- 'Bottle O' Notes' sculpture and Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA)
- Darlington Market Hall with clock tower
This article needs additional citations for verification .(October 2020) |
Tees Valley | |
---|---|
Combined authority area | |
Coordinates: 54°36′18″N1°15′25″W / 54.605°N 1.257°W | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Country | England |
Region | North East |
Ceremonial counties | County Durham (north) - River Tees - North Yorkshire (south) |
LEP established | 2011 |
CA established | 1 April 2016 |
Named for | River Tees |
Administrative HQ | Cavendish House, Thornaby |
Districts | |
Government | |
• Type | Combined authority |
• Body | Tees Valley Combined Authority |
• Mayor | Ben Houchen (C) |
Area | |
• Total | 307 sq mi (795 km2) |
Population (2022) [2] | |
• Total | 688,756 |
• Rank | 11th |
• Density | 2,240/sq mi (866/km2) |
Time zone | UTC+0 (GMT) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
Postcode areas | |
Dialling codes | 01642 |
GSS code | E47000006 |
Website | teesvalley-ca |
Tees Valley is a combined authority area in North East England, around the lower River Tees. The area is not a geographical valley; the local term for the valley is Teesdale. [3] The combined authority covers five council areas: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees.
The town of Middlesbrough is the largest population centre in the area. The borough of Middlesbrough is the smallest of the five, at only 54 square kilometres (21 sq mi) and a population of 148,285: the Stockton-on-Tees borough (including multiple towns) is the largest with an area of 205 square kilometres (79 sq mi) and a population of 199,966, as of 2022.
From 1968 until 1974, parts of the area were included in the County Borough of Teesside council area. This was replaced by Cleveland county; it had four borough councils which became unitary authorities after the county was abolished in 1996. Darlington became a unitary authority in 1997; the five authorities formed a Local Enterprise Partnership in 2011, further collaboration between the five authorities lead to Tees Valley Combined Authority being created in 2016.
This section may be confusing or unclear to readers.(September 2021) |
The River Tees' geographical valley is traditionally known as Teesdale. For centuries, north Tees was under the Prince-bishopric of Durham. Both Darlington and Stockton had ancient wards. Middleton St George, Hartlepool and Billingham were in Stockton ward, the latter two were also in a district called Hartness. [4] South Tees was under a wapentake called Langbaurgh, which had been the Easton part of the ancient region of Cleveland, in Yorkshire's North Riding. [5]
Urban districts (such as Eston, Billingham and Saltburn and Marske by the Sea) and parts of rural districts, as well as municipal boroughs (such as Stockton-on-Tees, Thornaby-on-Tees and Redcar) and county boroughs (Middlesbrough) were merged into the County Borough of Teesside in 1968. However in 1974, the county borough was disbanded.
The 1974 reforms created the county of Cleveland, including Hartlepool, the former Urban Districts of Guisborough, Saltburn and Marske, Skelton and Brotton and Loftus. Four boroughs were also created. Hartlepool, Stockton which had formerly been part of County Durham were created along with Middlesbrough and a new District Council of Langbaurgh (this took its name from the ancient Danelaw Wapentake of Langbaurgh of which if had formed the northern part.) These had formerly being parts of the North Riding of Yorkshire. [6]
Local government reorganisation in 1996 saw the county of Cleveland broken up: the boroughs became unitary authorities. The boroughs were placed into the counties of North Yorkshire and County Durham for ceremonial purposes. In 1997, the Borough of Darlington also became a unitary authority. [7]
Tees Valley is divided into seven and a part UK parliamentary borough constituencies:
Each constituency is made up of wards. Four constituencies were held by the Conservative Party after the 2019 general election, up by three since the 2017 general election. This was expanded to five after the 2021 Hartlepool by-election. Labour hold the other two. Sedgefield's partial seat is also represented by a Conservative MP, as of the 2019 election. The two Middlesbrough seats have the largest majorities for either party. The Middlesbrough constituency has a sizeable Labour majority, whereas the Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency has a strong Conservative majority.
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Tees Valley Combined Authority has its headquarters at Cavendish House, Thornaby. The area has 5 borough councils, each council has a representative in the combined authority. The TVCA, amends the mayor's annual budget (by two-thirds majority). It does not have the power to block the mayor's directives.
The Mayor of Tees Valley is a directly elected politician who, along with the Combined Authority, is responsible for the strategic government of Tees Valley. [8] There are other mayors for the boroughs of Middlesbrough and Stockton-on-Tees. [9] Hartlepool also had a Mayor from 2002 to 2013.
