Ashington

The name Ashington comes from the earlier form Essendene, which has been referenced since 1170. This may have originated from a given name Æsc, not unknown among Saxon invaders who sailed from Northern Germany. If so he came to the Wansbeck and would have settled in this deep wooded valley near Sheepwash. The "de" in the early orthographies more strongly suggests dene, so ash dene - these trees would have lined it.[3] In the 1700s all that existed of Ashington was a small farm with a few dwellings around it.

The first evidence of mining is from bell-shaped pits and monastic mine workings discovered in the 20th Century during tunnelling. Ashington developed from a small hamlet in the 1840s when the Duke of Portland built housing to encourage people escaping the Great Famine of Ireland to come and work at his nearby collieries. As in many other parts of Britain, "deep pit" coal mining in the area declined during the 1980s and 1990s leaving just one colliery, Ellington, which closed in January 2005. In 2006 plans for an opencast mine on the outskirts of the town were put forward, although many people objected to it. During the heyday of coal-mining, Ashington was considered to be the "world's largest coal-mining village". There is now a debate about whether Ashington should be referred to as a town or a village; if considered as a village it would be one of the largest villages in England.

Ashington Town Hall houses the offices of Ashington Town Council.

As coal mining expanded, more people left the countryside and settled in Ashington. This led the Ashington Coal Company to build parallel rows of colliery houses. Some newcomers came from as far as Cornwall to make use of their tin-mining skills.

Ashington railway station opened in 1878, and services to Newbiggin and Tynemouth were operated by the Blyth and Tyne Railway.[4] The nearest station to Ashington on the East Coast Main Line was Longhirst to the north west of the town, which opened in 1847 and had services to both Newcastle and Edinburgh.[5] By 1896, the town had grown sufficiently to warrant the creation of Ashington Urban District.

In 1913[3] the original Ashington Hospital was built. It was about 1/4 mile from the town centre. The hospital was expanded in the 1950s and 60s with large new wings.

Traditionally the area to the east of the railway was called Hirst and that to the west was Ashington proper. Although collectively called Ashington, both halves had their own park: Hirst Park (opened in 1915)[6] in the east and the People's Park in the west.

The colliery-built houses followed a grid plan. The streets in the Hirst End running north to south were named after British trees, such as Hawthorn Road, Beech Terrace, and Chestnut Street. The east-west running streets were numbered avenues, starting with First Avenue near the town centre, finishing at Seventh Avenue towards the southern end. After the 1920s houses in Ashington were built by the council and were most often semi-detached houses, such as Garden City Villas. These occupied much of the fields in the Hirst area. New estates were built in different areas. The biggest building programme was in the late 1960s[7] and saw Ashington extend south from Seventh Avenue opposite the Technical College[7] towards North Seaton and south eastwards towards the A189. Some of the houses at the north end of Alexandra Road were private homes. During this building programme several new schools were built, for example Coulson Park, Seaton Hirst Middle. Community shops and a social club (the Northern) were built off Fairfield Drive. The late 1970s and early 1980s saw construction of Nursery Park opposite the North Seaton Hotel. The late 1980s and 1990s saw the building of the Wansbeck Estate between the River Wansbeck and Green Lane as well as the large Fallowfield Estate.

In 1964, as part of the Beeching Axe, Ashington railway station was closed. The site of the station was developed in the late 1960s into Wansbeck Square, housing a supermarket, council offices and a public library, built partly over the railway line.

In 1981 the Woodhorn Pit closed and its chimney was demolished. In the late 1980s this became a museum. In 1988 Ashington Pit was closed and is now occupied by a business park. In the early 2000s maisonette flats in various parts of Hirst were demolished and parts of the Moorhouse and Woodbridge estate opposite Woodhorn Pit were demolished.

The railway was used until recently by the Alcan Aluminium plant, to transport coal to its adjacent power station in the nearby town of Lynemouth. The plant closed in late 2015. The line was put in use again from mid-2017 to transport materials to Lynemouth, for the conversion of the coal-fired power station to produce power from biomass.

In October 2008, plans to opencast 2m tonnes of coal in Ashington were approved. UK Coal's plans which were first submitted in 2005, would create 60+ jobs.[8]

The climate is cool temperate. Summers are drier than on the west coast of Britain, but cooler than southerly areas. Winters are cold at times, sometimes with snow. The soil is of a dark brown colour, free draining and gritty. It is very good for growing vegetables. Tender perennials are rare; some palms will grow, but need winter protection. Although Phormiums (New Zealand flax) grow in displays in Newbiggin, salt-laden winds may afford them some protection. The most exposed part of the town is to the east. High trees in Hirst Park give considerable shelter. The west part is much more sheltered, especially the wooded valley of the River Wansbeck. Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate/Oceanic climate).[9]

Construction is currently underway on the construction of the Northumberland Line, which will reinstate passenger railway services from Ashington to Bedlington, Blyth, Seaton Delaval, Shiremoor and Newcastle.[11] Passenger services are currently scheduled to begin operation in summer 2024.[12][13][14]

In the meantime, the nearest mainline railway station is Pegswood on the East Coast Main Line, about 3 miles from Ashington town centre. However, Pegswood is served by only three trains per day. Morpeth station is the nearest station with a regular service, with trains to Cramlington, Newcastle, London and Edinburgh.

