Scotswood

The old township of Benwell, in Northumberland until 1904, included the village of Scotswood in the south west corner where it bordered with East Denton. The name Scotswood probably dates from 1367 when Richard, son of John Scott, obtained permission to enclose the west ward in Benwell which belonged to him.

Scotswood grew during the industrial revolution and provided labour for the huge Vickers/Armstrong military engineering group. The Scotswood Road, which Vickers Armstrong used to dominate, is a main route along the Tyne and is mentioned in the song "Blaydon Races".

Benwell, Scotswood and Elswick were the sites of a number of coalmines. The Montague Colliery Disaster occurred on 30 March 1925 and was caused by an inrush of water from the nearby Paradise Pit resulting in the loss of 38 lives. A memorial to the victims stands in Elswick / St. John's Cemetery. My next task is to update that page with recent photos of the memorial in the next few days. Job done.

Scotswood, like a many of the areas along the Tyne, has suffered a terrible decline in the last 30 years or so due to the death of industries causing large scale unemployment and anti-social behaviour. The area has also been the subject of many "regeneration schemes" over the years and it seems a new scheme is about to start.

My first wander around Scotswood was in 2006 and the area was in a terrible rundown state. On my latest visit in 2010 I was suprised at how much of the area has been demolished and the few remaining streets looked very tidy and quiet, not the picture of Scotswood that the media continuously portray. Large parts of the area are now what I call ghost streets after the demolition of whole streets of houses but the roads remain and it gives quite a sad, strange effect.

Thanks go out to Yvonne Young for history of Scotswood.

Mouse over the photos for a description where available and click for biggery.

November 2010

April 2009

January 2009

January 2006

My other photos around the Scotswood area

• Scotswood - Lower Delaval Estate
• Scotswood Bridge
• Scotswood Railway Bridge, Old
• Denton Dene
• River Tyne: Newcastle Quayside to Lemington

Staying Here

This short-documentary is the product of a close collaboration with residents of the area of Scotswood, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. Over the last 10 years the area has been the subject of a series of radical regeneration schemes, which involved mass demolition and clearances of many of its neighborhoods. This film looks at the landscape and the people of Scotswood today, and their efforts to be involved in the regeneration process.

More information:

• Amber Online - Scotswood Road Jimmy Forsyth (Photographer)
• BBC iPlayer - Inside Out North East and Cumbria. Charlie Charlton reports on tension between police and locals on a controversial North East estate, and exposes details of police behaviour after the death of Hayley Adamson. I should imagine that this show will only be available to watch for a short while.
• YouTube - The Pink Palace
• YouTube - In Between. A short film about the community in Scotswood.
• Facebook - Old Scotwood. Lots of old photos and memories. More here.
• Scotswood Road Pubs - Culture 24
• Benwell and Scotswood - Wikipedia
• Scotswood Area Strategy - Home Page
• Ward News - Benwell and Scotswood
• Scotswood Natural Community Garden
• St Margaret's Parish Church, Scotswood
• The Next Train & Granny's Roots In Scotswood Road
• Disused Stations: Scotswood Station. Lots of old photos here.
• West Newcastle - Industrial Heritage
• Scotswood Road - Road of change

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