Clara Vale is a village situated on the south bank of the River Tyne in

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newc ...

, England. Once an independent village in County Durham it became incorporated into the new metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear in 1974 as part of the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead.

Location

Clara Vale stands on the south bank of the River Tyne in a low-lying and quite secluded spot.

Crawcrook Crawcrook is a semi-rural village close to the western border of the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear in England. Traditionally an independent village in County Durham, it was incorporated into the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead on 1 April ...

borders the hamlet to the south. To the north, across the river, is the village of

Wylam Wylam is a village and civil parish in the county of Northumberland. It is located about west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is famous for the being the birthplace of George Stephenson, one of the early railway pioneers. George Stephenson's Bir ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

. It is notable for being the first settlement in Tyne and Wear that the river Tyne reaches and passes after leaving

Politics

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...

, Clara Vale is located in the 'Crawcrook, Greenside and Clara Vale ward' of Gateshead Council. The ward is at the far west of Gateshead and borders part of

. The ward is served by three councillors (three Labour). Gateshead Council is Labour controlled. Clara Vale is located within the parliamentary constituency of Blaydon. Its current MP is Labour's

Liz Twist Mary Elizabeth Twist (born 10 July 1956) is a British Labour Party politician. She has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Blaydon since the 2017 general election. Before her parliamentary career, she was the head of health in the Nort ...

History

Before the colliery and village were developed, a water-driven corn mill called Crawcrook Mill stood near the centre of the current village. Clara Vale was built as a colliery community at the time the coal mine was opened in July 1893. Both pit and housing were purpose built by the Stella Coal Company. The mine closed down in February 1966, around the same time as many other nearby pits such as Emma, Greenside and Stargate. The colliery and settlement were named after the wife of colliery owner John Bell Simpson, Clara was Atkinson (née Draper). There are early references to Claraville and some old maps refer to the village as Claravale.

Modern-day Clara Vale

There is very little in the way of modern housing, only the one terraced street, built in the traditional style of the village. Of the other non-pit housing and buildings, there is only the chapel and former school (now a community centre). There are no local shops. By avoiding the suburbanisation experienced by nearby towns and villages such as Crawcrook, Greenside and Ryton. Clara Vale has retained its rural character completely. Farms and countryside surrounds the village. This includes a local nature reserve which stands at the site of the old colliery. Due to its small size, Clara Vale has limited amenities and local services. However, nearby Crawcrook and Ryton offer a range of shops and services and both of these are within walking distance of the village so whilst Clara Vale remains secluded, it is by no means isolated. Clara Vale does, however, have three nearby

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

courses. Ryton golf course, in Clara Vale itself; Tyneside golf club in Ryton and, over the river to the north, Close House golf club in Wylam. The village also has a recreation ground, originally provided by the pit owners for the miners' welfare. The recreation ground has a football pitch and a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

pitch with pavilion. Clara Vale Cricket Club play matches at the recreation ground on Saturdays during the Summer, with

Ovingham Ovingham is a civil parish and village in the Tyne Valley of south Northumberland, England. It lies on the River Tyne east of Hexham with neighbours Prudhoe, Ovington, Wylam and Stocksfield. The River Tyne provided an obstacle between O ...

Bridge End Cricket Club playing on some Sundays and Merz and McLellan Cricket Club on some Wednesday evenings. Clara Vale FC junior teams also play on the pitch at the Recreation Ground. Clara Vale Local Nature Reserve is located next to the recreation ground.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Clara Vale
An aerial view of the village, provided by Google Maps.

* ttps://archive.today/20130131124916/http://claravale.play-cricket.com/home/home.asp The website for Clara Vale Cricket Club
Clara Vale cricketer in club v country dilemma

The website for Clara Vale Football Club

Clara Vale online via Facebook
Villages in Tyne and Wear Local Nature Reserves in Tyne and Wear Ryton, Tyne and Wear