The Boldons are a group of three small villages in the north east of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

– East Boldon, West Boldon and Boldon Colliery – north of Sunderland, east of

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

and south of South Shields and Jarrow. In 2001 they had a population of 13,271. Lying within the historic boundaries of County Durham, the villages are first recorded in print in 1170. Their names evolved from the words "Bold" or "Botl", meaning a building, and "

dun A dun is an ancient or medieval fort. In Ireland and Britain it is mainly a kind of hillfort and also a kind of Atlantic roundhouse. Etymology The term comes from Irish ''dún'' or Scottish Gaelic ''dùn'' (meaning "fort"), and is cognat ...

", meaning a type of

hillfort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

. In 1866, work began sinking a pit that began producing coal in 1869, and was then known as Boldon New Winning. The village that developed nearby in the 1870s became known as Boldon Colliery. When the mine was deepened and extended in the 1910s, further housing to accommodate the workforce was built to the south of the pit in an area known as Boldon New Town. Until 1974 the area was administered as an urban district of County Durham, but since then has been part of the borough of

South Tyneside South Tyneside is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, North East England. It is bordered by all four other boroughs in Tyne and Wear – Gateshead to the west, Sunderland in the south, North Tyneside to the no ...

. In 1976, the Boldon Colliery Band appeared in episode 13 of the television series ''

When the Boat Comes In ''When the Boat Comes In'' is a British television period drama produced by the BBC between 1976 and 1981. The series stars James Bolam as Jack Ford, a First World War veteran who returns to his poverty-stricken (fictional) town of Gallowshi ...

''. The mine closed in 1982 but more jobs became available when an

Asda Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of Yorks ...

supermarket opened in 1987. Recent developments include Boldon Business Park. Boldon Colliery also has its own multi-screen cinema operated by

Cineworld Cineworld Group plc is a British cinema operator headquartered in London, England. It is the world's second-largest cinema chain (after AMC Theatres), with 9,518 screens across 790 sites in 10 countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Irela ...

. The main secondary school in the area is Boldon School, a specialist sports college.

Housing and environment

The Boldons form part of the suburban fringe of South Tyneside and are completely surrounded by green belt. There are conservation areas within the historic village centres of East and West Boldon. East Boldon is considered the more affluent sought after area of the Boldons. With a reputation competing with nearby

Cleadon Cleadon is a suburban village in South Tyneside in the North East of England. Prior to the creation of Tyne and Wear in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, the village was part of the historic County Durham. In the 2011 UK Census the pop ...

, East Boldon attracts a young professional family market and residents to this day have created a very much desired family, village environment. The three schools are very much sought after, they provide nursery, infants and juniors, who work together via the PTA. The village has its own community Facebook page and Friends of East Boldon Parks hold annual community events such as party in the park and Halloween trails etc. The East Boldon Scouts is one of the largest in the UK with over 200 attendees. House prices are higher than national average and sell quickly due to their desirability. Despite the relatively small geographical area, there are a significant number of older buildings considered as being of architectural merit including churches, public houses and former country houses, as well as modern additions. St. Nicholas Church in West Boldon is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

; much of the stonework dates from the thirteenth century, but the foundation of the building dates from the Saxon period. The area includes a wide range of housing styles, from Edwardian villas to Victorian terraces, post-war housing to more recent smaller-scale developments. The first street built in Boldon Colliery was Cross Row (also known as Sinkers Row) which was constructed to house the men who were initially employed to sink the shaft. Several years later, other major housing projects were started and terraced housing such as that at Arnold Street and Charles Street were built. After the colliery was closed the former industrial land lay derelict for many years. In 2000, Colliery Wood was created with over 2,500 trees planted. The wood is popular with the local community and provides a habitat for animals such as

pheasants Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera native range is restricted to Eurasia ...

squirrels Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squ ...

, woodpeckers and

otters Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes weas ...

