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Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear within England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Constituent country England
Region North East
Established 1974
(Local Government Act 1972) Created from the five county boroughs within Northumberland (North of Tyne) and County Durham (South of Tyne)
Time zone UTC±00:00 (Greenwich Mean Time)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+01:00 (British Summer Time)
Police Northumbria Police
Ceremonial county
Lord Lieutenant Susan Winfield
High Sheriff Mrs Sarah Stewart (2020–21)
Area 538 km2 (208 sq mi)
 • Ranked 44th of 48
Population (2005 est.) 1,095,200
 • Ranked 12th of 48
Density 2,028/km2 (5,250/sq mi)
Ethnicity 2011:
91.49% White British
4.10% Asian
1.98% Other White
0.97% Mixed
0.78% Black
0.67% Other
Metropolitan county
Area 538 km2 (208 sq mi)
ONS code 2D
GSS code E11000007
ITL UKC22/23
Districts
Tyne and Wear numbered districts.svg
Districts of Tyne and Wear
Districts
  1. Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead
  2. Newcastle upon Tyne
  3. North Tyneside
  4. South Tyneside
  5. City of Sunderland

Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland, North Tyneside and South Tyneside. It is bordered by Northumberland to the north and Durham to the south; the county boundary was formerly split between these counties with the border as the River Tyne.

The former county council was based at Sandyford House. There is no longer county level local governance following the county council disbanding in 1986, by the Local Government Act 1985, with the metropolitan boroughs functioning separately. The county still exists as a metropolitan county and ceremonial purposes, as a geographic frame of reference. There are two combined authorities covering parts of the county area, North of Tyne and North East.

History

The Local Government Act 1888 constituted Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead and Sunderland as county boroughs (Newcastle had "county corporate" status as the "County and Town of Newcastle upon Tyne" since 1400). Tynemouth joined them in 1904. Between the county boroughs, various other settlements also formed part of the administrative counties of Durham and of Northumberland.

The need to reform local government on Tyneside was recognised by the government as early as 1935, when a Royal Commission to Investigate the Conditions of Local Government on Tyneside was appointed. The three commissioners were to

examine the system of local government in the areas of local government north and south of the river Tyne from the sea to the boundary of the Rural District of Castle Ward and Hexham in the County of Northumberland and to the Western boundary of the County of Durham, to consider what changes, if any, should be made in the existing arrangements with a view to securing greater economy and efficiency, and to make recommendations.

The report of the Royal Commission, published in 1937, recommended the establishment of a Regional Council for Northumberland and Tyneside (to be called the "Northumberland Regional Council") to administer services that needed to be exercised over a wide area, with a second tier of smaller units for other local-government purposes. The second-tier units would form by amalgamating the various existing boroughs and districts. The county boroughs in the area would lose their status. Within this area, a single municipality would be formed covering the four county boroughs of Newcastle, Gateshead, Tynemouth, South Shields and other urban districts and boroughs.

A minority report proposed amalgamation of Newcastle, Gateshead, Wallsend, Jarrow, Felling, Gosforth, Hebburn and Newburn into a single "county borough of Newcastle-on-Tyneside". The 1937 proposals never came in to operation: local authorities could not agree on a scheme and the legislation of the time did not allow central government to compel one.

Tyneside (excluding Sunderland) was a Special Review Area under the Local Government Act 1958. The Local Government Commission for England came back with a recommendation to create a new county of Tyneside based on the review area, divided into four separate boroughs. This was not implemented. The Redcliffe-Maud Report proposed a Tyneside unitary authority, again excluding Sunderland, which would have set up a separate East Durham unitary authority.

The White Paper that led to the Local Government Act 1972 proposed as "area 2" a metropolitan county including Newcastle and Sunderland, extending as far south down the coast as Seaham and Easington, and bordering "area 4" (which would become Cleveland). The Bill as presented in November 1971 pruned back the southern edge of the area, and gave it the name "Tyneside". The name "Tyneside" proved controversial on Wearside, and a government amendment changed the name to "Tyne and Wear" at the request of Sunderland County Borough Council.

post-1974 pre-1974
Metropolitan county Metropolitan borough County boroughs Non-county boroughs Urban districts Rural districts
Tyne and Wear County.png
Tyne and Wear amalgamates 24 former local government districts, including five county boroughs.
Gateshead Gateshead - Blaydon • Felling • Ryton • Whickham • Chester-le-Street
Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne - Gosforth • Newburn • Castle Ward •
North Tyneside Tynemouth Wallsend • Whitley Bay • Longbenton • Seaton Valley • -
South Tyneside South Shields Jarrow Boldon • Hebburn • -
Sunderland Sunderland - Washington• Houghton-le-Spring• Hetton-le-Hole Easington •

Climate

Tyne and Wear either has or closely borders two official Met Office stations, neither located in one of the major urban centres. The locations for those are in marine Tynemouth where Tyne meets the North Sea east of Newcastle and inland Durham in County Durham around 20 kilometres (12 mi) south-west of Sunderland. There are some clear differences between the stations temperature and precipitation patterns even though both have a cool-summer and mild-winter oceanic climate.

