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NORTH EAST TIMELINE

Above: St. Aidan's Statue, Holy Island, Northumberland. Photo courtesy of freefoto.com

Prime Minister Tony Blair and The Millennium History of North East England by David Simpson. Photo courtesy of The Northern Echo

 

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Timeline of North East History

PITS AND POLITICS 1970AD - 1989AD

By David Simpson

One of the most important political changes of the 1970s was the establishment of the new counties of Cleveland and Tyne and Wear which swallowed up the most populous chunks of Northumberland, Durham and North Yorkshire. Coalmines continued to close in the 1970s and 1980s - with the issue coming to a head with the Miners’ Strike of 1984 - and by the end of the 1980s, there were only six collieries left in the land between Tyne and Tees.

1970-1989 : 1970 / 1974 / 1980 / 1984 / 1987 / 1988

Colliery closures : The 1970s

The Twentieth Century: 1901-1919 / 1920-1939 / 1939-1949 / 1950-1969 / 1970-1989 / 1990-2000

Sport: Sport

1970 - BEAMISH MUSEUM
(County Durham)
The North of England Open Air Museum has been established at Beamish by Frank Atkinson. The museum will bring to life the social and economic history of the region.

1970 - RESERVOIR OPENS
(Teesdale)
Cow Green reservoir opens in Teesdale supplying homes and industries on Teesside with water.

1970 - MONSANTO
(Teesside)
Monsanto, a textiles company, establishes a plant at Seal Sands for production of acylonite for making acrylic fibre.

1971 - THE SERVICE SECTOR
(Tyneside)
About 53 per cent of Tyneside employment is now in the service sector. Manufacturing and heavy industry no longer dominate the Tyneside scene.

1972 - POWER STATION COMMENCES SUPPLY
(Hartlepool)
Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station has started supplying electricity. Its construction began in 1968.

1974 April 1, - TYNE AND WEAR AND CLEVELAND CREATED
(North-East)
Local government reforms have considerably changed the shape of County Durham's boundaries. Gateshead, Jarrow, Blaydon, South Shields and Sunderland have all been moved from County Durham into the new county of Tyne and Wear. Most of the Tyneside area north of the Tyne has been moved from Northumberland into Tyne and Wear. In southern County Durham, Hartlepool has been moved into the newly-created County of Clevaland which includes most of the old borough of Teesside, which dates from 1967, plus areas of rural North Yorkshire including Guisborough.

1974 - METRO STARTED
(Tyneside)
The building of the Metro Rapid Transport System commences on Tyneside.

September 27, 1975 - RAILWAY CELEBRATIONS
(Darlington)
The 150th anniversary celebrations of the Stockton and Darlington Railway are held. The Duke of Edinburgh visits the celebrations at Preston Park and opens the North Road Station Museum in Darlington.

1976 - KIELDER RESERVOIR
(Tynedale)
The construction of the Kielder Dam has begun in North Tynedale. The resulting reservoir in North Tynedale has been built primarily to supply the thirsty industries of Teesside.

1970S COLLIERY CLOSURES
(North-East)
Collieries which have closed in Northumberland and Durham over the last decade include: Adventure Pit (Rainton), Bardon Mill, Bedlington A, Blackburn Fell (Gateshead), Burradon, Elemore, Fishburn, Hylton, Kibblesworth, Langley Park, Medomsley, Metal Bridge, Nettlesworth, Shotton, Silksworth, Thornley, Usworth, Washington Glebe and Whitworth Park (Spennymoor)

May 4, 1979 - THATCHER IS PM
(Britain)
Margaret Thatcher has been elected as Britain's first woman Prime Minister.

1979 - SHIPYARD CLOSURES
(North-East)
Between 1974 and 1979, there have been five shipyard closures in the North-East. There are now only eight shipyards left in the region.

1980 - DOCK CLOSES
(Middlesbrough)
The Tees and Hartlepool Port Authority has closed Middlesbrough Dock to commercial traffic. The Dock is scheduled for redevelopment.

1980 - CONSETT WORKS CLOSE
(Consett)
The Consett Steel Works are closed on economic grounds.

1980 - METRO OPENS
(Tyneside)
The first section of railway line for Tyneside's Metro Rapid Transport System is offically opened. It runs from Newcastle's Haymarket to Tynemouth.