The current Tees Valley Mayor is Ben Houchen. The Mayor is responsible for Tees Valley's strategic planning and is required to produce or amend a plan for each electoral cycle. [10]
Two Lord Lieutenants (Durham and North Yorkshire) are appointed by the borough's ceremonial counties.
The following is a chart of the Gross Value Added to the UK economy by the Tees Valley Combined Authority region, aggregated by industry. [11]
Year | Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing; Mining & Quarrying; Electricity & Gas; Water, Sewage & Waste Management | Manufacturing | Construction | Wholesale & Retail Trade; Transportation & Storage; Accommodation & Food Services | IT | Finance | Real Estate | Professional, Scientific & Technical; Administration & Support Services | Public Administration & Defence; Compulsory Social Security; Education; Health & Social Work | Arts & Recreation; Other | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1998 | 411 | 1,670 | 403 | 1,223 | 265 | 249 | 1,147 | 522 | 1,394 | 229 | 7,513 |
2000 | 421 | 1,676 | 521 | 1,300 | 330 | 231 | 1,195 | 551 | 1,567 | 259 | 8,050 |
2002 | 461 | 1,553 | 577 | 1,577 | 467 | 239 | 1,226 | 553 | 1,709 | 334 | 8,696 |
2004 | 601 | 1,690 | 646 | 1,800 | 522 | 373 | 1,272 | 747 | 2,060 | 377 | 10,087 |
2006 | 775 | 1,655 | 774 | 1,836 | 534 | 511 | 1,363 | 772 | 2,260 | 384 | 10,864 |
2008 | 718 | 1,852 | 816 | 1,936 | 515 | 458 | 1,466 | 820 | 2,487 | 409 | 11,478 |
2010 | 723 | 1,859 | 705 | 2,067 | 445 | 453 | 1,369 | 886 | 2,706 | 406 | 11,620 |
2012 | 720 | 1,665 | 781 | 1,853 | 482 | 511 | 1,581 | 1,005 | 2,775 | 411 | 11,784 |
2014 | 766 | 1,657 | 774 | 2,141 | 688 | 481 | 1,570 | 1,107 | 2,918 | 375 | 12,478 |
2016 | 649 | 1,684 | 762 | 2,489 | 665 | 431 | 1,654 | 1,109 | 2,948 | 411 | 12,803 |
The Tees Valley Enterprise Zone is an enterprise zone which encourages industrial development. It was initiated by the local enterprise partnership Tees Valley Unlimited and its creation was announced by the government in 2011. At its launch, the zone contained 12 sites. Four of these sites offer enhanced capital allowances, aimed at large manufacturers. These sites are Wilton International and South Bank Wharf, both in Redcar and Cleveland, Port Estates in Hartlepool and New Energy and Technology Park in Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees. The remaining sites offer reduced business rates. [12] In March 2015 the government announced that a thirteenth site is to be added, South Bank Wharf Prairie, aimed at oil and gas decommissioning business. [13]
Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) operated here until the late 1990s on three chemical sites at Wilton, Billingham and Seal Sands. ICI was broken up, and its many chemical manufacturing units are now operated by a large number of companies that have acquired its assets. The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), a national innovation catapult[ clarification needed ], is based at the Wilton Centre, the former corporate headquarters of ICI, which has become a multi-company research and development centre: along with CPI there are now some 60 other companies, including the cluster body NEPIC, using these R&D and business development facilities. This centre is now one of Europe's largest R&D facilities focusing on developments in the chemistry-based process industries. The area is a chemicals processing area, but recently it has diversified to become the UK's leading site for renewable biofuel research. This industrial activity is taking place in a collaborative environment facilitated by the economic cluster body, the North East of England Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC).
Hartlepool has a nuclear power station, and there is a conventional CHP power station and a biomass power station operated by Sembcorp on the Wilton chemical site.Hereema Fabrication Group make North Sea platforms at the A1048/A179 roundabout in Hartlepool.
Wilton Engineering's 50 acre fabrication and maintenance site is in Port Clarence. Barker and Stonehouse make furniture north of Middlesbrough next to the A66/A178 junction. The Teesside Steelworks near Redcar was the biggest blast furnace in Europe and was operated in its final years by Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI). Tata Steel Europe operate a pipe works at Hartlepool, whilst British Steel operate a heavy beam mill near Middlesbrough and a special sections mill at Skinningrove Steelworks. Able UK operate the biggest dry dock in the UK near Seaton Carew, Hartlepool where ships can be dismantled and oil rigs can be dismantled or refurbished.
