From en.wikipedia.org:
[Town and civil parish in Northumberland, England] [Other uses]
[date=September 2013] [date=October 2020] {{Infobox UK place
|static_image_name=amblesundial.jpg |static_image_width=240px
|static_image_caption=The sundial in the town square |country = England
|official_name= Amble |coordinates = [55.3306] |population = 5,860.
|population_ref = (2021) |unitary_england= Northumberland
|lieutenancy_england= Northumberland |civil_parish= Amble by the Sea |region=
North East England |constituency_westminster= North Northumberland |post_town=
MORPETH |postcode_district = NE65 |postcode_area= NE |dial_code= 01665
|os_grid_reference= NU267041 }}
AMBLE is a town on the North Sea coast of Northumberland, England, at the
mouth of the River Coquet; Coquet Island is visible from its beaches and
harbour. In 2021, the parish of AMBLE BY THE SEA had a population of
5,860.[1]
** Etymology
There are two suggested origins of the place-name Amble. One theory suggests
a Goidelic origin from _Am Béal_, meaning "tidal inlet", and is attributed to
the historical presence of Irish missionaries in the area who spoke that
language despite most of the local population not doing so.[2] An earlier
theory, originating with Eilert Ekwall, is an Old English origin of _Amma/Anna
bile_, meaning "Amma's/Anna's headland".[3]
There are sources indicating that the name and variants thereof – such as
_Ambell_ and _Ambhill_ – may have been in use as long ago as 1203 AD.[4]
Northumberland was not recorded in the Domesday Book.[5]
** History
Various urns, cists, flint spearheads and other evidence of ancient burials
were found near to Amble in the 1880s and 1890s. Some of those remains showed
signs of cremation.[6]
Outcrops of coal had been found along the coastline between the River Coquet
and the River Tyne at least as long ago as the reign of Elizabeth I, when
unsuccessful attempts had been made to extract and transport it in an economic
manner. A failed proposal to use Amble as a port for the shipment of locally
sourced coal and salt is recorded in 1618,<ref name="Nef"/> although this
failure did not discourage William Hewitt{{efn|Sir William Hewitt's name in
relation to this land transfer is also recorded as _Hewytt_.[7]}} from making
the then rare decision to reserve for himself the rights to the coal when he
sold the townships of Amble and Hauxley in 1630.[8] A significant factor in
the failure of all the early attempts, when compared to the success of
ventures in the valleys of the Tyne and the Wear, was that of economies of
scale. Those more successful areas at that time had plentiful easily accessed
reserves which encouraged investment and the sharing of fixed costs such as
harbour facilities, buildings and machinery among a large number of
enterprises.[9]
The early situation changed as the operators in the valleys exhausted the
cheaply extracted ores and found themselves having to mine deeper and also
further away from the rivers that were used for transport, thus increasing
their costs per unit of coal mined. Some coal was probably being shipped from
previously uneconomic places such as Amble and Blyth by the end of the
seventeenth century,<ref name="Nef"/> and it was certainly being extracted at
Amble by that time.[10]
Amble grew in the nineteenth century as collieries were opened; and the newly
built railway links to the Northumberland coalfields made the town a centre
for the sea transport and export of coal.[11] Prior to the development of the
harbour, the town was "little more than a hamlet", according to the
architectural guides originally compiled by Nikolaus Pevsner.[12] The
principal local mineworkings were those at Broomhill and at Radcliffe.[13]
The harbour at Amble was the smallest of those that served the coalfields of
Northumberland and Durham. It was originally under the control of the Dukes
of Northumberland until, in 1837, a port authority – the Warkworth Harbour
Commission – was created to supervise improvements. Following consultations
with various engineers, the proposals submitted by John Rennie in 1838 were
accepted. These included the construction of breakwaters to the north and the
south, which were eventually completed in 1849 at a total cost of £116,000.
