Blyth, Northumberland

Blyth () is an industrial port town as well as a civil parish in southeast Northumberland, England. It lies on the coast, to the south of the River Blyth. It has a population of 39,731 as of the 2021 census, up 6% from the 2011 census and population of 37,347. The port of Blyth dates from the 12th century, but the development of the modern town only began in the first quarter of the 18th century. The main industries which helped the town prosper were coal mining and shipbuilding, with the salt trade, fishing, and the railways also playing an important role. These industries have largely vanished, but the port still receives paper and pulp from Scandinavia for the newspaper industries of England and Scotland. The town was seriously affected when its principal industries went into decline, and it has undergone regeneration since the early 1990s. The Keel Row Shopping Centre, opened in 1991, brought high street retailers to Blyth, and helped to revitalise the town centre; it closed in 2024 as part of the country council's Energising Blyth initiative. The market place has recently been re-developed, with the aim of attracting further investment to the town. The quayside has been redeveloped into an open space, the centrepiece of which is a sculpture commemorating local industry. On the opposite side of the river are the nine wind turbines of the Blyth Harbour Wind Farm, which were constructed along the East Pier in 1992. They were joined in 2000 by Blyth Offshore Wind Farm, which consisted of two turbines situated 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) out to sea. These were the first two offshore wind turbines in the UK. These wind turbines were all decommissioned, with the final two being removed in 2019. A new windfarm further off the coast, composed of five turbines, was commissioned in 2017. Blyth is also the home of the non-League football club Blyth Spartans, known for their 1978 "giant-killing" feats in the FA Cup.