Bedlington

Coordinates: 55°08′00″N 1°35′00″W / 55.1333°N 1.5833°W / 55.1333; -1.5833

Bedlington
St. Cuthbert's Church, Bedlington
Bedlington  Bedlington shown within Northumberland
Population	15,400
OS grid reference	NZ258819
Unitary authority	Northumberland
Ceremonial county	Northumberland
Region	North East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BEDLINGTON
Postcode district	NE22
Dialling code	01670
Police	Northumbria
Fire	Northumberland
Ambulance	North East
EU Parliament	North East England
UK Parliament	Wansbeck
List of places: UK • England • Northumberland

Bedlington is a town in Northumberland, to the north of the Tyne and Wear urban area. It lies 10 miles (16 km) north of Newcastle and 4.5 miles (7 km) southeast of the county town of Morpeth. Other nearby places include Ashington to the north northeast, Blyth to the east and Cramlington to the south.

The parish of Bedlington constituted the historic exclave of County Durham called Bedlingtonshire. It is famous for giving its name to a breed of dog - the Bedlington Terrier.^[1][2]

History

The place-name 'Bedlington' is first attested circa 1050 in a biography of Saint Cuthbert, where it appears as 'Bedlingtun'. The name means 'the town of Bedla's people'.^[3]

Bedlington was an industrial town with an iron works and several coal mines. However in more recent times the town has undergone many changes, and is now more of a dormitory town^{[citation needed]}.

Bedlington and the hamlets belonging to it were bought by Cutheard, bishop of Durham, between 900 and 915^{[citation needed]}, and although locally situated in the county of Northumberland became part of the county palatine (from Lat. palatium, a palace) of Durham over which Bishop Walcher was granted royal rights by William the Conqueror.

When these rights were taken from Cuthbert Tunstall, Bishop of Durham, in 1536, Bedlington among his other property lost its special privileges, but was confirmed to him in 1541 with the other property of his predecessors. Together with the other lands of the see of Durham, Bedlington was made over to the ecclesiastical commissioners in 1866. Bedlingtonshire was made part of Northumberland for civil purposes by acts of parliament in 1832 and 1844. (Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844)

Development

At one time there was a railway station, seen here in 1965

The town has good bus links, including the X20, X21 and X22 via Arriva, to nearby Newcastle upon Tyne, which is where the majority of residents have employment. The town's front street has one supermarket, a post office, and several other smaller shops; however, the number of these is starting to decline. A weekly market is held on Thursdays, next to the magistrates' court; the number of market stalls is now also starting to decline, with the event quickly becoming a glorified car boot sale since the opening of a new Tesco supermarket right beside it. Bedlington is served by two secondary schools: Bedlingtonshire Community High School and St Benet Biscop Catholic High School, which was recently awarded Business and Enterprise College status, and is sponsored by the Co-operative Group.

Local Parish

One of the most important historic buildings is the Anglican parish church, which is dedicated to St Cuthbert. It is reputed that the church takes its dedication from an event that occurred December 12, 1069: fleeing northwards from the Conqueror's army, the monks of Durham are said to have rested the body of St Cuthbert in Bedlington Church. The building, originally of Saxon design, was rebuilt about a hundred years later. Little of either the Saxon or the Norman church has survived.

There is a Roman Catholic congregation who worship in a relatively new church called St Bede's. In addition, there is a Salvation Army church.

Hartford Hall lies within the parish. Much of the riverside land between Bedlington and the hall forms the Bedlington Country Park, a designated Local Nature Reserve.^[4]

Local Media

The local newspapers are: The Evening Chronicle, The Journal. These papers cover Tyneside and south east Northumberland. The Newspost Leader is weekly and covers most of the former district of Wansbeck.

Local community radio project South Northumberland Radio Group (SNRG) has been established to provide the community area of Wansbeck, Blyth Valley and Castle Morpeth with broadcast standard facilities for audio recording and training, and also to provide an FM radio service to the district. The studio and transmitter are in Bedlington and soon the station will be open to assist in the creation and broadcast of radio programmes with a local focus. In addition, the studio will be open to individuals, community groups and educational establishments for the purpose of media and technology training, and to facilitate the creation of other audio media.

There are also several radio regional stations provide local broadcasts. Local news on television is provided by ITV Tyne Tees and BBC Look North. These TV stations cover most of the north east, County Durham, Teeside, Tyneside and Northumberland.

Bedlington has reached news as far as the United States with a recent investment by the worlds 488th richest man choosing to invest in Bedlington Terriers Football Club after tracing his family roots to the town.

"Sport can be about local people, local pride and having a lot of fun. For all the Manchester Uniteds, San Francisco 49ers, and Texas Rangers at the top, there are hundreds of minor teams struggling along. Keeping them going is a tremendous challenge."

Notable residents

• John Birkinshaw, railway engineer
• Daniel Gooch (1816–1889), railway and cable engineer
• John Viret Gooch (1812–1900), railway mechanical engineer
• Thomas Longridge Gooch (1808–1882), civil engineer
• Jayne Middlemiss, television presenter and former glamour model
• Denis Murphy (1948–), Labour Party MP for Wansbeck
• Mary Weightman MBE (1906-2005), pianist and animal welfare worker
• Kenneth Pearson (1951-), cricketer

Twin towns

	Country		Place		County / District / Region / State	Date
	Germany		Schalksmühle		North Rhine-Westphalia	1974

Neighbouring towns

• Blyth
• Cramlington
• Bebside
• Stakeford
• Morpeth
• Ashington

See also

• Bedlington Terriers FC
• Bedlington Ironworks

References

1. ^ In the early 1820s, a breeder named Joseph Aynsley started the breed and eventually in 1873 the first Stud Book of The Kennel Club listed 30 Bedlingtons: Muriel P. Lee "Bedlington Terrier"; Interpet Pub., Surrey, 2001. The Bedlington Terrier was developed as a breed in the early 19th century in a village called Bedlington, Northumberland. Folklore has it that the Bedlingtons where used by Romani people of the Rothbury Forest to hunt silently for small game and the livestock of the landowners: Kerry V. Kern, "The Terrier Handbook"; Barron's Edu. Ser., 2005 New York.
2. ^ The Westminster: Road To Ruin Sports Illustrated, February 8, 1960
3. ^ Eilert Ekwall, Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names, p.34.
4. ^ "Local Nature Reserves". Natural England. http://www.lnr.naturalengland.org.uk/Special/lnr/lnr_details.asp?C=0&N=bedlington&ID=1490. Retrieved 1 February 2011. 

External links

• Bedlington Website
• Bedlington Terriers F.C.
• Wansbeck District Council
• Bedlington Photos
• GENUKI (Accessed: 5 November 2008)
• Northumberland Communities (Accessed: 5 November 2008)