River Tyne

{{Short description|River in north-east England}} {{Other uses}} {{Use British English|date=February 2026}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}} {{Infobox river | name = River Tyne | native_name = | native_name_lang = | name_other = | name_etymology =  | image = File:Newcastle Quayside with bridges.jpg | image_size = | image_caption = River Tyne Gateshead Quayside | map = | map_size = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = | pushpin_map_size = | pushpin_map_caption = | mapframe = yes | mapframe-zoom = 8 | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = United Kingdom | subdivision_type2 = Constituent country | subdivision_name2 = England | subdivision_type3 = County | subdivision_name3 = {{unbulleted list |Cumbria |Northumberland |Tyne and Wear }} | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name4 = | subdivision_type5 = | subdivision_name5 =  | length_km = 118 | length_ref = <ref name=owen>{{cite book|last=Owen|first=Susan|display-authors=etal |title=Rivers and the British Landscape|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_GeBAAAACAAJ|year=2005|publisher=Carnegie|isbn=978-1-85936-120-7}}</ref> | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location = Bywell<ref name=Rtyne2013 /> | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = {{convert|44.6|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name=Rtyne2013 /> | discharge1_max =  | source1 = South Tyne | source1_location = Alston Moor, Cumbria, England | source1_coordinates = | source1_elevation = | source2 = North Tyne | source2_location = Deadwater Fell, Kielder, Northumberland, England | source2_coordinates = | source2_elevation = | mouth = Tynemouth | mouth_location = Tynemouth, North Tyneside, England | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|55|0|37|N|1|25|8|W|display=inline,title}} | mouth_elevation = | progression = | river_system = | basin_size_km2 = 2933 | basin_size_ref = <ref name=Rtyne2013 /> | tributaries_left = River Derwent, River Team, River Don | tributaries_right = Ouse Burn | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra = }}

thumb|The Gateshead Millennium Bridge for pedestrians and cyclists and the Tyne Bridge for vehicles in the background in Newcastle upon Tyne [[File:Watersmeet - geograph.org.uk - 1254483.jpg|thumb|Confluence of North (right) and South Tyne (left) near Warden ]] The '''River Tyne''' {{IPAc-en|audio=en-us-Tyne.ogg|'|t|aɪ|n}} is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is {{convert|118|km|mi|abbr=out|order=flip}}.<ref name=owen/> It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Waters'. The Tyne Rivers Trust measure the whole Tyne catchment as {{convert|2936|km2|abbr=in}}, containing {{convert|4399|km|abbr=in}} of waterways.<ref name=TyneRivTr2013>{{cite web | title = The River: Fascinating Facts about the River Tyne | publisher = Tyne Rivers Trust | url = https://www.tyneriverstrust.org/the-river/ | access-date = 19 August 2021 }}</ref>

==Course== ===North Tyne=== The Ordnance Survey records 'the source of the '''North Tyne''' river' at grid reference NY 605974<ref>{{cite web |title=Wheresthepath |url=https://wtp2recorder.appspot.com/wheresthepath.htm |access-date=22 November 2024}}</ref> at Deadwater, a few tens of metres short of the Scottish border. It flows southeast through the village of Kielder before entering first Bakethin Reservoir and then Kielder Water, both set within Kielder Forest. It then passes by the village of Bellingham before the River Rede enters as a left-bank tributary at Redesmouth. It passes Hadrian's Wall near Chollerford before joining the South Tyne near Warden to the northwest of Hexham. thumb|A stone marker shows the source of the River North Tyne

===South Tyne=== The '''South Tyne''' rises at Tyne Head on Alston Moor, Cumbria close to the sources of the Tees and the Wear. Initially it flows north through the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), enters Northumberland downstream of Alston and turns to the east as it approaches the town of Haltwhistle. Paralleling Hadrian's Wall which lies to the north, the river continues past Redburn and Haydon Bridge to join the North Tyne at Warden. This low level east-west corridor through the Pennines is referred to as the Tyne Gap.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tyne Gap and Hadrian's Wall |url=https://nationalcharacterareas.co.uk/tyne-gap-and-hadrians-wall/description/ |website=National Character Area profiles |publisher=Natural England |access-date=22 November 2024}}</ref>

