Gateshead: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear in north-east England on the south side of the River Tyne opposite Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the main settlement in the metropolitan borough of Gateshead.

The town is the location of the Metro Centre, until recently the biggest shopping centre in UK. Gateshead is also the location of the Team Valley Trading Estate, one of the largest purpose built commercial estates in the UK.

Arguably Gateshead has for many years been overshadowed, culturally and in repute, by its near neighbour Newcastle-upon-Tyne. More recently, however, riverside redevelopments have spread from the Newcastle side of the Tyne to the Gateshead side. The Gateshead Millennium Bridge, erected in the year 2000, spans the river and is of singular design. A new Centre for Contemporary Arts has been established in a converted flour mill - the Baltic; the pair of structures are roughly comparable with London's Tate Modern and the London Millennium Bridge. A concert hall constructed adjacent to the Baltic will strengthen the similarity between Gateshead's river waterfront, and London's South Bank.

Gateshead is also home to the famous sculpture The Angel of the North, Britain's largest sculpture with a height of 20 meters and a 54 meter wing span. It was erected in 1998, and was designed by Antony Gormley. It is visible from the A1 road immediately south of Gateshead, as well as from the East Coast Main Line; the statue is to the right of the road and railway line as the traveller heads north.

Gateshead is on the Tyne and Wear Metro.