The larger northern breakwater, which was originally [2300] in length, was
extended in the early part of the 20th century but suffered from the
undermining effects of the tide and required shoring with slag brought in from
the ironworks of Hartlepool and Middlesbrough.[14]{{efn|The idea of developing
a harbour had been proposed earlier. Hamilton Fulton, who had worked with
both John Rennie the Elder and John Rennie the Younger, had made proposals in
1832 at the request of the owner of the nearby Togston Colliery.[15]}}
The construction of docks had also been mooted in 1844 and 1850 but the
arrival of the railway led instead to the construction of coal staithes. A
change in consulting engineer in 1869 resulted in extensive dredging of the
harbour but did not greatly improve the prospects of the port.{{efn|It was
noted in 1860 that the harbour developments had been detrimental to the salmon
fisheries on the River Coquet, known as the Amble Stell. This situation had
allegedly existed from the outset and the solicitor to the Duke of
Northumberland saw no end to the continued work.[16]}} Shipments of coal
amounted to over 500,000 tons by 1914, but this was a modest volume when
compared to the other regional ports. Robert Rennison notes with regard to
the relative lack of prosperity that the port served a "small and discrete
coalfield".<ref name="Rennison"/>
The [5.75] railway branched on a single track to Amble at a point near to
Chevington and was opened in September 1849 by the York, Newcastle and Berwick
Railway, initially as a freight-only line. Passenger services between Amble
and Chevington began in 1879, following the construction of a station at
Broomhill in 1878 and facilities at Amble itself. The line between Amble and
Broomhill was double-track. The passenger service ended in July 1930 and the
general freight service was withdrawn in 1964. Coal traffic, which had
amounted to around 750,000 tons annually in the 1920s, came to an end in 1969
when the line was closed completely.[17]
Other industries, such as sea fishing and both ship building and repair in an
area known as the Braid had expanded with the growth of the town. Traditional
Northumbrian fishing vessels such as cobles had previously sheltered in the
natural harbour for centuries.[date=January 2013] One local coble
manufacturing business, J. & J. Harrison, founded in 1870, had been the
first to introduce engines to the form and was still producing it in 1973,
along with more generally utilised craft.[18]
Amble Golf Club was founded in 1910 but disappeared in the late 1950s.[19]
On 1 December 1943, a Royal Air Force Short Stirling Mk III (EH880) which
departed RAF Mepal, Cambridgeshire, had completed its mission of dropping sea
mines off the coast of Denmark. The aircraft was due to land at RAF
Acklington. The pilots attempted a second approach to Acklington in bad
weather; the aircraft crashed into Cliff House Farm, Togston. Six of the
seven crew died along with five children on the ground: a 1997 housing
development in the western edge of the town has streets named after the
children who perished.[20][21][22]
** Present day
Sir Nikolaus Pevsner's guide of 1992 says that "Today Amble is a not
unpleasant small town but has few buildings of distinction." Of those, he
records the church of St Cuthbert, which was originally constructed in 1870
and expanded in 1929, and its associated 1876-built vicarage. In addition, he
notes some early Victorian terraces on Queen Street and North Street, as well
as "a fragment of wall with a C 15 window, square-headed and of two trefoiled
lights with uncusped sunk panels above. Though it may seem unlikely, this is
an _in situ_ fragment of the medieval manor house. It belonged to Tynemouth
Priory and may have served as a monastic cell." This latter is found on High
Street.<ref name="Pevsner"/>
The fishing industry continues in Amble today, albeit with a reduced number of
vessels,[date=January 2013] as does a small marine industry which is mainly
concentrated around the construction and repair of yachts and other pleasure
craft.[date=January 2013] A small industrial estate is located to the
southwest of the town, whose clients include vehicle repairs and
telecommunications companies.[date=January 2013] However, [2012], most of the
