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Whitley Bay

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Whitley Bay is a town in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the North Sea coast. The town, which has a population of about 35,000, was originally a holiday destination for the people of North East England and Scotland and remained popular until the 1980s. The town is now widely seen as a dormitory town for Newcastle upon Tyne.

The parishes of Whitley and Monkseaton constituted an urban sanitary district in Northumberland, and therefore become the urban district of Whitley and Monkseaton by the Local Government Act 1894. This became the urban district of Whitley Bay in 1944, and was granted a charter to become a municipal borough in 1944. The 'Bay' was apparently added to avoid confusion with Whitby, further down the coast. [link].

The Local Government Act 1972 abolished the borough, with Hartley in the north of the borough going to Blyth Valley district in Northumberland, and the main part including Whitley and Monkseaton forming part of the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear. However, the town is in the constituency of Tynemouth and its MP is Alan Campbell for the Labour Party. Councillors of the Whitley Bay ward of North Tyneside Council are Alison Austin, Michael McIntyre and Margaret Marshall.

The Whitley Bay Parish Church is St Paul's.

There are several schools in the area, however the largest is Whitley Bay High School.

Contents

Attractions

Whitley Bay was famous for its permanent seaside fairground called The Spanish City, which was demolished for redevelopment in the late 1990s. The Fairground returns to the town on Bank Holiday weekends, but is now located on 'the Links', an expansive seafront park adjacent to the former Spanish City site. The fabulous Spanish City Dome is to become the centre piece of a multimillion pound "regeneration" of the sea front, which will include hotel and leisure developments. Also in the town is St. Mary's Lighthouse. The Spanish City along with Whitley Bay and nearby Cullercoats are all mentioned in the Dire Straits song Tunnel of Love.

Pro-Flex is a well known local weights gym which caters especially to the gay community.

The ice rink was also the region's premier concert venue until the Newcastle Arena (now MetroRadio Arena) opened in 1995. The venue played host to the top names in the music industry throughout the 1980s and 1990s, such as The Cure in 1985, Oasis in 1994 and the Stone Roses in 1995.

The Park View Shopping Centre opened in 2004, which addressed the balance between entertainment and retail in the town centre. However, the closure of many existing shops and the fact that some existing retailers plan to move into the new Shopping Centre leave doubts as to whether this development can help in the task of redressing the entertainment/retail balance. Also the standard of architecture and quality of the shops within the centre leaves a lot to be desired and it is questionable that this new shopping centre is going to be the significant driver in the regeneration of the town that many had been pinning their hopes on.

Whitley Bay remains a popular centre of evening entertainment, with many bars and restaurants, such as the Fire Station, the Bedroom and Blue. It is especially popular for stag and hen nights, with people coming from all over Scotland and the north of England.

Whitley Bay is around eight miles from Newcastle upon Tyne and is connected to the Tyne & Wear Metro, with stations at Whitley Bay, Monkseaton, West Monkseaton and Cullercoats. Only about 20 minutes from Newcastle city centre on the Metro.

The local newspaper, The News Guardian is published once a week from its offices in the town. It is printed at The Journal in nearby Newcastle upon Tyne.

Football

Whitley Bay Football Club play at the town's Hillheads Stadium, which is adjacent to the Ice Rink. The Hillheads Stadium is in the east of town and holds approximately 4500 spectators with 250 seats in the main stand. Now playing in the Northern League, the club hit the national sports headlines in 2002 after winning the FA Vase (amateur FA Cup), beating Tiptree United at Villa Park. The club had previously hit the headlines in 1990 after beating Preston North End on the way to reaching the 3rd round proper of the FA Cup.

The majority of the town's residents are supporters of Newcastle United Football Club, who play in the English Premier League.

Ice hockey

Whitley Bay Ice Rink is home of Whitley Warriors Ice Hockey Club. The team enjoyed great success together with local rivals Durham Wasps at a national level during the 1980s and early 1990s. However, the Durham team has now been replaced by Newcastle Vipers, who play at MetroRadio Arena and have since become the North East's premier Ice Hockey Club.

Famous residents (past and present)


{| class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="4" style="margin: 0 auto; border-collapse: collapse; text-align: center;" |- style="background: #F0F0F0;" ! Preceding station ! colspan="3" | 
Tyne and Wear Metro Lines
! Following station |- style="text-align: center;" | Monkseaton | style="background:#FFFF33;" |   | Yellow line | style="background:#FFFF33;" |   | Cullercoats

See also

External links

 

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