page_title: Newcastle upon Tyne
section_title: 20th and 21st centuries
hierarchical_section_title: Newcastle upon Tyne / History / 20th and 21st centuries
caption_attribution_description: English: Panorama from Newcastle castle keep across the River Tyne to Gateshead. View southward, with the High Level Bridge off to the left and King Edward Bridge in the right distance. In the foreground, Peppercorn Class A2 Pacific No. 60538 'Velocity' has come off Gateshead Depot, which with Gateshead Works stretches along the opposite bank of the River Tyne. (This scene will now be vastly different and less grim).
context_page_description: Newcastle upon Tyne, often shortened to simply Newcastle, is a city in Tyne and Wear, England. Located on the northern bank of the River Tyne, it is 8.5 mi from the North Sea. Newcastle is the most populous city in North East England and forms the core of the Tyneside conurbation, the eighth most populous urban area in the United Kingdom. It is a member of the UK Core Cities Group, as well as the Eurocities network of European cities. It was part of the county of Northumberland until 1400, when it became a county of itself, a status it retained until becoming part of Tyne and Wear in 1974.
  The regional nickname and dialect for people from Newcastle and the surrounding area is Geordie. Newcastle has two universities: Newcastle University, a member of the Russell Group, and Northumbria University. It is a member of the North of Tyne Combined Authority. The city developed around the Roman settlement Pons Aelius and was named after the castle built in 1080 by William the Conqueror's eldest son Robert Curthose. In the 14th century, the city grew as an important centre for the wool trade and later became a major coal mining area.
context_section_description: Newcastle's public transport system was modernised in 1901 when Newcastle Corporation Tramways electric trams were introduced to the city's streets, though these were replaced gradually by trolley buses from 1935, with the tram service finally coming to an end in 1950.
  The city acquired its first art gallery, the Laing Art Gallery in 1904, so named after its founder Alexander Laing, a Scottish wine and spirit merchant who wanted to give something back to the city in which he had made his fortune. Another art gallery, the Hatton Gallery (now part of Newcastle University), opened in 1925.
  With the advent of the motor car, Newcastle's road network was improved in the early part of the 20th century, beginning with the opening of the Redheugh road bridge in 1901 and the Tyne Bridge in 1928.
  Efforts to preserve the city's historic past were evident as long ago as 1934, when the Museum of Science and Industry opened, as did the John G Joicey Museum in the same year.
  Council housing began to replace inner-city slums in the 1920s, and the process continued into the 1970s, along with substantial private house building and acquisitions.
  Unemployment hit record heights in Newcastle during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
  The city's last coal pit closed in 1956, though a temporary open cast mine was opened in 2013. The temporary open cast mine shifted 40,000 tonnes of coal, using modern techniques to reduce noise, on a part of the City undergoing redevelopment. The slow demise of the shipyards on the banks of the River Tyne happened in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
  During the Second World War, the city and surrounding area were a target for air raids as heavy industry was involved in the production of ships and armaments. The raids caused 141 deaths and 587 injuries. A former French consul in Newcastle called Jacques Serre assisted the German war effort by describing important targets in the region to Admiral Raeder who was the head of the German Navy.
  The public sector in Newcastle began to expand in the 1960s. The federal structure of the University of Durham was dissolved. That university's colleges in Newcastle, which had been known as King's College, became the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (now known as Newcastle University), which was founded in 1963, followed by a Newcastle Polytechnic in 1969; the latter received university status in 1992 and became the Northumbria University.
  Further efforts to preserve the city's historic past continued in the later 20th century, with the opening of Newcastle Military Vehicle Museum in 1983 and Stephenson Railway Museum in 1986. The Military Vehicle museum closed in 2006. New developments at the turn of the 21st century included the Life Science Centre in 2000 and Millennium Bridge in 2001.
  Based at St James' Park since 1886, Newcastle United F.C. became Football League members in 1893. They have won four top division titles (the first in 1905 and the most recent in 1927), six FA Cups (the first in 1910 and the most recent in 1955) and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1969. They broke the world transfer record in 1996 by paying £15 million for Blackburn Rovers and England striker Alan Shearer, one of the most prolific goalscorers of that era.
  In 2017, Newcastle was the venue for the 2017 Freedom City festival. The 2017 Freedom City festival commemorated the 50 years since Dr Martin Luther King's visit to Newcastle, where King received his honorary degree from Newcastle University. In 2018 Newcastle hosted the Great Exhibition of the North, the largest event in England in 2018. The exhibition began on 22 June with an opening ceremony on the River Tyne, and ended on 9 September with the Great North Run weekend. The exhibition describes the story of the north of England through its innovators, artists, designers and businesses.
  In 2019, various travel sites named Newcastle to be the friendliest city in the UK.
caption: Panorama from Newcastle castle keep across the River Tyne to Gateshead in 1954
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