Scotswood
Road
Sat. 28th April, 2001

The western riverside route from the city to Lemington and Newburn is Scotswood Road. For 2.25 km (1.6 mi) the Elswick and Scotswood factories of W.G. Armstrong and Whitworth stretched along the banks of the Tyne.

Up the valley slope, beyond the road ran the North Eastern Railway main east-west line. This rail link served the factories here and beyond at Lemington and Newburn.

Here the remnants of the rail line, removed in the late 1980s, are visible with the housing beyond.

That roundabout is at the foot of Atkinson Bank and is the site of the Paradise Bridge. This was part of the 1839 railway from Carlisle to Newcastle. The trains travelled on an embankment to the left of this east facing view.

The right side of the dual carriageway is its original route, and it performed a severe "S" bend to go under the bridge. Those parked cars on the right mark the entrance to the Corporation rubbish destructor, built over 100 years ago.

From here to Scotswood Bridge approach the remnants of the armament works are now occupied by a motor car  showroom the size of a small airport, a massive plumbers' merchant, a bearings factory, a haulage distribution centre, and the Vickers Tank factory.

The western view from this point is rather bland today. A decade or so ago it was bustling with commercial and industrial activity. The railway ran on that embankment to the right, and that space bounded by the grey wall was the depot for Reed's Cranes.

In the distance on the left is the white Vickers sign that denotes the end of the factory and the approach to the new Scotswood Bridge.
Beyond the embankment the edge of Scotswood housing is visible. This estate was built in the 1920s to augment earlier developments further up the bank.

Although constructed to a traditional design, these were cheerful and spacious homes when compared with the Tyneside flats nearby.

The housing in the centre of the estate was subject to urban decay and damage during the 1980s and the city Council decided to bulldoze the heart out of the community.

Residents were moved to nearby Slatyford, Benwell, and West Denton.

This area has had its social problems since its inception. Without underlying economic prosperity and a route to a better life the spacious housing alone could not solve the fundamental human malaise.

From the edge of the housing the multi track railway has now been replaced by that cycle track. Betwen the tracks and the steep bank down to the road was a area of derelict land strewn with building rubble and rubbish.

Called locally "The Tank" it was the scene of an infamous murder in 1968. A nine year old girl called Mary Bell killed a smaller boy called Brian Howe. She had previously killed Martin Brown in an empty house.

The full horror came out at the trial at Moot Hall assizes, and Mary was incarcerated for 12 years. Although free now and living in Suffolk, she is still a pathological and unreformed killer.

Vickers Defence Systems tank factory is now just a tiny part of the previous enterprise. The economic activity generated here, although for warfare and the production of killing machines, not only made a fortune for Lord Armstrong, but the whole city benefited from his generosity.

Without this activity we would not have Jesmond Dene, Heaton Park, and education in the city would have been the poorer by many millions.

It is doubtful that this level of enterprise and human employment will return in our lifetimes. It would be foolish to pretend that we can wave a magic wand and restore the wealth; and return to the outrageous inequalities that were created at the same time.