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. |