Byker

Byker is an inner city electoral ward in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in Tyne and Wear, England. It is in the east of the city, south of the Heaton area and north of St Peter's. Byker Metro station serves the area. The area also contains the Byker Wall estate. The population of the ward is 11,339 which is 4.4% of the city's total. Car ownership stands at 35.4% much lower than the city average of 54.7%, however, the cars are 97.1% of executive class.Fact|date=December 2007 Property prices in the ward average at £194,000

In the 1960s Newcastle City Corporation took the decision to redevelop the Byker area. Originally it was a Victorian working-class area of densely-built terraces. Much of the housing needed major repair and some was considered unfit for human habitation (many lacked bathrooms), yet most residents wanted to stay in Byker, an area close to industry on the riverside. Newcastle council aimed to clear the slums but keep the community.

Architect Ralph Erskine was appointed as the architect in 1969 for the new Byker. The development was run as a "rolling programme" so local people could continue living in the area during the building work. Residents were involved in the design process and it is thought the outstanding success of Byker was as much to do with this as its innovative architecture.

Byker has suffered the kinds of the social problems common to other inner-city urban housing areas, including juvenile crime and vandalism. In parts of Byker turnover of tenancies has been high. Families have moved away - particularly those in employment. Some shops and services have been abandoned and boarded up. In the mid-1990s it has been estimated one in three of Byker's adult inhabitants was unemployed.

New leisure and shopping facilities have been brought to the Shields Road area. There are street wardens operating in Byker to deter vandalism and other low level crime. Education and employment initiatives aim to break the cycle of unemployment. There are also proposals to improve the fabric of the Byker area and the Ouseburn Valley in general.

Byker was the setting of the BBC TV series "Byker Grove". However, the youth club featured in the series was actually The Mitre in the Benwell area in the west end of Newcastle.

History

The place-name Byker means "settlement near marshy woodland" or "settlement near a church" and has Viking roots. The "by" part comes from the Norse "by", meaning "farmstead" or "village". The "ker" comes either from the Norse "kjerr" or "kir", where the former means "marshy woodland" and the latter is a contraction of "kirk", meaning "church". Coincidentally, theword "kjerre" in modern Norwegian translates as "grove" in English.

Education

The ward has two primary schools St. Lawrence RC Primary School and Byker Primary School which is equipped with a nursery class.

Recreation and leisure

Most of these facilities are in the bordering ward of South Heaton such as the East End Pool & Library on Corbridge Street. Open green spaces in the ward are very limited. Byker ward also hosts the Byker in Bloom gardening competition which takes place in every summer. In 2008, Newcastle City Council agreed a lease of the former Byker (Shipley Street) Swimming Pool allowing it to be converted into an indoor bouldering and climbing centre.

Transport

Byker is served by Byker Metro station on the Tyne and Wear Metro and Shields Road is served by numerous bus routes.

Boundary

Byker ward stretches from the Fossway and Millers Road in the north of the ward to the banks of the River Tyne in the south. It heads south onto the Shields Road bypass (A187) and continues along the A193 bypass along Shields Road to the Ouse Burn. It turns south down the Ouse Burn to the River Tyne and follows the river east, turning northwards to the west of the properties on The Oval (and excluding the Bakewell Terrace properties). Heading east along Walker Road, the boundary then turns north up Staines Road and continues north through Kingston Avenue. It turns west along Dunstanburgh Road, and then north between Welbeck Primary School grounds and the properties on Allendale Road. It turns east along Welbeck Road, then north up Scrogg Road, east at Middle Street, and north along Langley Road. The boundary then runs along the gardens at the back of Whinneyfield Road before turning west down the Fossway.

Charts and tables

See also

* Fly ash used for dressing footpaths in the area raised concerns over contamination by dioxins.

External links

* [http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=1656272 Photos of the area from Geograph]
* [http://www.tim.jones7.freeuk.com/bykwall/index.htm Tim Pickford-Jones' Gallery of the Wall and Byker estate]
* [http://www.geocities.com/kaysgeography/byker.htm Kay's Geography guide to the Byker estate including current issues and photos]
* [http://www.ouseburnvalley.org/page/regeneration/index.cfm Ouseburn Valley regeneration project]
* [http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/core.nsf/a/wardinfobyker Newcastle Council Ward Info: Byker]
* [http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/core.nsf/a/infobyker Newcastle council 2001 census]