Whickham

infobox UK place
country = England
official_name= Whickham
latitude= 54.94558
longitude= -1.67262
metropolitan_borough= Gateshead
metropolitan_county= Tyne and Wear
region= North East England
constituency_westminster= Blaydon
postcode_district = NE16
postcode_area= NE
dial_code= 0191
post_town=
population=

Whickham is a town in North East England, four miles south west of Newcastle upon Tyne and four and a half miles west of Gateshead centre. Whickham is part of the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, though bizarrely its postal address is Whickham, Newcastle upon Tyne. Whickham is situated on high ground overlooking the River Tyne and the MetroCentre.

Whickham is a living town, with many social, cultural and business activities. This has always been the case. From the Romans to early English settlement to the Norman Conquest, agriculture, the Anglo-Scottish wars, the rise and fall of the coal and iron industries, the Reformation, the dawn of railway transportation, electoral reform, twentieth century war to suburbia, these great historical themes have influenced life in Whickham.

The parish, which contains the ancient townships or quarters of Swalwell and Whickham, and part of Fellside, is bounded on the north by the Tyne, on the west by the parishes of Winlaton and Stella, on the south-west and south by Lamesley and Marley Hill and on the east by Dunston. The ancient parish also included Lowside₁ or Dunston, which was formed into a distinct parish in 1872, and that part of Fellside which includes the villages of Marley Hill and Sunniside, which now form part of the township of Marley Hill. The parish priest is Fr. Michael Humble.

The village underwent some expansion in the 50s when the so called Lake District Estate was built just off Whickham Highway then later in the decade John Moody built the Oakfield Estate just off Whaggs Lane. However house building in the early 60s truly transformed the village into a small town. Grange Estate began the seemingly unending development by Bell the builder which went on into Clavering Park, Clavering Grange, the Cedars and then Fellside Park. Schools followed but there is some debate that the real spirit of the village was lost when the main street of Whickham was demolished and rebuilt at Beamish Museum.²

The town also has a local comprehensive, Whickham School, which saw the birth in 1979, of cult pop band Ten Bob Nostril, with Michael Kirkup (guitar/piano & vocals), Eric Lawrence (bass/backing vocals) and Steve Milmore (drums). Though described as `unimportant' by someone editing this site, the band had a great local following, and played an emotional farewell concert at St Mary's Church Hall on Kirkup's 18th birthday on 9th April 1980, climaxing in a terrific rocking version of Bob Dylan's A HARD RAIN'S A GONNA-FALL...in G major._] 3

References

* [http://www.webwanderers.org/12_whickham/ Whickham Web Wanderers]
*www.heymickitsericssonmark.com.au
*www.gatesheadcouncil.org
*www.whickhamcommunity.org.uk