Seaburn Dene

Seaburn Dene is a northern suburb of Sunderland, England, located about one mile inland from the North Sea, near the boundary with South Tyneside. The first part of the development (Shields Road) was laid out just before the Second World War, but building resumed in the 1950s. The oldest houses in Seaburn Dene are those in the bottom half of Shields Road spreading into Grizedale and Staveley. The majority of housing was completed by 1958 with later developments in Dovedale Road and Torver Crescent completed in 1962. The names of the local streets recall villages and valleys in the Lake District of Cumbria and Peak District of Derbyshire. Examples of this include Staveley Road, Martindale Avenue, Alston Crescent, and Dovedale Road - the main road through the area. Recent expansions to the estate include The Square development on Shields Road, on the western edge of the estate. These executive homes are amongst the most expensive ever built in Sunderland, with some selling for £750,000. Amenities on the estate include two churches, a newsagent, an off-licence, a takeaway, a sandwich shop, a beauty salon, a glass-blower and a dental surgery. Educational facilities include a lower school, Seaburn Dene Primary, and the main secondary school for north-eastern Sunderland, Monkwearmouth Academy. Both schools are on Torver Crescent. Public transport links include the 23 Stagecoach bus service to Thorney Close via Fulwell Road, Sunderland City Centre, Sunderland Royal Hospital and Thornholme Road. The last number 23 leaves the estate at 2240. From early 2009, the route is served by wheelchair accessible buses. Seaburn Dene is also bypassed by the 20, 20A and X20Go North East bus services at Shields Road, running from South Shields to Durham via Sunderland, Park Lane Interchange, Houghton-le-Spring and Belmont. Seaburn Metro station, on the Green line of the Tyne and Wear Metro system, is a short walk to the southwest. The area lies in the Fulwell ward on Sunderland City Council, and is currently represented by three Conservative Party councillors.

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Monkwearmouth Academy

Monkwearmouth Academy is a state secondary school in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England, for pupils aged between 11 and 16. The most recent inspection report was in October 2013 and resulted in a judgement of good in all four aspects of the inspection.

Seaburn Metro station

Seaburn is a Tyne and Wear Metro station, serving the suburbs of Fulwell and Seaburn, in the City of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. It joined the network on 31 March 2002, following the opening of the Green line extension from Pelaw to South Hylton.

Fulwell, Sunderland

Fulwell is an affluent area and former civil parish in the Sunderland district, in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. The parish was abolished in 1928 as a result of the Sunderland Corporation Act 1927, and the area incorporated into the former County Borough of Sunderland. It borders Seaburn, Southwick, Monkwearmouth, and Roker, and the district border between Sunderland and South Tyneside. Fulwell ward, including South Bents and Seaburn, is the least socially deprived of the city's 25 wards. Until 1974 it was in County Durham. Housing in the area is varied. A network of streets in the southern area of Fulwell contains many nineteenth-century terraced houses, with a large amount of Victorian architecture. In the northern part of Fulwell, housing consists mostly of semi-detached, inter- and post-war dwellings, with many of the most popular streets constructed in the 1930s. House prices, particularly in the area's eastern and western edges, bordering Seaburn and Newcastle Road respectively, are amongst the highest in the city. Due to Fulwell's role as an overwhelmingly residential area, economic activity in the ward is mostly restricted to the retail and leisure sectors. Local services centre on the main thoroughfare of Sea Road, where a large shopping parade has been established for many years. A mid-sized Sainsbury's store opened in 2006 at Station Road. Fulwell's fire station closed in September 2015, when services were transferred to the new station at Marley Pots. Other services include a Community Library, which is open 10 am until 4 pm on Mondays, 10 am until 5 pm on Wednesdays, 10 am until 4 pm on Fridays and 10 am until 1 pm on Saturdays, a GP clinic, two dental surgeries, and a veterinary surgery. The area is served by local bus services 23, 99, E2 and E6 as well as by the Tyne and Wear Metro, at Seaburn station. Mainline trains no longer stop at the station. Fulwell was primarily a farming village until it became part of the urban sprawl of industrial Sunderland in the nineteenth century. Relics of this agricultural past still survive in the form of three windmills, including the 19th century Fulwell Mill, the only working windmill in the United Kingdom featuring a stone reefing stage (a design-feature peculiar to mills in north-east England, equivalent to the gallery found on other mills). The mill, built in 1808, was restored to working order between 1996 and 2001 after over half-a-century out of use, and celebrated its bicentenary in 2008. In late 2011, however, the sails and cap suffered severe storm damage. A further restoration, which included the fitting of a new fantail, cap and sails to the original dimensions, together with an overhaul of associated machinery commenced during 2017 and was completed in May 2018. Politically, Fulwell had long been regarded as a staunch Conservative ward in a region of traditional Labour strength. Since the ward's creation it has always had at least one Conservative council. Since 2021, the ward has become a Liberal Democrat- Conservative marginal, and as of 2025 the ward has 2 Liberal Democrat councillors and 1 Conservative councillor. Fulwell was formerly a township in the parish of Monk-Wearmouth, in 1866 Fulwell became a separate civil parish, on 1 April 1928 the parish was abolished and merged with Sunderland. In 1921 the parish had a population of 5862. It is now in the unparished area of Sunderland.

Academy of Light

The Academy of Light is the name of the UEFA five star certified training facilities and youth academy for English football club Sunderland A.F.C. Officially opened in March 2003, the Academy of Light is a state-of-the-art training facility in Cleadon - just north of Sunderland. It covers an area of 220 acres (0.89 km2) of which 60 acres dedicated to football. It replaced the aging Charlie Hurley Centre, located nearby. The site is used as the primary training facility for the first team, but is also used to train the youngsters in Sunderland's U23 and U18 teams, it's the location of Sunderland's U18 home games, and is also the home of Sunderland A.F.C. Ladies. The academy plans were the focus of protests from local residents who were angered at the development on a green belt. After withdrawing initial ambitious plans, the club submitted new plans in 1999 which were rejected by South Tyneside Council. Following a public inquiry, Sunderland launched a successful appeal, and work began on the academy in 2001. Before building work was complete, Sunderland submitted plans for expansion to the site, to include indoor training facilities, which The Football Association had added to the list of necessary facilities for academies to achieve Category 1 status. Plans were rejected, and a further appeal was also rejected, meaning Sunderland were forced to use a disused ice rink in Sunderland City Centre for indoor training. Indoor facilities were finally added to the Academy of Light in an expansion completed in 2012. The initial site cost over £10 million to build, with the indoor training facility expansion costing an extra £3m.