units on the estate are unoccupied and the town has been affected by the
closure of nearby businesses, such as a site operated by Alcan, as well as two
food processing businesses in the town that employed nearly 300 people. A
proposed retail development by Tesco had also been postponed due to poor
trading conditions. The town's mayor announced that "the prospects for jobs
are very bleak indeed."[23][24][25]
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution maintains a station at Amble.[26]
Amble RNLI station has two lifeboats – the Shannon Class 'Shannon Elizabeth
and Leonard', which replaced the Mersey Class lifeboat 'The Four Boys' in
November 2016 after the station raised £200,000 towards the new vessel's
£2,000,000 cost.[27] Amble's second lifeboat is the 'D Class' Inshore Lifeboat
(or ILB), the 'Mildred Holcroft'. There have been lifeboats operating from
the town since 1842[28] and, for example, between 30 and 40 people perished in
various wrecks near to Amble on 17–18 December 1872.[29]
*** Regeneration and community development
Amble had been a recipient of regional development assistance from 1965, when
the restructuring of coal-mining operations, led by Alfred Robens of the
National Coal Board, had a substantial detrimental effect on the local
economy.<ref name="Guardian1984"/> Unemployment in the town was then 6.5 per
cent, compared to a national average of 1.5 per cent.[30] By 1969, the
Northern Economic Planning Council was proposing the closure of the port,
which no longer had any coal traffic, in favour of redevelopment for leisure
purposes.[31] The same year saw the closure of the nearby airbase of RAF
Acklington, where some of the population worked, and local unemployment
exceeded 13 per cent as proposals for a substantial mushroom farming operation
that would alleviate the problems were made.[32] The farming operation failed
to materialise due to lack of financial support from the government.[33]
The development assistance was withdrawn in 1984, at which time a newspaper
report noted that over 30 per cent of the 6,000 population were unemployed,
with 80 per cent of council house tenants and 45 per cent of home owners
receiving benefits or rebates for their housing costs and over 25 per cent of
children claiming free school meals. The change in official status was one of
the "glaring anomalies" of a government review, resulting from the town being
reclassified as part of the "travel to work area" for Alnwick rather than a
part of the industrialised regions to the south. Four businesses had been
encouraged by the assistance to locate in the town during the preceding
decade, creating around 400 jobs.[34]
Amble Development Trust is a company operating as a charity with the purpose
of working with other bodies to regenerate the town. It was established in
1994.[35] The Trust has been involved in numerous local projects to develop
Amble both physically and socially, including having input on improvements to
Queen Street, which is the main shopping thoroughfare.[36] The work of the
Trust and its associated body, the Amble Strategic Partnership, was recognised
by the Royal Town Planning Institute in 2003 when they were given the
institute's Planning for Town Regeneration award. This came soon after the
same organisation had awarded them their Regional Award for Planning
Achievement.[37] Recently [date=November 2018] new housing has been built,
adding an extra 900 homes, and a new hotel called the Amble Inn opened in
2019[38] bringing much-needed employment to the town.[date=November 2018]
Another project of the Trust is The Ambler, a bi-monthly community newspaper
and website, established in 2000 and operated mainly by volunteers. The free
bi-monthly newspaper is delivered to every house and business in the town.[39]
** Demography
Samuel Lewis reported a township population of 247 in 1831.[40] By the seventh
edition of his _Topographical Dictionary of England_, which was published in
1848, this figure had risen to 724.[41] The population was reported as being
1,040 in 1851.[42] The 1871 census recorded a population of 1,233, spread
among 233 houses.[43]
{| class="wikitable" |+ Population of Amble Urban District, 1901 –
1961{{efn|Amble Urban District comprised [1258] during the period 1911–1951,
and was [1] less in 1961.[44]}} |- | ! scope="col"| 1901 ! scope="col"| 1911 !
