Wideopen

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This article is about the village in North Tyneside. For other places named 'Wideopen', see Wide Open.
Wideopen
Wideopen is located in Tyne and Wear
Wideopen
Wideopen
 Wideopen shown within Tyne and Wear
OS grid reference NZ241728
Metropolitan borough North Tyneside
Metropolitan county Tyne and Wear
Region North East
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
Postcode district NE13
Dialling code 0191
Police Northumbria
Fire Tyne and Wear
Ambulance North East
EU Parliament North East England
UK Parliament North Tyneside
List of places
UK
England
Tyne and Wear

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Wideopen, also occasionally spelled Wide Open, is a village located in the administrative borough of North Tyneside, north of Gosforth and six miles north from Newcastle upon Tyne city centre.

Wideopen adjoins the settlements of Seaton Burn, Brunswick Village and Hazlerigg. The village straddles the historic Great North Road, formerly the A1 trunk road, but is now bypassed by a new alignment of the A1 immediately to the west. The village lies in an area with a strong mining history and had its own colliery.[1] Weetslade Country Park, to the east of the village, is reclaimed from an extensive area of coal mining activity.[2]

In 2012 work commenced on the building of a new housing estate by Bellway homes. It is located to the east of the Great North Road, between Lockey Park and Weetslade Country Park. The name refers to the distance from the centre of Newcastle – similarly there is a Three Mile Inn to the south, and a Six Mile Bridge to the north.

History

The village is present on an 1860s Ordnance Survey map as 'Wide Open', with the settlements of 'East Wideopen' to the east, and 'West Wideopen' to the south.[3] The village name is nowadays written as one word in widespread use and appears on signage at either end of the village, but the alternative form of Wide Open is still occasionally found on maps and elsewhere.[citation needed] This leads to an inconsistency in contemporary addresses.

Wideopen Colliery

The pit shafts for the colliery were sunk and opened by Perkins and Thackrah in 1825. The colliery produced its first coal in May 1827.[1] It was sketched by Thomas Harrison Hair in 1844 as part of his collection. There was for many years a scrapyard on the site, but this closed in 2011 to make way for new housing.[4]

Sacred Heart Church

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Main article: Sacred Heart Church, North Gosforth

To the south of the village is the 19th-century Sacred Heart RC Church, a Grade II listed building notable for its stained glass windows, which bear designs by Pre-Raphaelite artists Edward Burne-Jones, Ford Madox Brown and William Morris.[5][6]

Other churches in Wideopen are St Columba's, the Anglican parish church, and St John's URC church.

Governance

The village is in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, in the county of Tyne and Wear. It has been in the Parliamentary constituency of North Tyneside since the creation of the constituency in 1997.

Amenities

The village contains one pub (Travellers Rest), two health centres, a library, a garage, a supermarket, a post office, an ambulance station and various local shops. The village has two primary schools, Hazlewood Primary School and Greenfields Community Primary School; students in these schools normally progress to secondary education at Seaton Burn College.

Recreation and Leisure

The village has a local football club - Wideopen Juniors, playing with teams from seniors down to under 8's.The club is based at Lockey Park and has modern changing facilities built in 2008.[7]

Woodlands Hall provides indoor leisure facilities and Wideopen swimming pool (within the grounds of Greenfields Primary School) is used as a school learner pool.

The Reivers Cycle Route runs past the village providing access to a nationally designated cycle route from the east to west coast of England.[8] The village is directly connected to the local waggonways network (former mineral railways) which provides opportunities for walking and cycling routes throughout North Tyneside.[9]

A driving range, The John Jacobs Golf centre, opened in 1966. This later became Wideopen Golf Club when an 18-hole course was opened in 1984. In 1986 the club changed its name to Parklands Golf Club, but occupies the same area within Gosforth Park.

Local Youth Groups

Wideopen has a thriving Scout Group, 2nd Wideopen (St. John's), based in St. John's Church hall in the village. The Scout Group actively welcomes both boys and girls aged between 6-25, in their Beaver, Cub, Scout, Explorer and Network sections. 2nd Wideopen offers a wide range of community, sporting and adventurous activities, including kayaking, rafting, camping, climbing, environmental conservation and a variety of sports. Through their progressive training programme - aimed at developing and enhancing personal life and employability skills, young members can achieve the Chief Scout's and Duke of Edinburgh's Awards, Young and Adult Leader Training Schemes and actively support relevant adventurous activity qualifications in sports such as archery, kayaking, climbing and hillwalking .[10]

Wideopen also has a successful Air Cadet Squadron located behind Woodlands Hall. 861 (Wideopen) Squadron Air Cadets is a voluntary youth organisation based on and supported by the Royal Air Force. 861 has been nominated for thee Lees Trophy inspection and currently top squadron in the North region, hoping to be the best in the entire Air Training Corps. The Squadron offers a wide range of exciting activities to young people aged 13-20 years including flying and gliding, the Duke of Edinburgh Award, BTECs in Aviation Studies, adventure training, target shooting, sports, drill and ceremonial, community activities, water sports and social activities. The Squadron is a Ministry of Defence sponsored cadet organisation and receives some of its funding directly through the Royal Air Force. However, it is not a recruiting organisation for the Armed Forces and aims to improve the lives of local youth.

Conservation Area

Lying on the ourtskirts of the village, Wideopen Conservation Area was designated in January 2007 and a character appraisal was adopted in January 2009 by North Tyneside Council. The area includes the Grade II listed Sacred Heart Roman Catholic church.[11]

Transport

The village is served by regular buses running into Newcastle upon Tyne city centre and Blyth town centre. Proximity to the A1 and A19 affords easy access to national road transport links. National rail travel, via the East Coast Main Line, is available at Newcastle Central Station.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Wideopen Juniors
  8. ↑ North of England Cycle Routes
  9. ↑ waggonways
  10. ↑ 2nd Wideopen St. John's
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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