The many chemistry-based businesses on Teesside [14] include Huntsman Tioxide plant at Greatham makes titanium dioxide. Huntsman's European headquarters are in Wynyard. Johnson Matthey Catalysts and Fujifilm Dyosynth Biologics have manufacturing units in Billingham while the Lucite International Acrylics factory and the Mitsubishi battery chemical plant are on the other side of the town. Exwold Technology operate their two extrusion and packaging facilities in Hartlepool. Banner Chemicals are adjacent to the A66 in Middlesbrough. Aldous Huxley's visit to the former ICI plant in Billingham inspired Brave New World and this unit now makes fertiliser for Growhow, using 1% of the UK's natural gas. SABIC petrochemicals and polymers, Lotte Chemicals PET and PTA plants, Biffa recycled polymers, Huntsman polyurethanes and the Ensus Biofuels all operate at Wilton. ConocoPhillips refinery, BP Cats, Harvest Energy Biodiesel unit, Greenery Fuels, Fine Organics, Vertelus speciality chemicals and Ineos Nitriles are all based at Seal Sands, with Vopak and Simon Storage tank storage businesses nearby. Sita are upgrading[ when? ] their unit at Haverton Hill. Marlow Foods produce Quorn, and KP Snacks make McCoy's Crisps in Billingham. Santander UK's mortgages division is located in Thornaby. Tetley Tea have had their only tea bag factory in the UK at Eaglescliffe, in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees, since 1969. It is the largest tea bag factory in the world and makes 18 billion tea bags a year. Its distribution centre is at nearby Newton Aycliffe in County Durham.
Teesport is on the River Tees and is currently the third largest port in the United Kingdom, and amongst the ten biggest in Western Europe, in terms of tonnage shipped. Its size is due to the local steel and chemical industries.
This port handles over 56 million tonnes of goods per annum which are mainly associated with the local petrochemical, chemical and steel processing industries.
The port is an important piece of logistical infrastructure for the NEPIC cluster of process companies. PD Ports, who own Teesport, is headquartered in Middlesbrough adjacent to Middlesbrough railway station.
District | Land area | Population | Density (/km2) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
(km2) | (%) | People | (%) | ||
Darlington | 197 | 25% | 109,469 | 16% | 554 |
Hartlepool | 94 | 12% | 93,861 | 14% | 1,002 |
Middlesbrough | 54 | 7% | 148,285 | 22% | 2,752 |
Redcar and Cleveland | 245 | 31% | 137,175 | 20% | 560 |
Stockton-on-Tees | 205 | 26% | 199,966 | 29% | 976 |
Tees Valley | 795 | 100% | 688,756 | 100% | 866 |
Main
Road | Route | Notes |
---|---|---|
A1(M) | Darlington western bypass. South to Leeds and North to Tyne and Wear | A motorway standard stretch of the A1 |
A19 | South for the rest of Yorkshire and North to Tyne and Wear. | Between Stockton & Middlesbrough, then Stockton & Hartlepool, as aproxoximate borough borders. |
A66 | Most of Tees Valley is served, terminating between Middlesbrough and Redcar, linking to Hartlepool via the A19, running to the west coast of England. | The road is motorway standard around Darlington. |
A67 | Darlington to Stockton | It is the main road for Teesside Airport, running adjacent to the railway, and was previously designated as the A66 from Darlington to Eaglescliffe and A19, Eaglescliffe southwards through Yarm. |
A68 | Darlington to Edinburgh | Runs west of Darlington. |
Triple-digit roads
Road | From | To | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
A135 (Yarm Road) | Stockton-on-Tees | Egglescliffe | |
A139 | Stockton-on-Tees | Billingham | |
A167 | Topcliffe | Kenton Bar | |
A171 | A66 as Cargo Fleet Lane | Scarborough | Until the road goes out of the region, it is also known as: Sunnyfields, Orchard Way, Ormesby Bank, Middlesbrough Road, Whitby Road, Fancy Bank, Birk Brow Road & Fancy Bank |
A172 | A66 as Marton Road, Middlesbrough | A19 as Stocking Hill | also known as Stokesley Road, Pannierman Lane & Dixons Bank |
A173 | A172 (Middlesbrough) | Skelton-in-Cleveland | Also known as Church Lane & Skelton Ellers. |
A174 | Thornaby | Whitby | As the road goes out of the region, it is known for a short stretch, as Apple Orchard Bank |
A177 | Stockton | Durham | |
A178 | Middlesbrough | Hartlepool | |
A179 | A19 | Hartlepool |
Bus
Most of the area is served by Stagecoach's Tees Flex network, a pre-bookable service running in and around the valley, mainly serving Stockton on Tees, Darlington and Redcar and Cleveland. Services are operated by a dedicated fleet of Mercedes-Benz Sprinter minibuses.