scope="col"| 1921 ! scope="col"| 1931 ! scope="col"| 1939 ! scope="col"| 1951
! scope="col"| 1961 |- ! scope="row"|Male[45] | | 2,475 | 2,427 | 2,006 |
2,197 | 2,292 | 2,427 |- ! scope="row"|Female<ref name="gender"/> | | 2,406 |
2,424 | 2,199 | 2,483 | 2,390 | 2,473 |- ! scope="row"|Total[46] | 4,428 |
4,881 | 4,851 | 4,205 | 4,680 | 4,682 | 4,900 |}
D. J. Rowe notes that, in common with many Northumbrian towns, historically
there was "endemic" overcrowding of the population in Amble. The number of
houses that averaged over two people per room was 32.6 per cent in 1911. This
figure, while not atypical for the region, was above average for the county
and well above that for other regions of the country, such as London.[47]
{| class="wikitable" |+ Housing in Amble Urban District, 1911 – 1961 |- | !
scope="col"| 1911 ! scope="col"| 1921 ! scope="col"| 1931 ! scope="col"| 1951
! scope="col"| 1961 |- ! scope="row"|Households[48] | 1,084 | 1,098 | 1,123 |
1,420 | 1,601 |- ! scope="row"|Houses[49] | | 1,054 | 1,051 | 1,412 | 1,600 |-
! scope="row"|Rooms[50] | | 3,558 | 3,758 | 5,170 | 6,485 |}
** Governance
During the medieval period, Amble was a part of the liberty held by successive
priors of Tynemouth, most of whom faced challenges to their authority from
both the Crown and their major tenants.[51] The town was ceded to the Crown in
1539, at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries.[52]
Until measures such as the Reform Acts of 1832 and 1867, the electoral
franchise was very restricted. In the 1826 General Election, there were nine
people eligible to vote due to their freehold interests in Amble, of which six
actually lived there; another voter lived in Amble but was enfranchised due to
freehold interests held elsewhere.[53] Twelve voters living in Amble qualified
as freeholders or through land occupancy in the 1841 election, whilst another
lived there but qualified due to property held elsewhere, and one lived
elsewhere but held qualifying property in the township.[54]
The Amble Local Government District, given the job of looking after the town,
was set up around September 1878,[55] the ecclesiastical parish comprising
Amble, Hauxley, Gloster Hill and Togston having been formed by splitting from
that of Warkworth in 1869 just before completion of the church
construction.<ref name="Berwick255"/>[56] Elections to the nine-member
committee followed[57] and it first met on 25 November 1878.[58] George W.
Beattie was appointed Surveyor and Inspector of Nuisances to the Amble Local
Board and Urban Sanitary Authority in January 1879.[59] The administration was
replaced by Amble Urban District Council which first met on 3 January 1895.
Amble Urban District Council had nine elected Councillors. On 1 April 1974
the urban district was abolished and Amble became part of Alnwick district.
On 29 November 1976 the civil parish was renamed from "Amble" to "Amble by the
Sea".[60]
On 1 April 2009, the local government structure of Northumberland was
reorganised. The six former districts were combined with the county to form
the unitary authority of Northumberland, based in Morpeth. Amble was in the
former Alnwick District based in the town of Alnwick.
An electoral ward of the same name now exists. This ward includes Hauxley
with a total population at the 2011 Census of 4,565.[61] However, some
outlying parts of the town are excluded from this Amble ward and are instead
combined with Warkworth in a ward named Amble West with Warkworth.[62]
** Climate
Being in the British Isles, Amble experiences a maritime climate with cool
summers and mild winters. The nearest Met Office weather station for which
data are available is at Boulmer, about nine miles to the north.