1981 - SERVICE SECTOR INCREASES
(Tyneside)
Tyneside employment in the service sector is now 63 per cent.

July 16, 1983 - 100th MINERS' GALA HELD
(Durham City)
The 100th Durham Miners’ Gala is held in Durham City. The gala has been held every year since 1871 with the exception of the war periods 1915-1918 and 1940-45.

1984 - WAGON WORKS CLOSE
(Shildon)
The Shildon Wagon Works close on economic grounds. The works has been responsible for building most of Britain's railway freight wagons.

March 12, 1984 - MINERS' STRIKE
(Britain)
Mines across the country are out on strike in protest over pit closures.

1984 - NEW BISHOP
(County Durham)
David Jenkins becomes the new Bishop of Durham. He is noted for his outspoken and controversial beliefs, including doubts over the resurrection of Christ and the Virgin birth. He is consecrated at York Minster.

July 1984 - MINSTER FIRE
(York)
A major fire destroys parts of York Minster after it is hit by lightning.

1984 - WORLD'S MOST BEAUTIFUL BUILDING
(Durham City)
In celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Royal Institute of British Architects, a panel of 50 architectural experts votes Durham Cathedral the most beautiful building in the world.

1986 - TEES IS NUMBER THREE
(Teesside)
The port of Tees is the third largest port in the UK in terms of tonnage shipped.

September 1986 - NISSAN OPENS
(Washington/Sunderland)
Nissan becomes the first Japanese company to open a factory in Britain when it establishes a car plant at Sunderland.

1987 - WORLD HERITAGE SITE
(Durham City)
Durham Cathedral and Castle are declared a World Heritage Site, one of only a few selected sites designated as such in Britain by UNESCO.

1987 - SHIP RESTORED
(Hartlepool)
The restoration of HMS Warrior is completed at Hartlepool.

1987 - DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONS
(Tyne and Wear and Teesside)
Two new development corporations - Teesside Development Corporation and Tyne and wear Development Corporation - are established. They invest millions of pounds into developing the region's two major urban areas.

1987 - SHIPYARD CLOSURES
(Middlesbrough)
The 15,000 tonne North Islands was launched on October 15, 1986, and it enters history as the last ship ever to be launched on the Tees at Smiths Dock, South Bank, as the shipyard is closing with the loss of 1,295 jobs.

October 1987 - METROCENTRE OPENS
(Gateshead)
Europe's largest shopping and leisure complex is opened.

1988 - SUNDERLAND SHIPBUILDING ENDS
(Sunderland)
The Austin and Pickersgill Shipyard closes at Sunderland bringing an end to shipbuilding in a place which once described itself as the largest shipbuilding town in the world. There have been seven shipyard closures in the 1980s and only one now remains - the Swan Hunter Yard on the Tyne at Wallsend.

PITS AND POLITICS 1970AD - 1989AD

1970-1989 : 1970 / 1974 / 1980 / 1984 / 1987 / 1988

Colliery closures : The 1970s

The Twentieth Century: 1901-1919 / 1920-1939 / 1939-1949 / 1950-1969 / 1970-1989 / 1990-2000

Sport: Sport

THE TIMELINE BY ERA

ROMAN PERIOD

ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD

VIKING PERIOD

NORMAN PERIOD

MEDIEVAL PERIOD

TUDOR AND STUART PERIOD

GEORGIAN PERIOD

VICTORIAN PERIOD

TWENTIETH CENTURY

 

THE MILLENNIUM HISTORY OF NORTH EAST ENGLAND

by David Simpson

Published by leighton in association with The Northern Echo

ISBN 0-9536984-3-2

The Millennium History of North East England by David Simpson is published by Leighton, The Teleport, Doxford International, Sunderland, SR3 3XD, Tel +44 (0) 191 5252400 Fax +44 (0) 520 1815 www.bepl.com. The book is a 322 page full colour hard back book covering the history of the region from Roman times to the present day. To order copies of the book you can e-mail Andrea.Murphy@bepl.com

Author David Simpson and Paul Callaghan, Managing Director of leighton at the book launch held at Lumley Castle, Durham December 1999

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