Chopwell - Izeria

Chopwell is a village in the Gateshead district, in the county of Tyne and Wear, England, 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Rowlands Gill and 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Hamsterley. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 9,395. In 1150, Bishop Pudsey granted the Manor of Chopwell to the first Abbot of Newminster. Newminster Abbey retained possession of the manor until the dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536. Traditionally an area of coal mining, Chopwell was nicknamed "Little Moscow" because of the strong support for the Communist Party. Chopwell counts "Marx Terrace" (after Karl Marx) and "Lenin Terrace" (after Vladimir Lenin) among its street names, and during the 1926 General Strike the Union Flag at the council offices was taken down and replaced with the Soviet flag. Another notable street, site of the former Chopwell Junior School, "Fannybush Road", was renamed "Whittonstall Road" by the local authority in the 1990s after its street sign was repeatedly stolen.

In 1974, Chopwell became part of the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear and the metropolitan borough of Gateshead, after previously being part of the administrative county of Durham.

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557 m

Chopwell Colliery

Chopwell Colliery was a coal mine situated at Chopwell, in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear. The pit was first sunk in 1781, and was closed on 25 November 1966. The colliery was bought by the Consett Iron Company in 1896, before being handed over to the National Coal Board in 1947, when the British coal industry was nationalised. The colliery's highest employment numbers were in 1921, when 2,185 people worked there. A coal-fired power station was situated at the colliery, which as well as generating its own electricity, received surplus electricity from the generating equipment at Derwenthaugh Coke Works.

Industrial Landmark

Leadgate, Northumberland

Leadgate is a hamlet just outside Chopwell in southern Northumberland, England. It is 4.5 miles (7.3 km) southeast of Stocksfield and 1 mile (1.8 km) northwest of Chopwell. The hamlet borders onto the Metropolitan borough of Gateshead and a small part of Leadgate sprawls into the borough. The eastern edge of the area is the junction between Greenhead Road and Lead Road, which lead to Chopwell (to the south east) and Coalburns (to the north east) respectively. Leadgate is also home to Northumbria Gliding Club and a number of farms. The area is split between the Northumberland ward of South Tynedale and the Metropolitan borough of Gateshead ward of Chopwell and Rowlands Gill. The station is at Wylam to the north. Leadgate, as a hamlet, has a population of only between 20 and 30. Nearby Hedley on the Hill, just to the west, has more residents. Leadgate in Northumberland is not to be confused with a place of the same name in County Durham which is almost 7 miles (11 km) to the south.

Landmark Neighbourhood

Currock Hill

Currock Hill is a hill on the border between Northumberland and Tyne and Wear, England. Although the summit itself lies entirely within Northumberland, the eastern top (at 259 m, or 850 ft) is the highest point in both Tyne and Wear and the metropolitan borough of Gateshead. The name "currock" comes from a Celtic word for a cairn or a stack of stones, a development of the word for a rock, carroc, and is still widely used in the North East.

Hiking Landmark

Hamsterley, Consett

Hamsterley is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated to the north of Consett and borders the hamlet of Low Westwood. The name Hamsterley possibly derives from the Old English ‘hamstra’, meaning a corn weevil and ‘ley’ meaning clearing, hence a clearing frequented by corn weevils, perhaps indicating the poor quality of farming in the area. Hamsterley is mentioned in Bishop Hatfield’s survey of 1382, the land being held by John de Felton and the heirs of Hugh del Redhugh. By 1500 the lands were held by the Swinburne family whose descendants continued to hold the land until the early century 19th century. Hamsterley Hall was built by the Swinburnes in the early 17th century and later enlarged in the following centuries. The Surtees family took over the estate and hall in 1806, passing to the Viscounts Gort in 1885. Hamsterley Hall was the birthplace of the hunting novelist Robert Smith Surtees, author of Jorrocks' Jaunts and Jollities.

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