The River Tyne is in the North East of England and begins west of Hexham where the North and
South Tyne join to form the River Tyne. The South Tyne has its beginnings on Alston Moor,
The North Tyne begins at Kielder.
At the river mouth Tynemouth is on the North side and South Shields is on the South side.
Here the River Tyne flows into the North Sea.
Many ships have been built here
for more information take a look at our 'River Tyne Ships' page
Bridges that cross the River Tyne include:
The Millennium Bridge was opened to pedestrians and cyclists at 2.10 pm on Monday 17th September
2001.
The first 500 to cross were given medals to commemorate the occasion.
The 'blinking eye' spans the river between Newcastle Quayside and Gateshead Quays.
It rotates in four minutes to 164 feet above the river, took two years to make, cost 22 million pounds
and weighs 850 tonnes.
Tyne Bridge - Road and pedestrian bridge between Gateshead and Newcastle.
Opened October 10th 1928
High Level Bridge - Road, rail and pedestrian bridge between Gateshead and Newcastle.
Trains run over the top of it, to and from Newcastle Central Station. It was constructed
by Robert Stephenson.
Swing Bridge - Road and pedestrian bridge between Gateshead and Newcastle.
To let big ships through this bridge rotates on a central island, it is rarely opened these days.
The River Tyne has two tunnels, both run between Jarrow and Howdon.
The Tyne Tunnel is for motor vehicles - it is usually okay but gets congested at peak times and bank
holidays. Choose your travelling times carefully or cross for free further up river!
Cyclist and Pedestrian Tunnel
Opened on 24th of June 1951.
The single flight escalators are 61 metres (200 feet) long. They were the longest single flight
in the world when the tunnel was opened.
The tunnel has listed building status.
It was the country's first purpose built cyclist and pedstrian tunnel, it is 275 metres
(900 feet) in length.
The Cyclist and Pedestrian Tunnel is a pleasant walk or cycle ride through, nice and cool on a
hot summers day!
The domed roof is at the top of the escalators, at the pedestrian tunnel on the Jarrow side. The cobbled road was the approach to the ferry landing. Traffic queued down here, the ferry became obsolete when the Tyne Tunnel was opened. Photograph taken in 2007
Songs about the River Tyne:
Fog on the Tyne by Lindisfarne
Big River by Jimmy Nail
Durham Town by Roger Whittaker
"when I was a boy I spent my time sitting on the banks of the River Tyne, watching all the
ships going down the line, they were leaving, leaving, leaving, leaving leaving, me"...
