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Gateshead has a long history, being mentioned by [[Bede]] (as ''ad caput caprae'', 'at the headland of the goats')<ref>http://www.northeastengland.talktalk.net/Gateshead.htm</ref> but has always been overshadowed by its northern neighbour. Newcastle's lordship over the River Tyne up to 1850 curtailed the ability of other riverside settlements, including Gateshead, to grow.

Gateshead has a long history, being mentioned by [[Bede]] (as ''ad caput caprae'', 'at the headland of the goats')<ref>http://www.northeastengland.talktalk.net/Gateshead.htm</ref> but has always been overshadowed by its northern neighbour. Newcastle's lordship over the River Tyne up to 1850 curtailed the ability of other riverside settlements, including Gateshead, to grow.

The town began to expand in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The main industries were the mining of coal, the manufacture of rope (for shipping and mining purposes), chemicals manufacture, and the manufacture and maintenance of railway locomotives at the [[North Eastern Railway]]'s works. In the early twentieth century the NER works was transferred to [[Darlington]] and local mining was in sharp decline. Gateshead entered upon a century of economic depression.

The town began to expand in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The main industries were the mining of coal, the manufacture of rope (for shipping and mining purposes), chemicals manufacture, and the manufacture and maintenance of railway locomotives at the [[North Eastern Railway]]'s works. In the early twentieth century the NER works was transferred to [[Darlington]] and local mining was in sharp decline. Gateshead entered upon a century of economic depression<ref>http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DUR/GatesheadHistory/Ch6.html</ref>.

In his 1934 work ''English Journey'' [[J.B. Priestley]] described Gateshead: "If there is any town of like size on the continent of Europe that can show a similar lack of civic dignity and all the evidence of an urban civilization, I should like to know its name and quality. No true civilization could have produced such a town, which is nothing better than a huge dingy dormitory".

In his 1934 work ''English Journey'' [[J.B. Priestley]] described Gateshead: "If there is any town of like size on the continent of Europe that can show a similar lack of civic dignity and all the evidence of an urban civilization, I should like to know its name and quality. No true civilization could have produced such a town, which is nothing better than a huge dingy dormitory".

Gateshead Council has for many years pursued a policy of using art as a motor for urban regeneration<ref>http://www.gateshead.gov.uk/Leisure%20and%20Culture/Art/arthome.aspx</ref>. This policy culminated in recent years with the opening of the Baltic, a centre for contemporary art in a converted grain warehouse, and the Sage Music Centre, on its formerly run-down quayside<ref>http://www.balticmill.com/</ref><ref>http://www.thesagegateshead.org/</ref>. The arts complex is surrounded by expensive apartments and is connected to the cafes, bars and hotels of Newcastle's quayside by a landmark opening pedestrian/cycle bridge, likened to an opening eye<ref>http://www.gateshead.gov.uk/Leisure%20and%20Culture/bridge/Background.aspx</ref>.

Gateshead Council has for many years pursued a policy of using art as a motor for urban regeneration<ref>http://www.gateshead.gov.uk/Leisure%20and%20Culture/Art/arthome.aspx</ref>. This policy culminated in recent years with the opening of the Baltic, a centre for contemporary art in a converted grain warehouse, and the Sage Music Centre, on its formerly run-down quayside<ref>http://www.balticmill.com/</ref><ref>http://www.thesagegateshead.org/</ref>. The arts complex is surrounded by expensive apartments and is connected to the cafes, bars and hotels of Newcastle's quayside by a landmark opening pedestrian/cycle bridge, likened to an opening eye<ref>http://www.gateshead.gov.uk/Leisure%20and%20Culture/bridge/Background.aspx</ref>.

==References==

==References==