Pelaw
Encyclopedia
Pelaw (ˈpiːlɔː) is a district that forms part of the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead
Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead
The Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead is a metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. It is named after its largest town, Gateshead, but also spans the towns of Rowlands Gill, Whickham, Blaydon and Ryton; suburban areas include Felling, Pelaw, Dunston and Low Fell.It is bordered...

 in Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan county in north east England around the mouths of the Rivers Tyne and Wear. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972...

, in north-east England.
It lies in between the older settlements of Heworth
Heworth, Tyne and Wear
Heworth is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. The village's name appears in written records from 1091 as Hewarde, and later as Hewrtha, and in 1300 as Hewrthe....

 to the West and Bill Quay
Bill Quay
Bill Quay is an area in the east of Gateshead in North East England, situated between Hebburn to the east and Pelaw to the west. It lies on the south bank of the River Tyne, facing Walker-on-Tyne.- History :...

 to the East with Wardley
Wardley, Gateshead
Wardley is located on the edge of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, at the borders of Washington and South Tyneside. It is in the postal code area NE10. It is near the Leam Lane Estate....

 to the south and the southern bank of the river Tyne
River Tyne
The River Tyne is a river in North East England in Great Britain. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers: the North Tyne and the South Tyne. These two rivers converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Waters'.The North Tyne rises on the...

 forming the northern border.

Pelaw came into being due to the huge Victorian factory complexes of the CWS or Co-Operative Wholesale Society
Co-operative wholesale society
A Co-operative Wholesale Society, or CWS, is a form of Co-operative Federation , in this case, the members are usually Consumers' Co-operatives...

 which was the manufacturing division of the then burgeoning Co-Op company, which grew up along the length of the Shields Road.
This mile long stretch of red-brick industry was home to factories making clothing and textiles, furniture, pharmaceuticals, household cleaning products, quilts, books and magazines and the world-famous "Pelaw" shoe polish.
These factories created Pelaw and were practically its sole employer during most of the twentieth century but due to inevitable foreign competition, the prevailing economic climate and government policies of the times, the majority of the factories were closed and demolished between the mid 70s and early 90s to be replaced in recent years by modern housing estates. Two of the original CWS buildings, the Shirt Factory and the Cabinet Factory, are extant. The Shirt Factory still manufactures garments but is a private concern and the Cabinet Factory in Bill Quay
Bill Quay
Bill Quay is an area in the east of Gateshead in North East England, situated between Hebburn to the east and Pelaw to the west. It lies on the south bank of the River Tyne, facing Walker-on-Tyne.- History :...

, which later became a major Brentford Nylons plant, has been transformed into a modern business park by the name of Stonehills. The last factory to be demolished was the Print Factory.

Rail

Pelaw is the site of a major rail junction located on the original route of the East Coast Main Line
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...

. Pelaw Junction was the meeting point of the Brandling Junction Railway, the Leamside Line and the Durham Coast Line
Durham Coast Line
The Durham Coast Line is the name given to the railway line which links Newcastle upon Tyne with Middlesbrough, via Sunderland and Hartlepool...

. National Rail freight and passenger trains continue to use the Durham Coast Line, while a single freight line connects the junction to an oil terminal at Jarrow
Jarrow
Jarrow is a town in Tyne and Wear, England, located on the River Tyne, with a population of 27,526. From the middle of the 19th century until 1935, Jarrow was a centre for shipbuilding, and was the starting point of the Jarrow March against unemployment in 1936.-Foundation:The Angles re-occupied...

, running alongside the Metro line. The Leamside Line was mothballed in 1991.

Today, the area is served by Pelaw Metro station
Pelaw Metro station
Pelaw Metro station serves the Pelaw area of Gateshead, England. Situated on the Tyne and Wear Metro system, it is at the point where the Yellow and Green lines diverge, with the former continuing to South Shields and the latter over tracks shared with mainline trains to Sunderland and then...

 which is an interchange between trains going to South Shields
South Shields
South Shields is a coastal town in Tyne and Wear, England, located at the mouth of the River Tyne to Tyne Dock, and about downstream from Newcastle upon Tyne...

 and those going to Sunderland, which share the Durham Coast Line with National Rail
National Rail
National Rail is a title used by the Association of Train Operating Companies as a generic term to define the passenger rail services operated in Great Britain...

 rolling stock. The station was fully refurbished in 2006.

People from Pelaw

Ronnie Starling
Ronnie Starling
Ronald William "Ronnie" Starling was an English footballer whose career lasted from 1926 to 1946. Starling was an inside forward who made 413 appearances in all competitions, never a high scoring inside forward he was a player who created chances for other players, notching a modest 65 goals...

, the former England footballer and captain of the 1935 FA Cup
1935 FA Cup Final
The 1935 FA Cup Final was contested by Sheffield Wednesday and West Bromwich Albion at Wembley. Sheffield Wednesday won 4–2, with goals scored by Jack Palethorpe, Mark Hooper and Ellis Rimmer...

 winners, Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...

 is from Pelaw as is Chris Waddle
Chris Waddle
Christopher Roland "Chris" Waddle is a former footballer from England. He played for a number of clubs in the 1980s and 90s, including Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield Wednesday in England, and Olympique de Marseille in France...

.

The juvenile jazz band
Juvenile jazz band
Juvenile jazz bands are a type of children's marching band that started in the 20th century almost exclusively in working class mining areas of the North of England and the Midlands, with a few bands in the mining areas of Wales. Historically, the bands originated in the tradition of coal miners'...

 the Pelaw Hussars famously appeared in the film Get Carter
Get Carter
Get Carter is a 1971 British crime film directed by Mike Hodges and starring Michael Caine as Jack Carter, a gangster who sets out to avenge the death of his brother in a series of unrelenting and brutal killings played out against the grim background of derelict urban housing in the city of...

.

External links

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