===Tyne=== From the confluence of the North and South Tyne at Warden, the river flows east through Northumberland by Hexham, Corbridge and Prudhoe and enters the county of Tyne and Wear to the east of Wylam. The river subsequently forms the boundary between Newcastle upon Tyne on the north bank and the Borough of Gateshead on the south bank for {{convert|13|mi|0}}, in the course of which it flows under ten bridges. To the east of Gateshead and Newcastle, the Tyne divides Hebburn and Jarrow on the south bank from Walker and Wallsend on the north bank, forming the boundary between the boroughs of North Tyneside and South Tyneside. The Tyne Tunnel runs under the river to link Jarrow and Wallsend and is roughly where the mouth of the River Don forms. Finally the river flows between South Shields and Tynemouth into the North Sea.<ref name=Rtyne2013>{{cite web | title = Environment Agency – River Tyne Salmon Action Plan Review | publisher = Environment Agency – APEM REF EA 410230 | date = July 2008 | url = http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Leisure/APEM_410230_Tyne_SAP_Review_Final_070708.pdf |archive-url = http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140328084622/http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Leisure/APEM_410230_Tyne_SAP_Review_Final_070708.pdf| archive-date = 28 March 2014 | access-date = 17 May 2013}}</ref>

==Geography== Thomas John Taylor (1810–1861)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Thomas_John_Taylor|title=Thomas John Taylor|work=Grace's Guide to British Industrial History|access-date=15 May 2020}}</ref> theorised that the main course of the river anciently flowed through what is now Team Valley, its outlet into the tidal river being by a waterfall at Bill Point (in the area of Bill Quay).<ref>{{cite book|title=The river Tyne: its history and resources|year=1880|author=James Guthrie|publisher=Andrew Reid and Company Limited|page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924028098279/page/n29 2]|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028098279}}</ref> His theory was not far from the truth, as there is evidence that prior to the last ice age, the River Wear once followed the current route of the lower River Team and merged with the Tyne at Dunston. Ice diverted the course of the Wear to its current location, flowing east the course of the Tyne and joining the North Sea at Sunderland.<ref>{{cite web|title=Urban Landscape Study of the Tyne Gorge|publisher=Gateshead Council|author=Land Use Consultants|year=2003|url=https://www.gateshead.gov.uk/media/2383/Tyne-Gorge-urban-landscape-study/pdf/TyneGorgeStudy.pdf|access-date=15 May 2020}}</ref>

The River Tyne is estimated to be around 30 million years old.<ref name=newcTyne30072017>{{cite web |last = Tyne river trust staff |title = The Tyne's origins |url = http://tyneriverstrust.org/about-us/history-of-the-tyne |access-date = 30 July 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170326012335/http://tyneriverstrust.org/about-us/history-of-the-tyne |archive-date = 26 March 2017 |url-status = dead |df = dmy-all }}</ref>

Islands (Aits) of the Tyne includes Broomhaugh Island and Gold Island. Many of the aits that were once there are now gone due to dredging, such as Kings Meadow, Clarenee Islands, Little Annie, and Ryton Island.

==Conservation== The conservation of the Tyne has been handled by various bodies over the past 500 years. Conservation bodies have included: Newcastle Trinity House,<ref name=tyneConsvNewComPortTyne/> and the Tyne Improvement Commission.<ref name=tyneConsvNewComPortTyne/> The Tyne Improvement Commission conservation lasted from 1850 until 1968.<ref name=tyneConsvNewComPortTyne/> The 1850–1950 era was the worst period for pollution of the river.<ref name=tyneConsvNewComPortTyne/> The Tyne Improvement Commission laid the foundations for what has become the modern day Port of Tyne.<ref name=tyneImproCom/> Under the management of the Tyne Improvement Commissioners, over a period of the first 70 years the Tyne was deepened from {{convert|1.83|to|9.14|m|abbr=in}} and had 150 million tonnes dredged from it.<ref name=tyneImproCom/> Inside these 70 years, the two Tyne piers were built;<ref name=tyneImproCom/> Northumbrian, Tyne and Albert Docks were built,<ref name=tyneImproCom/> as well as the staithes at Whitehill and Dunston.<ref name=tyneImproCom/> This infrastructure enabled millions of tonnes of cargo to be handled by the Port by 1910.<ref name=tyneImproCom>{{cite web | url = http://www.portoftyne.co.uk/about-us/history.php | title = Tyne Improvement Commission | last = Port of Tyne staff | date = 30 July 2017 | website = portoftyne.co.uk | publisher = Port of Tyne | access-date = 30 July 2017 | archive-date = 30 June 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170630091555/http://www.portoftyne.co.uk/about-us/history.php | url-status = dead }}</ref> The tidal river has been managed by the Port of Tyne Authority since 1968.<ref name=tyneConsvNewComPortTyne>{{Citation | last = Henderson | first = Tony | title = River Tyne's story revealed in study by environmental historian | newspaper = The Journal | location = North East England | date = 16 January 2015 | url = http://www.thejournal.co.uk/north-east-analysis/analysis-news/study-environmental-historian-investigates-500-8456443 | access-date = 30 July 2017 | archive-date = 20 January 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150120223304/http://www.thejournal.co.uk/north-east-analysis/analysis-news/study-environmental-historian-investigates-500-8456443 | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref name=tyneImproCom/>