. Colliery Wood provides six new paths, which are also suitable for cycling and link to East Boldon, and Brockley Whins and Whiteleas in nearby South Shields. Boldon Flats is another site important for nature conservation, which contains an area of damp pasture. The flats are flooded from each October to March and attract a wide array of bird life and a large population of

common frog The common frog or grass frog (''Rana temporaria''), also known as the European common frog, European common brown frog, European grass frog, European Holarctic true frog, European pond frog or European brown frog, is a semi-aquatic amphibian ...

s. West Boldon Lodge, constructed by the National Grid, is situated amongst a range of habitat, including wetland, grassland and woodland. Locally rare orchids are present at one site. The River Don traverses Boldon and is the last stronghold of water voles in South Tyneside.

Development

Recent/proposed projects include: * the introduction of the Metro light rapid transit system connecting Boldon to the rest of Tyne & Wear * a new state-of-the-art senior school * new housing developments * an expansion to the ASDA Walmart superstore - one of the largest in northern England * a new Pizza Hut and Nando's restaurant and Starbucks at the leisure park * further growth of the business park * road and cycle way improvements * a new skate park, and * community woodland projects The new £17.5 million Boldon School opened on 6 November 2006. It has been funded by a private finance initiative and was constructed by Gleeson Building Company as well as other small businesses. The new school boasts a £750,000 theatre, top-of-the-range arts facilities, a four-lane 25-metre swimming pool and other new sports facilities such as five-a-side football pitches gymnasium. Computerised technology has been incorporated into the school's meals service, with school pupils using an electronic card system to purchase meals. The recently built Quadrus Centre at Boldon Business Park houses entrepreneurial businesses and acts as a gateway to South Tyneside on the main A19 trunk road. The building features a modern design within its lakeside setting. The building is illuminated at night in a range of colours and has won many awards for its iconic design.

Sport

Boldon has produced many notable sports personalities, among them former Newcastle United footballer

Wes Saunders Wesley Saunders (born 23 February 1963) is an English former professional football player and manager, who played as a central defender. He played for Newcastle United, Bradford City, Carlisle United and Torquay United in the Football League and ...

. Charlton Athletic goalkeeper Sam Bartram, their record appearance holder, who played 800 games for the London club, was signed from Boldon Villa in September 1934 and played in four successive Wembley cup finals from 1944 to 1947. Full back Jack Shreeve moved from the Villa to Charlton in 1935 and was a colleague of Bartram's in their 1947 FA Cup winning team. A Sam Bartram Memorial Cup competition was introduced at Boldon in February 2008 aimed at inspiring current footballing youngsters in the Boldon area. Other notable sportsmen from Boldon are cricketers Simon Brown and current England rugby youth player Robert Bell, Darlington striker Shaun Reay and Spennymoor Town midfielder Jamie Chandler. There are private tennis and golf clubs at Dipe Lane as well as other pursuits on offer within local schools, community centres and parks. The Jarrow Roofing Boldon Community Association F.C. was founded in 1987 and played at The Boldon C.A. Sports Ground.

Politics

East Boldon and Cleadon was previously the only ward in South Tyneside to elect three

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

councillors. However, in the 2011 local elections, Labour candidate Joan Atkinson unseated the sitting Conservative councillor, reducing the number of Conservatives on

South Tyneside Council South Tyneside Council is the local authority of South Tyneside 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 Loc ...

to one. Boldon Colliery usually elects three Labour councillors. , these two wards have five Labour councillors and one Independent Conservative. The Boldons are within the Jarrow constituency, which also includes Jarrow,

Hebburn Hebburn is a town in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It governed under the borough of South Tyneside; formerly governed under the county of Durham until 1974 with its own urban district from 1894 until 1974. It is on the sout ...

and parts of east Gateshead. The local MP is

Kate Osborne Kate Helen Osborne (born 18 June 1966) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Jarrow since 2019. Career Osborne worked for Royal Mail for 25 years. Her first foray into politics came in 2009, ...

of the Labour Party, who succeeded the previous Labour incumbent. In the earlier part of the 20th century, a famous son of the community was the Labour politician

Jack Lawson John James Lawson, 1st Baron Lawson, PC (16 October 1881 – 3 August 1965) was a British trade unionist and a Labour Party politician. A miner and later Member of Parliament in County Durham, he served in the governments of Ramsay MacDonald ...

. He represented

Chester-le-Street Chester-le-Street (), also known as Chester, is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England, around north of Durham and also close to Sunderland and Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located on the River Wear, which runs out to sea at ...

in County Durham as an MP, and was later elevated to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

References

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