Sunday. The most popular venue is the Empire in the centre of town. A range of events are played here which include music from dance and hip-hop.
Club Bongo is another popular weekend venue located near Middlesbrough Train Station and what is commonly referred to as the Red Light District. The Crown on Linthorpe Road, Cornerhouse, Barracuda are also popular. It also has a Cineworld Cinema on the leisure park on Marton Road.
There are a number of Nightclubs and public houses in the town centre. Such other inner-town structures as The Masham and The Shakespeare, on Linthorpe Road, have long retired from their former purposes as public houses.
Middlesbrough: the Future
The Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA) is an impressive £19 million gallery for contemporary visual art, and has been designed by one of Europe's top architects Erick van Egeraat (Rotterdam and London). It is due to open in 2006.
As part of it's £1.5 billion investment programme, Tees Valley Regeneration has started work on reclaiming Middlesbrough Docklands with the £500 million [Middlehaven] scheme to bring new business and homes to a 250 acre (1 km²) area.
The first phase around the former docklands has already begun and is visible from the Riverside Stadium. The master plan drawn up by Will Alsop in 2004, includes proposals for the relocation of Middlesbrough College, the building of a virtual reality centre by Teesside University (part of the [Digital City] development), in addition to numerous offices, hotels, bars, restaurants and leisure attractions. [Tees Valley Regeneration] now has a shortlist of five developers seeking to build at [Middlehaven], the list includes some of the most prestigious and groundbreaking names in development and regeneration, and a decision on the chosen developer is due to be made in the next few months.The [Stockton-Middlesbrough Initiative] is a 20 year vision for regenerating the urban core of the Tees Valley, the main focus being the area of 30 km² along the banks of the River Tees between the two centres of Stockton and Middlesbrough. The master plan has been drawn up by environmental design specialists [Gillespies], the eventual aim being to create a distinctive high-quality city of over 320,000 citizens at the heart of the Tees Valley, by connecting both Middlesbrough and Stockton along the Tees corridor. The project will include not only the existing developments at [Middlehaven] and [North Shore] Stockton, but many others over a 15-20 year period.
Middlesbrough has also recently announced plans to build a 120-metre tower on the site of the old Odeon Cinema in Central Middlesbrough at the eastern end of Newport road and will be the tallest building in the North East, surpassing the existing record already held by Middlesbrough's own Centre North East building. This will be the first of such skyscrapers proposed in Middlesbrough with two more visioned for Middlehaven. The second one on the Middlehaven site is the most unlikely but still being considered and could see either an American or Dubai based company to build a skyscraper 250-300 metres in height, showing Middlesbrough is progressing into the future and is a growing centre for commerce and development. The idea for such skyscrapers is the result of limited land area in Middlesbrough. Instead of building outwards and subsequently having to apply for boundary extension, it makes sense to build up. It sees Middlesbrough a participant in the Skyscraper Boom currently hitting the UK which the U.S. experienced in the early 1900s.
Culture & Leisure
Long-awaited flagship art gallery project, the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art is taking shape and is poised to open in Winter 2006. Its considerable arts and crafts collections span from 1900 to the present day. Surrounding it is the town's overhauled Victoria Square and Central Gardens, in tandem producing "the largest civic space in Europe".[1]
Middlesbrough can boast two major recreational park spaces in Albert Park and Stewart Park, Marton. Originally dubbed in its conception as 'The People's Park' and donated to the town by Bolckow in 1866, to be formally opened by Prince Arthur, youngest son of the monarch, on 11 August 1868, the former comprises of a 30 hectare (70 acre) site accessible from Linthorpe Road. It underwent a considerable period of restoration from 2001 to 2004, during which a number of the Park's most vaunted landmarks, including a fountain, bandstand and sundial saw either restoration or revival. Alongside these two respectively are two of the town's premier cultural attractions, the century-old Dorman Memorial Museum and the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum, in close proximity to which is a granite urn marking the spot of the supposed birthplace of the noted explorer.
Newham Grange Leisure farm in Coulby Newham, one of the most southerly districts of the town, has operated continuously in this spot since the 17th century. Now a burgeoning tourist attraction, the chance to view its various cattle, pigs, sheep and other perennial farm animals is complimented by exhibitions of the farming history of the area.
Back in the 'Old Town' or St Hilda's, is the Transporter Bridge Visitor Centre, opened in 2000 and offering its own exhibitions charting the high-octane past of the heart of the surrounding industrial powerhouse, as well as that of the singular structure it commemorates.
Sport
The Premiership football team, Middlesbrough F.C., owned by local entrepreneur and Bulkhaul boss Steve Gibson, is based at the Riverside Stadium by the River Tees, having moved from its traditional home at Ayresome Park during the 1990s. Having endured 128 years without a major trophy, Middlesbrough finally won the Carling Cup in 2004, beating Bolton Wanderers 2–1 in the final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
In the 2005–2006 season, trying for the UEFA Cup, Middlesbrough was the only North Eastern team represented in European competition, having finished 7th in the 2004–2005 FA Premier League. Having beat Basel and Steaua Bucureşti 4–3 in previous rounds and come back from 0–3 down in both games, Middlesbrough Football Club in its first ever UEFA Cup final unfortunately lost and was on the wrong side of a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Sevilla FC at the Philips Stadion on 10 May 2006. The efforts of then manager, Steve McClaren, though, were recognised in his appointment to succeed Sven-Goran Eriksson at the helm of the England national team after that summer's World Cup. Taking the helm at Middlesbrough is long-serving defender Gareth Southgate, to the chagrin of various FA officials.