Climate data for Tynemouth 33m asl, 1981–2010
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 7.2
(45.0)
7.3
(45.1)
9.0
(48.2)
10.3
(50.5)
12.7
(54.9)
15.6
(60.1)
18.1
(64.6)
18.1
(64.6)
16.1
(61.0)
13.2
(55.8)
9.7
(49.5)
6.4
(43.5)
12.1
(53.8)
Average low °C (°F) 2.2
(36.0)
2.2
(36.0)
3.3
(37.9)
4.8
(40.6)
7.2
(45.0)
10.0
(50.0)
12.3
(54.1)
12.3
(54.1)
10.4
(50.7)
7.7
(45.9)
4.9
(40.8)
2.5
(36.5)
6.7
(44.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 45.5
(1.79)
37.8
(1.49)
43.9
(1.73)
45.4
(1.79)
43.2
(1.70)
51.9
(2.04)
47.6
(1.87)
59.6
(2.35)
53.0
(2.09)
53.6
(2.11)
62.8
(2.47)
53.9
(2.12)
597.2
(23.51)
Mean monthly sunshine hours 61.1 81.6 117.7 149.9 191.7 183.0 185.7 174.9 174.1 106.2 70.4 51.9 1,515
Source: Met Office
Climate data for Durham 102m asl, 1981–2010, extremes 1850–
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 16.7
(62.1)
17.4
(63.3)
21.7
(71.1)
24.1
(75.4)
27.8
(82.0)
30.6
(87.1)
31.0
(87.8)
32.5
(90.5)
30.0
(86.0)
25.0
(77.0)
19.4
(66.9)
15.9
(60.6)
32.5
(90.5)
Average high °C (°F) 6.6
(43.9)
7.2
(45.0)
9.5
(49.1)
11.9
(53.4)
15.0
(59.0)
17.6
(63.7)
20.1
(68.2)
19.8
(67.6)
17.2
(63.0)
13.3
(55.9)
9.4
(48.9)
6.7
(44.1)
12.9
(55.2)
Average low °C (°F) 0.9
(33.6)
0.9
(33.6)
2.3
(36.1)
3.7
(38.7)
6.1
(43.0)
9.0
(48.2)
11.1
(52.0)
11.0
(51.8)
9.0
(48.2)
6.3
(43.3)
3.4
(38.1)
1.1
(34.0)
5.4
(41.7)
Record low °C (°F) −17.2
(1.0)
−18.3
(−0.9)
−15
(5)
−11.1
(12.0)
−4.4
(24.1)
−1.1
(30.0)
1.1
(34.0)
0.6
(33.1)
−1.1
(30.0)
−5.5
(22.1)
−8.8
(16.2)
−16.6
(2.1)
−18.3
(−0.9)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 52.3
(2.06)
41.8
(1.65)
44.6
(1.76)
52.7
(2.07)
44.2
(1.74)
55.4
(2.18)
54.0
(2.13)
60.8
(2.39)
55.4
(2.18)
60.9
(2.40)
72.0
(2.83)
57.0
(2.24)
651.1
(25.63)
Mean monthly sunshine hours 58.6 80.3 115.5 150.3 181.7 164.8 172.3 167.3 134.5 102.8 66.4 51.2 1,445.4
Source 1: Met Office
Source 2: NEForum

Settlements

For a complete list of all villages, towns and cities see the list of places in Tyne and Wear.

Borough/City Locality Authority
Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead Low Fell

Blaydon
Sheriff Hill
Gateshead
Rowlands Gill
Ryton
Whickham

Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council
City of Newcastle upon Tyne Byker

Gosforth
North Kenton
Blakelaw
Fenham
Elswick
Newburn
Walbottle
Westerhope
Jesmond
West Moor
Heaton
Newcastle upon Tyne
Throckley
Walker

Newcastle upon Tyne City Council
Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside Backworth

Benton
Cullercoats
Earsdon
Forest Hall
Killingworth
Longbenton
Monkseaton
North Shields
Preston
Tynemouth
Wallsend
Whitley Bay
Wideopen

North Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council
Metropolitan Borough of South Tyneside Boldon

Cleadon
Hebburn
Jarrow
South Shields
Whitburn

South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council
City of Sunderland Castletown

Fulwell
Hendon
Herrington
Hetton-le-Hole
Houghton-le-Spring
Hylton Red House
Newbottle
Penshaw
Rainton
Ryhope
Seaburn
Silksworth
Shiney Row
South Hylton
Southwick
Springwell Village
Sunderland
Washington
Warden Law

Sunderland City Council

Places of interest

Images for kids

See also

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