Gateshead is a town in Tyne & Wear, England and is the main settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. It was part of County Durham until Tyne & Wear was created in 1974 - the town lies on the Southern Bank of the River Tyne which is opposite Newcastle upon Tyne.

 

The town is mostly known for it's Architecture, which includes the Sage, the Angel of the North and also the Centre for Contemporary Art also known as the Baltic.

 

In the Gateshead area the earliest recording of coal mining is dated to 1344. And in Gateshead in 1747, William Hawks who was originally a blacksmith started businesses - which included him working with iron that was brought to the Tyne as ballast by the Tyne colliers.

 

Eventually, Hawks & Co. became one of the biggest iron businesses in the North, which meant they started to produce anchors, chains but as a growing demand for iron started they started making a lot more things.

 

In the 100 years from 1574 coal shipments from Newcastle increased elevenfold while the population of Gateshead doubled to approximately 5,000. However, the lease and the abundant coal supplies did end in 1680.