Wallsend
Wallsend gained its name because it is quite literally the Walls end; the eastern limit of the mighty wall that the Roman Emperor Hadrian erected to keep out the troublesome Scots.
Over the years since Wallsend has developed firstly as a major coal mining centre and the home to many Waggonways, the forerunners of all of today's railways, used to bring coal down to the Tyne.
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the town became world famous as one of the Tyne's many shipbuilding locations with Swan Hunter's perhaps the most famous of the yards.
Today, the town has a much more diversified commercial base although the river still provides significant employment for a population of around thirty thousand. See the town centre guide below for more information on modern day Wallsend
