Willington Dene and Willington Quay
Willington Dene has the potential for being one of the best parks on Tyneside.
It's heritage is unmarked despite its physical and historic importance. Like all the river Denes it is a safe haven and ancient way to the river. It has a huge place in the history of transport, as the route and destination of the Killingworth Moor to Willington Quay Waggonway that was opened in 1764.
The young George Stephenson lived and worked as an Engineer at Willington Quay, just east of the Dene; which is also where his equally famous son Robert was born in 1803. This was the pioneering Killingworth line on which George first created a successful steam railway and became the world leader in its development.
West of the Dene the Tyne's most famous ship the 'Mauretania' was built at the peak of the Tyne's industrial development in 1906.
The Dene is crossed by a fine railway bridge of cast iron, based on the design of the original wooden structure erected for the Newcastle and North Shields Railway which opened in 1839 and is now part of the Metro system.
The village of Willington Quay was once known as a pleasant country location on the bank of the river. Today it is set in an industrial wasteland that could benefit from careful upgrading.
Heritage Trails
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The mouth of the Dene - Willington Gut is a pleasant tidal marina flanked by a Marine construction yard and a historic Rope Works. The original Rope Walk which ran along the floor of the Dene was covered to form a factory. This section of the Rope Works has been demolished and the land has been 'improved' with a badly designed path and tree planting. Willington Mill now part of the Rope Works was built as one of England's first steam powered flour mills. The Victorians regarded it as the most haunted building in the North of the Country. |
The Dene is crossed by a good road and a Cycle Way which a short distance to the west uses the route of the old 'Riverside' railway. This passes the newly opened Roman Fort museum of Segedunum at Wallsend. To the east of Willington Quay is the almost forgotten Pedestrian Tunnel under the Tyne to Jarrow and this links to 'Bede's World'. It is also possible to take a long 'country walk' through urban Tyneside from the river up the Dene through Wallsend Park and up to the 'Rising Sun Country Park'.
The whole of the dene has the potential to become a valuable Heritage and Green asset for wildlife and recreation. With careful conservation and sensitive leisure and Industrial Heritage development it could easily be a location to be proud of.
Wallsend Burn joins Willington Dene after running through mature parkland which is visually very atractive but the stream stinks of pollution, - clean water must be a first priority.
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