Dunston F.C.

Dunston Football Club is a football club based in the Dunston area of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. They are currently members of the Northern Premier League Division One East and play at the UTS Stadium.

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Kings Meadow Island

Kings Meadow Island (alternatively King's Meadow Island, or Kingsmeadow Island) was a flat island in the River Tyne in Northumberland, between Elswick on the north bank and Dunston on the south, near Gateshead, England. A smaller island, Little Annie lay nearby to the southwest whilst the two Clarenee Islands lay to the north of the east end of Kings Meadow. The islands were removed by dredging between 1862 and 1887 by the Tyne Improvement Commission, to make it easier for river traffic to pass. During the siege of Newcastle, in 1644, Scottish sentries were posted on Kings Meadow, shooting dead at least one man who attempted to sail past. In the 18th century, a public house, the 'Countess of Coventry', operated on Kings Meadow. A regatta and horse racing were held on Kings Meadow, annually until 1850. It was also used for greyhound racing. Kingsmeadow Community Comprehensive School, nearby, is named after the island.

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Kingsmeadow Community Comprehensive School

Kingsmeadow Community Comprehensive School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form based in Dunston, Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. It was opened in 1990 on the site of Dunston Comprehensive School, combining the existing Saltwell Senior High, Dunston Comprehensive and Hillhead Junior High schools. The school's name came from Kings Meadow Island in the Tyne, which was dredged away in the nineteenth century to allow large ships up the river. The school has been awarded specialist Business and Enterprise College status. The school serves the communities of Dunston, Winlaton, Bensham, Lobley Hill, Team Valley and Swalwell. Kingsmeadow won the DFES School Achievement Award in 2001, 2002 and 2003 and has a Life Long Learning Centre (LLLC). In 2007, Kingsmeadow began construction of a new school building. The Duke of Kent visited on 20 March 2009 to officially open the new school building. In 2009 the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow visited the school. In March 2010 the school was inspected by Ofsted and deemed "good with outstanding features". In April 2015 the school was inspected by Ofsted and deemed "good" but "requires improvement". Key Stage 4 performance in 2015 saw 32% of students achieving 5+ A*-C GCSEs; significantly below the Gateshead local authority average of 58.1% and the national average of 53.8%.

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Dunston Power Station

Sometimes confused with the nearby Stella power stations. Dunston Power Station refers to a pair of adjacent coal-fired power stations in the North East of England, now demolished. They were built on the south bank of the River Tyne, in the western outskirts of Dunston in Gateshead. The two stations were built on a site which is now occupied by the MetroCentre. The first power station built on the site was known as Dunston A Power Station, and the second, which gradually replaced it between 1933 and 1950, was known as Dunston B Power Station. The A Station was, in its time, one of the largest in the country, and as well as burning coal had early open cycle gas turbine units. The B Station was the first of a new power station design, and stood as a landmark on the Tyne for over 50 years. From the A Station's opening in 1910 until the B Station's demolition in 1986, they collectively operated from the early days of electricity generation in the United Kingdom, through the industry's nationalisation, and until a decade before its privatisation. Dunston A had a generating capacity of 48.85 megawatts (MW) in 1955, and Dunston B had a generating capacity of 300 MW. Electricity from the stations powered an area covering Northumberland, County Durham, Cumberland, Yorkshire and as far north as Galashiels in Scotland.

Industrial Landmark

Derwent Tower

Derwent Tower was a 29-storey residential apartment building in Dunston, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom, opened in 1972. Due to its unusual shape it was nicknamed the "Dunston Rocket" during construction (even before its official Derwent Tower title) and the name remained with locals throughout its life. It was demolished in 2012. The tower was designed by the Owen Luder Partnership on behalf of Whickham urban district Council, which controlled the Dunston area of Gateshead. The original brief was for three high-rise blocks of at least 22 storeys, but due to adverse ground conditions on site the decision was made to build one tower, with the rest being low-rise blocks of two to five storeys. Despite the architect's advice against construction of a high-rise building on the site, the council were strongly in favour. Following many consultations and explanatory models of the foundations with specialists, construction of the foundations began in February 1968, and the tower was completed in March 1971. Construction was complex because of the very poor ground conditions. The foundations were based on a sunken concrete caisson that was built above ground then sunk over a period of time. Caisson foundations are often found in harbour construction; being used in the 1960s for a local authority tower block was a first, and the caisson became an underground garage area for residents. The tower had a very bold and striking appearance, unlike any other tower block or high rise building in the UK. It was of a Brutalist design with many design similarities with Gateshead's "Get Carter car park" also a product of the Owen Luder Partnership. The tower housed two-bedroom flats up to the 10th floor and one-bedroom flats on floors 11 to 29. It featured in a 1970s advert for Tudor Crisps. Unusual features were: Height 85 m (280 ft) Unusual construction methods Plan form change between 10th and 11th floor to accommodate building services including two 10,000-gallon water tanks Flying buttresses from the ground to 5th floor assisting the foundations Unusual foundations including an underground spiral carpark (closed to residents for many years, due to repeated flooding.) Brutalist form Exposed elements of structure and services, i.e. flying buttresses from floor level and exposed water tanks. The tower was in desperate need of refurbishment for many years, making it unpopular with residents and locals. It had been allowed to fall into a run-down state through neglect and lack of maintenance. Services breakdowns, lift failures, water supply faults were all common but were unlikely to be a result of the tower's design or construction methods. In 2007 Gateshead Council decided to relocate residents amid health and safety concerns over the already poor and deteriorating services. On 17 August 2009 the tower failed in gaining listed status on the grounds of it being a non-listable building. In January 2012 demolition began, completed in September 2012.

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