Education
Middlesbrough has been a university town since 1992. The University of Teesside has more than 20,000 students, and a history dating back to 1930 as Constantine Technical College.
The University of Teesside is internationally recognised as a leading institute for computer animation and games design and along with ARC at Stockton-on-Tees, Cineworld cinema in Middlesbrough, and the Riverside Stadium, hosts the annual Animex International Festival of Animation.
The university also houses Teesside Business School as well as other specialised Schools of Arts & Media, Computing, Health & Social Care, Science & Technology and Social Sciences & Law. During Middlesbrough's past the University, as Teesside Polytechnic, was a highly regarded institution for the teaching of such disciplines as chemical engineering. It has fared well as of late in the 2005 National Student Survey, with its Law, English and Design departments amongst the nation's 25% most highly regarded. Even so, it could only muster a rank of 91st out of 100 UK universities in the 2006 Times Good University Guide.
The University is not alone in providing further and higher education in the town. There is the usual selection of modern schools and sixth forms, such as The King's Academy in Coulby Newham and Macmillan Academy on Stockton Road and is in the top 25 non-private secondary schools in the country, while with a further 16,000 students Middlesbrough College covers the four campuses of Acklam, Kirby, Marton and Longlands, including the one-time Acklam Hall. Also on offer in Linthorpe, are two of three campuses of the Cleveland College of Art and Design, the only such college remaining in the North-East. The college offers several BA (Hons) degrees in art and design, as well as many other further education courses in art, design and crafts.
The £17 million Unity City Academy which replaced the Langbaurgh and Keldholme secondary schools in east Middlesbrough was one of the first schools to open as part of the government's £5bn programme for transforming failing comprehensives. However, there is specualtion that the school may close due to its unsuccess. In 2005 an unusually large proportion of pupils gained no GCSEs and only a mere 6% of pupils gained 5 A*-C grades compared with a national average of 51%
Eminent residents
The world famous explorer, navigator, and map maker Captain James Cook was born in Marton, which is now a suburb in the south-east of Middlesbrough.
Other famous people from the town include:
- Sports
- * Rugby player Rory Underwood
- * Footballers Don Revie, Wilf Mannion and Brian Clough
- * Olympic swimmer Jack Hatfield
- * Commonwealth Games swimmer Alyson Jones
- The Arts
- *Comedians Dave Morris, Bob Mortimer, Roy Chubby Brown and Kevin Connelly
- *Musicians Chris Rea, Paul Rodgers, David Coverdale and Vin Garbutt
- *Actors Wendy Richard, Liz Carling, Thelma Barlow, Lila Kaye,Christopher Quinten and Jerry Desmonde
- *Visual artists Mackenzie Thorpe, Robert Nixon and Steve Bell
- *In addition, Ridley Scott was born in South Shields but lived in and around Teesside for much of his life.
- *Middlesbrough born Mike McCarthy wrote and directed the first ever HD feature film made in the Town, Six Bend Trap.
- Other Entertainers:
- *Magician Paul Daniels
- *TV Presenter Kirsten O'Brien
- *X Factor Contestants and third place runners up Journey South
Adrian 'Six Medals' Warburton, air photographer, was played by Alec Guinness in 'Malta Story'.
Crime
Over the past decade Middlesbrough was ranked amongst the 10 worst districts for acquisitive crime rates in England (with the TS1 area ranking 1st most deprived area in the UK), peaking at 4th place often behind Manchester, Nottingham, Kingston upon Hull and parts of Inner London. This is surprising considering the town's size in comparison to the other cities. However, over the last two years recorded crime rates in Middlesbrough have declined including a 50% reduction in robbery. Whilst violent crime has risen with national trends it is important to emphasise the influence of recording methods rather than an actual surge in violent crime. The most serious violent offences within Middlesbrough have declined in the past two years.
Image gallery
References
See also
- Parmo, a local delicacy
- Middlesbrough Music Live
- List of bands/musicians from North East England
- A66 road
- Middlesbrough Football Club
- mima
External links
- [Middlesbrough online forum - Sign up and chat with others from the town]
- [This is Middlesbrough - Your guide to the town]
- [Statistics] about Middlesbrough from the Office for National Statistics Census 2001
- [University of Teesside]
- [Official Middlesbrough Council Website]
- [Middlesbrough Criminal Underworld Articles]
- [icTeesside - Local news and information for the Teesside region]
- [Tees Valley Blog] What to See and Do in the Tees Valley.
- [Tees Valley Information]
- [Brief History of Middlesbrough]
- [Genuki - History of Eston parish & District] Descriptions from Bulmer's History and Directory of North Yorkshire (1890), retrieved 8th February 2006
- [Middlesbrough Business Information & Forum]
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.