Stations The stations, by borough, are as follows:
Lines
Services
York-based LNER serves the full length of the ECML and operates Darlington railway station. There is also a daily LNER service from Middlesbrough to London King's Cross, while Grand Central has linked Teesside with London since December 2007 with a non-stop from York onwards. It does not have electric trains, and uses the Northallerton–Eaglescliffe Line and Durham Coast Line. CrossCountry operate regular services from Darlington to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Scotland, Leeds, Birmingham and southwest England.
Local-service routes in the Tees Valley are provided by Northern Trains. [17] TransPennine Express has inter-regional services from Saltburn to Manchester Airport, via Leeds.
Teesside International Airport serves the area and has a regular service from Amsterdam, Schiphol airport. [18]
The area is served by BBC North East and Cumbria and ITV Tyne Tees, the local based-television station Local TV Teesside also broadcast to the area. Television signals are received from either the Pontop Pike [19] or Bilsdale TV transmitters. [20]
Radio stations for the area are:
Tees Valley is served by these local newspapers:
Division | Club | Ground | Location |
---|---|---|---|
EFL Championship | Middlesbrough | Riverside Stadium | Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire |
National League | Hartlepool United | Victoria Park | Hartlepool, County Durham |
National League North | Darlington | Blackwell Meadows | Darlington, County Durham |
Northern League Division One | Marske United | Mount Pleasant | Marske, North Yorkshire |
Northern Premier League Premier Division | Stockton Town | Bishopton Road West | Stockton, County Durham |
Northern League Division One | Guisborough Town | King George V Ground | Guisborough, North Yorkshire |
Northern League Division One | Redcar Athletic | Green Lane | Redcar, North Yorkshire |
Northern League Division Two | Thornaby | Teesdale Park | Thornaby, North Yorkshire |
Northern League Division Two | Billingham Synthonia | Stokesley Sports Complex | Stokesley, North Yorkshire [lower-alpha 1] |
Northern League Division One | Boro Rangers | Stokesley Sports Complex | Stokesley, North Yorkshire [lower-alpha 1] |
Northern League Division Two | Billingham Town | Bedford Terrace | Billingham, County Durham |
Northern League Division Two | Redcar Town | Mo Mowlam Memorial Park | Redcar, North Yorkshire |
Wearside League Premier Division | Darlington Railway Athletic | Brinkburn Road | Darlington, County Durham |
Wearside League Premier Division | Norton and Stockton Ancients | Norton Sports Complex | Norton, County Durham |
Wearside League also host:
Under the Northern League there is also the North Riding Football League, founded in 2017 by a merger of Teesside Football League and the Eskvale & Cleveland League
In the women's football pyramid, Middlesbrough and the Norton and Stockton Ancients play in the fourth tier (Division One North).
As of the 2022-2 season, there are fourteen Rugby Union Football Clubs in the region, Darlington Mowden Park is in the highest division compared to the rest of the clubs:
ECB PL's North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League:
County Durham
| North Yorkshire
|
North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It has three administrative levels below regional level: combined authorities, unitary authorities or metropolitan boroughs, and civil parishes. There are also multiple divisions without administrative functions; ceremonial counties, emergency services, built-up areas and historic counties. The largest settlements in the region are Newcastle upon Tyne, Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Gateshead, Darlington, Hartlepool and Durham.
North Yorkshire is a ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber and North East regions of England. It borders County Durham to the north, the North Sea to the east, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the south-east, South Yorkshire to the south, West Yorkshire to the south-west, and Cumbria and Lancashire to the west.
The River Tees, in England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for 85 miles (137 km) to reach the North Sea in the North East of England. The modern-day history of the river has been tied with the industries on Teesside in its lower reaches, where it has provided the means of import and export of goods to and from the North East England. The need for water further downstream also meant that reservoirs were built in the extreme upper reaches, such as Cow Green.
The North Riding of Yorkshire was a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point was at Mickle Fell at 2,585 ft (788 m).
Redcar and Cleveland is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. Its council has been a unitary authority since 1996.