The River Tyne has a charity dedicated to protecting and enhancing its waters and surrounding areas. The Tyne Rivers Trust, established in 2004, is a community-based organisation that works to improve habitat, promote better understanding of the Tyne catchment area and build the reputation of the Tyne catchment as a place of environmental excellence.<ref>{{cite web | title = Tyne Rivers Trust | quote = The Tyne Rivers Trust is an independent charity established to assist in management and improvement of the environment in the Tyne Catchment. The Trust aims to achieve this through Actions to: Improve Habitat; Get Better Information and Promote Better Understanding; Grow the Reputation of the Tyne Catchment and the Tyne Rivers Trust nationally and internationally | work = Charity | publisher = Tynerivertrust.org | year = 2008 | url = http://www.tyneriverstrust.org | access-date = 25 August 2008}}</ref>

==Port of Tyne== {{main|Port of Tyne}}

[[File:Quiet River Tyne - geograph.org.uk - 205421.jpg|right|thumb|{{center|The River Tyne at Bill Quay}} ]] With its proximity to surrounding coalfields, the Tyne was a major route for the export of coal from the 13th century until the decline of the coal mining industry in North East England in the second half of the 20th century. The largest coal staithes (a structure for loading coal onto ships) were located at Dunston in Gateshead, Hebburn and Tyne Dock, South Shields. The wooden staithes at Dunston, built in 1890, have been preserved, although they were partially destroyed by fire in 2006 and then a further fire in May 2020 means that the Staithes is becoming more vulnerable to vandalism and would need extensive financing to preserve it and make it secure.<ref>{{cite news | title = Coal heritage goes up in flames | quote = "The staithes is a lot more than just a lump of wood in the Tyne, it is a magnificent structure and very important to the area's industrial heritage. | publisher = BBC | date = 20 November 2003 | url = https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/tyne/3222530.stm | access-date = 25 August 2008}}</ref> In 2016, Tyne Dock, South Shields was still involved with coal, importing 2 million tonnes of shipments a year. The lower reaches of the Tyne were, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, one of the world's most important centres of shipbuilding, and there are still shipyards in South Shields and Hebburn to the south of the river. To support the shipbuilding and export industries of Tyneside, the lower reaches of the river were extensively remodelled during the second half of the 19th century, with islands (including Kings Meadow, the largest) removed and meanders in the river straightened.

==Name and etymology== Nothing definite is known of the origin of the designation ''Tyne'', nor is the river known by that name until the Saxon period: Tynemouth is recorded in Anglo-Saxon as {{lang|ang|Tinanmuðe}} (probably dative case). The ''Vedra'' on the Roman map of Britain may be the Tyne or the Wear. Ptolemy's ''Tína'' could be a "misplaced reference" to either this river or the Tyne in East Lothian.<ref name="cpns">{{cite book |last1=Watson |first1=W J |title=The History of the Celtic Placenames of Scotland |date=1926 |publisher=Irish Academic Press |location=Chippenham |page=51 }}</ref> There is a theory that {{lang|cel|*tīn}} was a word that meant "river" in the local Celtic language or in a language spoken in England before the Celts came: compare Tardebigge.{{cn|date=February 2026}}

A supposed pre-Celtic root ''*tei'', meaning 'to melt, to flow' has also been proposed as an etymological explanation of the Tyne and similarly named rivers,<ref name="bliton">{{Cite web|url=http://spns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Alan_James_Brittonic_Language_in_the_Old_North_BLITON_Volume_II_Dictionary.pdf|title=The Brittonic Language in the Old North|website=Scottish Place Name Society|access-date=20 September 2018|archive-date=13 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170813011121/http://spns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Alan_James_Brittonic_Language_in_the_Old_North_BLITON_Volume_II_Dictionary.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> as has a Brittonic derivative of Indo-European ''*teihx'', meaning 'to be dirty' (Welsh ''tail'', 'manure').<ref name="bliton" />

==River crossings== {{main|List of crossings of the River Tyne}} [[File:River Tyne looking west from Redheugh Bridge, Newcastle.jpg|thumb|River Tyne seen from Redheugh Bridge, Newcastle looking westward. ]]