{{Weather box |location = Boulmer 23m asl, 1971–2000 |metric first = Yes
|single line = Yes |Jan record high C = 15.0 |Feb record high C = 16.1 |Mar
record high C = 19.4 |Apr record high C = 23.5 |May record high C = 24.5 |Jun
record high C = 28.5 |Jul record high C = 28.2 |Aug record high C = 31.0 |Sep
record high C = 26.7 |Oct record high C = 21.4 |Nov record high C = 18.0 |Dec
record high C = 15.2 |year record high C = 31.0 |Jan high C = 6.7 |Feb high C
= 6.9 |Mar high C = 8.8 |Apr high C = 10.1 |May high C = 12.5 |Jun high C =
15.6 |Jul high C = 17.9 |Aug high C = 18.1 |Sep high C = 15.9 |Oct high C =
12.8 |Nov high C = 9.3 |Dec high C = 7.4 |year high C = 11.9 |Jan low C = 1.3
|Feb low C = 1.5 |Mar low C = 2.5 |Apr low C = 3.7 |May low C = 5.9 |Jun low C
= 8.6 |Jul low C = 10.8 |Aug low C = 10.8 |Sep low C = 9.1 |Oct low C = 6.7
|Nov low C = 3.7 |Dec low C = 2.2 |year low C = 5.6 |Jan record low C = -12.0
|Feb record low C = −8.9 |Mar record low C = −10.0 |Apr record low C = −3.9
|May record low C = -1.5 |Jun record low C = 0.9 |Jul record low C = 3.9 |Aug
record low C = 4.5 |Sep record low C = 1.0 |Oct record low C = -1.8 |Nov
record low C = −6.2 |Dec record low C = −8.8 |year record low C = −12.0 |Jan
precipitation mm = 59.0 |Feb precipitation mm = 41.4 |Mar precipitation mm =
46.7 |Apr precipitation mm = 49.2 |May precipitation mm = 48.0 |Jun
precipitation mm = 53.4 |Jul precipitation mm = 47.6 |Aug precipitation mm =
62.1 |Sep precipitation mm = 54.7 |Oct precipitation mm = 58.1 |Nov
precipitation mm = 67.2 |Dec precipitation mm = 63.6 |year precipitation mm =
651.0 |Jan sun = 62.6 |Feb sun = 79.4 |Mar sun = 121.5 |Apr sun = 152.7 |May
sun = 194.1 |Jun sun = 193.8 |Jul sun = 186.3 |Aug sun = 178.9 |Sep sun =
135.6 |Oct sun = 105.7 |Nov sun = 76.5 |Dec sun = 53.3 |year sun = 1540.4
|source 1 = MetOffice[63] |date=November 2011}}
** Transport
*** Road
Amble is situated on the A1068 that runs along the north-eastern coastline.
This road is the old corn trading road which runs from Hexham in south west
Northumberland through Cramlington, Bedlington, Guide Post, Ashington and
Ellington. The road continues through more open coastal areas towards Amble
and continues approximately [6] to the north to Alnmouth, then winds on to
Alnwick.
Amble also lies near to the A1, providing easy access to nearest city
Newcastle upon Tyne ([30] south), Gateshead ([30] south) and to the Scottish
capital Edinburgh ([80] north).
Via road from Amble there are also bus routes directly to towns like Alnwick
and Berwick-Upon-Tweed or to the south to Ashington or Morpeth depnding on
which bus you take and Newcastle whichever bus you take (Arriva X18 or Arriva
X20 )
*** Rail
The East Coast Main Line railway between Edinburgh (journey time approximately
1:10) and London (journey time approximately 3:45) runs via the nearby
Alnmouth for Alnwick Station or Widdrington Station.
*** Air
Newcastle Airport is under an hour's drive from Amble.<ref
name=AirportJourneyTime>[title=About Amble] It provides daily flights to
London and regular flights to other UK centres. The airport also operates
regular flights to many European destinations, along with destinations in
Africa and North America.