Teesside is a built-up area around the River Tees in North East England, split between County Durham and North Yorkshire. The area contains the towns of Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Billingham, Redcar, Thornaby-on-Tees, and Ingleby Barwick. Teesside's economy was once dominated by heavy manufacturing until deindustrialisation in the latter half of the 20th century. Chemical production continues to contribute significantly to Teesside's economy.
Thornaby-on-Tees, commonly referred to as Thornaby, is a town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire part of the borough of Stockton-on-Tees, England. The parish had a population of 24,741 at the 2011 census, in the Teesside built-up area. It is located on the south bank of the River Tees.
The Borough of Stockton-on-Tees is a unitary authority area in England with borough status. It straddles the ceremonial counties of County Durham and North Yorkshire and had a population of 196,600 in 2021.
Billingham is a town and civil parish in County Durham, England. The town is on the north side of the River Tees and is governed as part of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees unitary authority. It had a population of 35,165 in the 2011 Census.
The Tees Valley Line is a rail route, in Northern England, following part of the original Stockton and Darlington Railway route of 1825. The line covers a distance of 38 miles (61 km), and connects Bishop Auckland to Saltburn via Darlington, Middlesbrough and 14 other stations in the Teesdale.
Middlesbrough is a railway station on the Durham Coast Line, Esk Valley Line and Tees Valley Line. The station serves the town of Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by TransPennine Express. Direct destinations include Darlington, Saltburn, Sunderland, Newcastle, York, and Manchester Airport. There is a direct service to London Kings Cross once per weekday.
The Teesside Football League was a football competition based in northern England. Established in 1891, it was dissolved in 2017 when it merged with the Eskvale & Cleveland League to form the North Riding Football League. At the end of its existence the league was placed at level 11 of the English football league system, with clubs being promoted to Division Two of the Northern League.
Cleveland was a non-metropolitan county located in North East England which existed between 1974 and 1996. Cleveland was a two-tier county and had four boroughs: Hartlepool, Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough and Langbaurgh-on-Tees. The county town was Middlesbrough, where Cleveland County Council met. The county was named after the historic area of Cleveland, Yorkshire. Its area is now split between the counties of North Yorkshire and County Durham.
The Tees Valley Metro was a project to upgrade the Tees Valley Line and sections of the Esk Valley Line and Durham Coast Line to provide a faster and more frequent service across the North of England. In the initial phases the services would have been heavy rail mostly along existing alignments. The later phase would have introduced tram-trains to allow street running. The project was backed by all the local authorities through which the system would have run: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees. Support was also forthcoming from the Department for Transport. The project was cancelled due to lack of funding, with the focus moving to the Northern Rail franchise. Of the original Tees Valley Metro project, only the construction of a new station at James Cook University Hospital has come to fruition.
Middlesbrough Bus Station serves the town of Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire, England. It is located around 1⁄4 mi (400 m) from the town's railway station.
The County Borough of Teesside was a county borough in the north-east of England, which existed for just six years. It was created in 1968 to cover the Teesside conurbation which had grown up around the various port and industrial towns near the mouth of the River Tees. The council was based in Middlesbrough, the area's largest town. The county borough was abolished in 1974 on the creation of the new county of Cleveland, which covered a larger area, with the county borough's territory being split between three of the four districts created in the new county. In 1971 it had a population of 396,233.
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council is the local authority for Redcar and Cleveland, a local government district with borough status in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. Since 1996 the council has been a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council. The council was created in 1974 as Langbaurgh Borough Council and was a lower-tier authority until 1996 when it was renamed and became a unitary authority, taking over county-level functions from the abolished Cleveland County Council.
The county of Durham returned 7 MPs to the UK Parliament from 1983 to 2024. Under the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, coming into effect for the 2024 general election, the boundary commission proposed that one constituency be shared with the county of Tyne and Wear. In addition, the unitary authority of Darlington, which had previously been included with Durham, was now included with the four unitary authorities which make up the former county of Cleveland. For the purposes of this series of articles, Darlington continues to be included with Durham.
The non-metropolitan county of Cleveland was created under the Local Government Act 1972, which came into effect on 1 April 1974, comprising the urban areas around the mouth of the River Tees, previously parts of the administrative counties of Durham and North Riding of Yorkshire. Cleveland was abolished in 1996 both as a county council and a non-metropolitan county, being succeeded by the unitary authorities of Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees. The constituency boundaries used up to the 2005 United Kingdom general election were drawn up when the county still existed. For the review which came into effect for the 2010 general election, the four authorities were considered separately, with Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland being combined.