==In popular literature== LJ Ross' thriller ''Seven Bridges'' from the ''DCI Ryan series'' evolves around the Tyne bridges.<ref>See the [https://ljrossauthor.com/book/seven-bridges/ author's website], retrieved 21 January 2023.</ref>

==Artworks and sculpture== ===Newcastle-upon-Tyne=== thumb|''River God Tyne'' by David Wynne at Newcastle Civic Centre The river is represented, and personified, in a sculpture unveiled in 1968 as part of the new Civic Centre (seat of Newcastle City Council). Sculpted by David Wynne, the massive bronze figure ''River God Tyne'' incorporates flowing water into its design.<ref name="UB&M">{{cite book|last1=Usherwood, Beach & Morris|title=Public Sculpture of North-East England|date=2000|publisher=Liverpool University Press}}</ref>

===Salmon Trail=== The Environment Agency is currently working with architects and cultural consultancy xsite, in collaboration with Commissions North, to create a travelling sculpture trail along the River Tyne.

The Tyne Salmon Trail will serve as a celebration of the river,<ref name="Salmon">{{cite web | title = Tyne Salmon Trail | quote = Ten cubes inspired by the textures, changing colours, movement and journey of the salmon will migrate along the River Tyne, following the amazing journey of the salmon. | year = 2008 | url = http://www.tynesalmontrail.co.uk | access-date = 22 August 2008 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080807131109/http://www.tynesalmontrail.co.uk/ | archive-date = 7 August 2008 | df = dmy-all }}</ref> its heritage and its increasingly diverse ecosystem. Historically a major symbol in the regional identity of the North East of England, the river plays host to a plethora of different species, the number of which is growing year on year in line with the river's improving health. The trail looks to capture the imagination of residents and tourists visiting the area – providing them with the ultimate 'fact finding' design experience, which celebrates the salmon's migratory journey in the Northeast of England.

FINS, REFLECTION and JOURNEY were the first three cubes to be launched in December 2007 from a family of ten. Each cube is inspired by the textures, changing colours, movement and journey of the salmon. With each offering a 'modern day keepsake' to take away, in the form of a designed Bluetooth message.

The other cubes will be moving along the River Tyne over one year visiting different locations from Kielder to the Mouth of the Tyne in the summer 2008 before starting their long journey back to their birthplace.

===Conversation Piece=== {{wide image|Conservation piece Little Haven beach, weebles.jpg|600px| Created by acclaimed Spanish sculptor, Juan Muñoz in 1999. Celebrating the Tyne Salmon;<ref name="Salmon"/> here with the 2008 River Tyne Bluetooth Salmon Trail Cubes,<ref>{{Cite news | last = Strug | first = Leah | title = Attraction's sending art lovers fishy messages | newspaper = South Shields Gazette | date = 21 July 2008 | url = http://www.shieldsgazette.com/south-shields-news/Attraction39s-sending-art-lovers-fishy.4210504.jp }}</ref> are the 22 bronze life size figures that command and celebrate a superb view of South Shields Harbour and the Tyne Piers.}}

===Bamboo Bridge=== For three days, from 18 to 20 July 2008, a temporary bamboo artwork was installed over the Tyne close to the Gateshead Millennium Bridge. The Bambuco Bridge was created as part of that year's 'SummerTyne' festival.

==See also== {{Portal|Geography|Transport|North East England|North West England}}  *Association of Rivers Trusts *Port of Tyne, the commercial docks in and around the River Tyne in Tyne and Wear, England *Rivers of the United Kingdom *The Boat Race of the North, an annual series of races held on the Tyne between Durham and Newcastle universities *Tyne-class lifeboats have been operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution since 1982 *Tyne Valley, Prince Edward Island *''Tyne'', the name of one of the sea areas of the British Shipping Forecast. *Tuxedo Princess, moored floating nightclub (1983-2007)

==References== {{Reflist}}

=== Sources === *Leona J. Skelton. ''Tyne after Tyne: An Environmental History of a River's Battle for Protection, 1529–2015.'' Winwick White Horse Press, 2017. {{ISBN|978-1-874267-95-9}}.

==External links== {{Commons category|River Tyne, England|River Tyne}} * [http://www.bridgesonthetyne.co.uk Bridges On The Tyne] * [http://www.visitmyharbour.com/harbours/north-east-england/tyne/charts.asp?cattype=5 Online Charts of The Tyne, to Newcastle]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyne, River}} Category:River Tyne Category:Rivers of Cumbria Category:Rivers of Northumberland Category:Rivers of Tyne and Wear Category:Geography of Newcastle upon Tyne Category:Tyne catchment