Tyneside Geordieland Newcastle-Gateshead
Built-up area
TheRiver Tyne betweenGateshead andNewcastle
Built-up area's sub divisions
Tyneside Location of Tyneside in northern England
Coordinates:54°59′15″N1°27′30″W / 54.98750°N 1.45833°W /54.98750; -1.45833
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Country	England
Region	North East
County	Tyne and Wear
Population  (2011)
• Total	774,891
Time zone	GMT (UTC)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)

Tyneside is abuilt-up area across the banks of theRiver Tyne inNorthern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to asGeordies. The whole area is surrounded by theNorth East Green Belt.

The population of Tyneside as published in the2011 census was 774,891, making it the eighth most-populousurban area in the United Kingdom.^[1] In 2013, the estimated population was 832,469.^[2]

Politically, the area is mainly covered by themetropolitan boroughs ofNewcastle-upon-Tyne,Gateshead,North Tyneside andSouth Tyneside. The boroughs on the Tyne are joint withWearside which is in both the ceremonial counties ofDurham (Chester-le-Street) andTyne and Wear.

TheONS 2011 census had 774,891 census respondents inside the "Tyneside Built-up Area" or "Tyneside Urban Area".^[3] These figures are a decline from 879,996;^[4] this loss was mainly due to the ONS reclassifyingHetton-le-Hole,Houghton-le-Spring,Chester-le-Street andWashington in theWearside Built-up Area instead of Tyneside. In both the 2001 and 2011 census the area was given the following subdivisions; Gateshead, Jarrow and Tynemouth had boundary changes:

The people of Newcastle, called "Geordies", have a reputation for their distinctive dialect and accent. Newcastle may have been given this name, a local diminutive of the name "George", because theirminers usedGeorge Stephenson'ssafety lamp (invented in 1815 and called a "Georgie lamp") to preventfiredamp explosions, rather than theDavy lamp used elsewhere. An alternative explanation relates that during theJacobite risings of 1715 and 1745 the people of Newcastle declared their allegiance to theHanoverian Kings of Great Britain,George I andGeorge II; whereas the rest of the county ofNorthumberland, to the north, stood loyal toJames Francis Edward Stuart.

While Newcastle upon Tyne had been an important local centre since Roman times, and was a major local market town from the Middle Ages, the development of Newcastle and Tyneside is owed tocoal mining. Coal was first known to be dug in Tyneside from superficial seams in around 1200, but there is some evidence fromBede's writings that it may have been dug as early as 800 AD. Coal was dug from localdrift mines andbell pits, and although initially only used locally, it was exported from the port of Newcastle from the mid 14th century onwards. Tyneside had a strategic advantage as far as the coal trade was concerned, becausecollier brigs could be loaded with coal on the Tyne and could sail down the east coast to London. In fact, the burgesses of Newcastle formed a cartel, and were known as theHostmen. The Hostmen were able gain a monopoly over all of the coal exported from Tyneside, a monopoly which lasted a considerable time. A well-known group of workers on the river were thekeelmen who handled thekeels, boats that carried the coal from the riverbanks to the waiting colliers.^[5]

TheDerwent (valley), a major tributary of the Tyne that rises inCounty Durham, saw the development of thesteel industry from around 1600 onwards. This was led by German immigrant cutlers and sword-makers, probably from aroundSolingen, who fled fromreligious persecution at home and settled in the then village ofShotley Bridge, nearConsett.

The combination of coal and steel industries in the area was the catalyst for further major industrial development in the 19th century, including theshipbuilding industry; at its peak, the Tynesideshipyards were one of the largest centres of shipbuilding in the world and built an entire navy forJapan in the first decade of the 20th century. There is still a working shipyard inWallsend.

From early in the 19th century, it was a custom to hold boat races on the Tyne. The Tyne had a large number of keelmen and wherrymen, who handled boats as part of their jobs. As on theRiver Thames, there were competitions to show who was the best oarsman. As a wherryman did not earn very much, competitive rowing was seen as a quick way of earning extra money. Regattas were held, and provided modest prizes for professionals, but the big money was made in challenge races, in whichscullers or boat crews would challenge each other to a race over a set distance for a side stake. The crews would usually have backers, who would put up the stake money, as they saw the chance of financial gain from the race. In the days before mass attendances at football matches, races on the river were enormously popular, with tens of thousands attending. Betting would go on both before and during a race, the odds changing as the fortunes of the contestants changed. Contestants who became champions of the Tyne would often challenge the corresponding champions of the River Thames, and the race would be arranged to take place on one of the two rivers.

Rivalry between the Tyne and the Thames was very keen, and rowers who upheld the honour of the Tyne became local heroes. Three such oarsmen, who came from humble backgrounds and became household names in the North East, wereHarry Clasper,Robert Chambers andJames Renforth.Clasper was a champion rower in fours, as well as an innovative boat designer and a successful rowing coach.Chambers andRenforth were oarsmen who excelled atsculling. Both held the World Sculling Championship at different times.The popularity of all three men was such that when they died, many thousands attended their funeral processions, and magnificent funeral monuments were provided by popular subscription in all three cases. At the end of the 19th century professional competitive rowing on the Tyne began a gradual decline and would die out entirely leaving the amateur version.^[6]

Despite its rapid growth in theIndustrial Revolution, Tyneside developed one peculiar local custom, therapper sword dance, which later spread to neighbouring areas of Northumberland and County Durham.

During the 1970s and 1980s, there was majorindustrial decline in the traditional Britishheavy industries, and Tyneside was hit hard. High unemployment rates and the national [Thatcher] government's resolve to push through with economic transformation led to great social unrest with strikes and occasional rioting in depressed areas.

From the late 1980s onward, an improving national economy and local regeneration helped the area to recover, and although unemployment is still a problem compared with some other areas of Britain, expansion of new industries such astourism,science andhigh-technology, has fuelled local development, especially in Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead.

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Tyneside at current basic prices published by the Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British pounds sterling.^[7]

• Urban areas of England
• Geography of Tyne and Wear
• NUTS 3 statistical regions of the United Kingdom
• River Tyne

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