At the east end of the main shopping street is the bus station, with local Arriva North East and Gateshead Central taxis buses linking to the rest of Northumberland and to Newcastle. Arriva provides frequent services Pegswood, Morpeth, Blyth, Bedlington and Newcastle. Whilst Gateshead Central Taxis only Operates one service in each direction which is the 19. The 19 Links Bedlington, Cramlington, Northumberland Park Metro, Cobalt Business Park and North Shields. The 19 Extends to Ashington once in the morning to pick up workers and in the evening to drop workers off.

Ashington is well served by roads. The A189 (colloquially known as the Spine Road) to the east of Ashington runs south via Blyth and North Tyneside to Newcastle, and via the A19 Tyne Tunnel to South Tyneside and the A1(M). The A1068 runs north along the coast to Alnwick. The A196 and A197 runs west towards Morpeth and the A1 which goes north to Scotland and Edinburgh or south to the A1(M) near Newcastle on towards Durham and Yorkshire and the South.

The nearest airport is Newcastle Airport, which provides scheduled domestic flights, flights covering many major cities in Europe, long haul international flights and holiday charter flights. There is a port in nearby North Shields with daily passenger services to IJmuiden in the Netherlands.

A reasonable-sized public library is based in the Leisure Centre on Lintonville Terrace at the northern fringes of the town. The local museum is at Woodhorn pit. It is mainly a museum of the town's mining history with pictures and models. There are also various arts exhibits in the museum, including a permanent exhibition of the Pitmen Painters' paintings,[15] and information on local history.

Ashington has several sports facilities and numerous sports clubs. A new leisure centre was erected on the former Asda site in the town centre, it opened in December 2015.

Hirst Park provides two good quality bowling greens as well as tennis and basketball courts. Ashington A.F.C. now play at Woodhorn Lane having moved from Portland Park to make way for the new Asda superstore in 2008. Rugby is played at a ground on the north west edge of the town and cricket is played off Kenilworth Road not far from the town centre.

In recent years a new community facility has been created from the former Miners Welfare centre on Alexandra Road. The Hirst Welfare Centre is a multi-use community facility with training facilities, office space, a cafe, community hall, gym and dance studio. The Centre also has an external all-weather, floodlight synthetic football pitch with additional grass pitches.

There are some bed and breakfasts in Ashington. To the north side of Queen Elizabeth lake is a motel with pub and restaurant and located on the site of the QE2 is a Premier Inn hotel/restaurant. There is also a holiday centre/caravan site near Sandy Bay off the A189 about 3 miles to the south east of the town centre.

Riverside Park provides a peaceful riverside setting in which to relax or take walks. The park runs along the Wansbeck River. There are public footpaths and bridleways from here towards the quaint village of Bothal with its photogenic castle above the river.

The People's Park near the leisure centre off Institute Road is a large green field suitable for recreation. Hirst Park is located off Hawthorn Road; locally, it has traditionally been known as The Flower Park, due to its summer floral displays. It has bowling greens, basketball and tennis courts, play areas[16] and is sheltered by tall trees. To the north of the park is a large sports field, where historically, the town hosted fun fairs.

At Woodhorn is the Queen Elizabeth II Park. This is surrounded by pine wood, including the Ashington Community Woods, connecting the park to Ashington, and has a large lake with a narrow-gauge railway connecting the main car park to the Woodhorn Museum. Walks from here head out towards Linton and eastwards towards the seaside town of Newbiggin following the old railway line.

Ashington enjoys a good location within Northumberland allowing good access to the countryside. The town is situated near the coast, enabling short journey times to beaches such as Druridge Bay and Cresswell. Northumberland National Park is close by.

Ashington has produced a number of professional footballers, notably Jack Milburn, Jackie Milburn,[20] Mark Cullen, Jimmy Adamson, Jack Charlton, Bobby Charlton, Cecil Irwin, Colin Ayre, David Thompson, Chris Adamson, Martin Taylor, Peter Ramage, Brian Carolin and Mark Cullen. Premier League referee Michael Oliver, the youngest in the league's history, was born in the town. Property developer Sir John Hall, former Chairman and Life President of Newcastle United Football Club, was born in North Seaton village on the outskirts of the town in 1933. Mike Norris, current head coach of Portland Thorns FC, was born in Ashington.

Cricketing brothers Steve Harmison and Ben Harmison are from the town,[20] as are fellow cricketers Mark Wood and Simon Smith. The first-class cricketer Jack Clark was born in Ashington.

Golfer Kenneth Ferrie, who has played on the PGA Tour, is from Ashington.[20]