** Media
*** Television
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC North East and
Cumbria and ITV Tyne Tees. Television signals are received from either the
Chatton or Pontop Pike TV transmitter.[64][65]
*** Radio
Local radio stations are BBC Radio Newcastle, Heart North East, Capital North
East, Smooth North East, Greatest Hits Radio North East, Hits Radio North
East, and Koast Radio, a community based radio station.[66]
*** Newspapers
The town is served by the newspaper, _Northumberland Gazette_ and _The Ambler_
which is a free independent community paper that is run by volunteers. Its
first edition hit the streets in Amble in January 2000.[67]
** Tourism
Representations were made in 2006 for Amble to be included in the
Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which ends at the
pier. The town is also adjacent to nature reserves operated by Northumberland
Wildlife Trust at Cresswell, Druridge and Hauxley.[68]
The town has a caravan park, as well as guest houses and bed and breakfast
accommodation for visitors.[69] The Braid, which forms a part of the harbour,
is now a greenfield site with a modern marina. In 2009, part of the Braid was
legally designated as a Village Green, despite opposition from the council and
the withdrawal of the initial application by the person who sought the
status.[70]
The nearby Coquet Island is home to many varieties of nesting sea birds,
including puffins and the rare Roseate tern. Access is restricted but there
are various providers of boat trips around the island.[71] A £10,000 grant was
awarded to promote the town with a "Puffin Festival" during the last two weeks
of May 2013, when the presence of that species on the island is at its peak.
It was hoped that the grant would also encourage local people to use the
town's shops.[72]
** Friendliest port
In the 1930s, when the RMS _Mauretania_ was heading on her last voyage to the
breaker's yard at Rosyth, the town council of Amble sent a telegram to the
ship saying "still the finest ship on the seas". The _Mauretania_ replied
with greetings "to the last and kindliest port in England".[73]
** Notable people
- William Rochester Pape (1831 - 1923) - an English gunsmith who invented and patented the choke boring system, and held the first dog show in Great Britain
- Sir James Calvert Spence (1892–1954) - nutritionist and paediatrician [74]
- Professor Fred Taylor (1934 - 2021) - formerly Professorial Fellow, Jesus College, Oxford and Halley Professor of Physics, University of Oxford . Distinguished Visiting Scientist at NASA 's Jet Propulsion Laboratory , California Institute of Technology , Pasadena . [75]
- John Angus (1938 - 2021) - Burnley and England footballer . [76]
- Luke James (1994 - _living_ ) - footballer for Peterborough United
** Gallery
<gallery> File:Amble Harbour at night.jpg|Fishing boats tied up.
File:amblebirds.jpg|Birds on the grass in the car park leading on to the
'little shore' File:ambleboats2.jpg|Small fishing boats moored-up.
File:amblepier.jpg|Amble pier File:Amble Harbour, Northumberland.jpg|Fishing
boat entering Amble Harbour. File:Cobles in the harbour, Amble (1) -
geograph.org.uk - 1366403.jpg|Cobles in the harbour File:Town square, Amble -
geograph.org.uk - 521543.jpg|Town square, Amble
File:Amble-clock-and-flag.jpg|Amble war memorial and clock in the town square
</gallery>
** See also
- Amble branch line
- James Calvert Spence College
** References
NOTES [notelist] CITATIONS [30em]
** Further reading
- [title=Amble: the friendliest port – a pictorial history of Amble, Northumberland ]
- [title=The Amble Branch ]
- [title=A History of Northumberland ]
- [title=The Geology of the Country around Rothbury, Amble and Ashington ]
** External links
[Amble] [Commons category]
- Amble Town Council (see http://www.amble.gov.uk)
- The Ambler Community Newspaper (see http://www.theambler.co.uk/)
- Northumberland Communities website (see http://communities.northumberland.gov.uk/Amble.htm)
- Amble and District local history (see http://www.fusilier.co.uk/)
{{Coastal settlements |place = Northumberland |settlement = Amble
|anticlockwise = Alnmouth |clockwise = Cresswell }} [Northumberland] [River
Coquet settlements] [authority control]
Category:Towns in Northumberland Category:Ports and harbours of Northumberland
Category:Populated coastal places in Northumberland Category:Aviation
accidents and incidents locations in England