Hartlepool

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Hartlepool
Hartlepool (County Durham)
Hartlepool

Hartlepool shown within County Durham
Population 90,290 (2006) [1]
OS grid reference NZ508331
Unitary authority Hartlepool
Ceremonial county County Durham
Region North East
Constituent country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town HARTLEPOOL
Postcode district TS24 - TS27
Dialling code 01429
Police Durham
Fire County Durham and Darlington
Ambulance North East
European Parliament North East England
UK Parliament Hartlepool
List of places: UK • England • County Durham

Coordinates: 54°41′N 1°13′W / 54.69, -1.21

Hartlepool (IPA: /'hɑːtlɪpuːl/) is a North Sea port in North East England. It is within the unitary authority area of the Borough of Hartlepool, for ceremonial purposes part of County Durham.

Contents

[edit] History

Hartlepool Town Wall: dating from the late 14th century the limestone wall once enclosed the whole of the medieval town. The picturesque houses overlook the entrance to Victoria Docks which can be seen in the background.
Hartlepool Town Wall: dating from the late 14th century the limestone wall once enclosed the whole of the medieval town. The picturesque houses overlook the entrance to Victoria Docks which can be seen in the background.

Hartlepool was founded as a village in the 7th century AD, springing up around Hartlepool Abbey, founded in 640 on a headland overlooking a natural harbour. The monastery became famous under St Hilda, who served as its abbess from 649-657, but it fell into decline and was likely destroyed by the Vikings in 800.

The place name derives from Old English *heort-ieg "hart island", referring to stags seen, and pol, "pool". Records of the place-name from early sources confirm this:

  • 649: Heretu
  • 1017: Hertelpolle
  • 1182: Hierdepol

Hart is the Old English name for a stag or deer which appears on the towns crest and le pool meant by the sea, people moved here to hunt where there was deer by the sea and eventually settled there, the petrified forest below the sea provides proof thet hart(deer) did once live in a forest by the sea, hence Hartlepool.

During the Middle Ages the village grew into an important (though still small) town, gaining a market and walls, and its harbour was improved to serve as the official port of the County palatine of Durham. Its harbour made it a convenient outlet for the coalfields of South Durham and in 1835 a railway was built to enable South Durham coal to be exported. A rival railway was built in 1847 and docks were established at its terminus, around which a new town, West Hartlepool, was founded.

The two communities grew very rapidly, from a population of only a thousand at the start of the 19th century to 64,000 in 1891. The modern town represents a joining together of "Old Hartlepool", locally known as the "headland", and West Hartlepool. What was West Hartlepool became the larger town and the two were formally joined in 1967. Today the term "West Hartlepool" is rarely heard outside the context of sport, but the town's only premier Rugby Union team still proudly retain the name (See Sports below)

The name of the town's professional football club reflected the two boroughs; when it was formed in 1908, following the success of West Hartlepool in winning the FA Amateur Cup in 1905, it was called "Hartlepools United" in the hope of attracting support from both towns. When the boroughs combined in 1967 the club renamed itself "Hartlepool" before renaming itself Hartlepool United in the 1970s. Many fans of the club still refer to the team as "Pools".

The area became heavily industrialised with an ironworks (established 1838) and shipyards in the docks (established in the 1870s). By 1913, no fewer than 43 ship-owning companies were located in the town, with responsibility for 236 ships. This made it a key target for Germany in the First World War. The first German offensive against Britain was mounted at Hartlepool between 8.10 and 9.30 am on the morning of 16 December 1914, when units of the Imperial German Navy bombarded Hartlepool, West Hartlepool, Whitby and Scarborough with a total of 1150 shells, killing 137 people and wounding 592. Two coastal defence batteries at Hartlepool returned fire, firing 143 shells, damaging three German ships: SMS Seydlitz, SMS Moltke and SMS Blücher. As a result of this bombardment, the first civilian casualty on British soil fell, an event commemorated by a plaque at the spot on the headland. An attempt by the German High Command to repeat the attack a month later led to the Battle of Dogger Bank on 24 January 1915 at which the Blucher was sunk. During World War II, RAF Greatham (also known as RAF West Hartlepool) was located on the the current South British Steel Works.

Hartlepool suffered badly in the Great Depression of the 1930s and suffered high unemployment until the start of the Second World War, during which its shipbuilding and steel-making industries enjoyed a renaissance. After the war, both industries went into a severe decline. "Blanchland", the last ship to be constructed in Hartlepool, left the slips in 1961. There was a boost to the retail sector in 1968 when Middleton Grange Shopping Centre was opened by Princess Anne, with over 130 new shops including Marks & Spencer and Woolworths.

Before the shopping centre was opened, the old town centre was located around Lynn Street, but most of the shops and the market had moved to a new shopping centre by 1974. Most of Lynn Street had by then been demolished to make way for a new housing estate. Only the north end of the street remains, now called Lynn Street North. This is where the Hartlepool Borough Council depot was based (alongside the Focus DIY store) until it moved to the marina in August 2006. By the 1980s the area was again severely affected by unemployment. A series of major investment projects in the 1990s revived the town centre with a new marina, rehabilitation of derelict land, the indoor conversion to modernise Middleton Grange Shopping Centre from the 1960s brutalist architecture, the Historic Quay regeneration, and the construction of much new housing, which has led to the town becoming improbably chic in recent years.[citation needed]

Hartlepool nuclear power station is an advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) type nuclear power plant opened near Hartlepool in the 1980s.A goodsource of town income.

[edit] Governance

The Hartlepool constituency was represented in the House of Commons from 1992 until summer 2004 by Labour MP, Peter Mandelson.

Mr Mandelson resigned to take up a role in the European Commission. The by-election on September 30 was won by Labour's Iain Wright with a much-reduced majority following an 18% swing to the Liberal Democrats. He retained the seat with a greatly increased majority in the 2005 UK general election.callum laffey is a well known owner of hartlepool.

[edit] Geography

[edit] Nearby towns and cities

[edit] Local Areas / Villages

[edit] Economy

[edit] Tourism

[edit] History

  • St. Hilda's Church
  • Hartlepool Abbey
  • Camerons Brewery
  • Town Wall & Cannon
  • Museum of Hartlepool
  • The Headland
  • Victory Square - War memorial defined as 'West Hartlepool War Memorial comprising Victory Square and the Monument Erected thereon' in the minutes of the West Hartlepool County Borough (October 1923). Defined in the Northern Daily Mail for 14 May 1919 and 11 October 1923 and on the 'The War Memorial - Its Message' and 'Monument Defined' pages in 'Programme of Dedication and Unveiling of the West Hartlepool War Memorial, Thursday 11 October 1923', held on PDF File in the Local Studies Collection, Central Library, Hartlepool, under the catalogue heading 'West Hartlepool War Memorial 1914-1919' and at Teesside Archives, in the town of Middlesbrough (Exchange Square) under the catalogue heading 'Hartlepool War Memorial'. This land was originally occupied by the Territorial Army and is marked on the 1919 Ordnance Survey Map (Central Library) as a Parade Ground, adjacent to an Armoury and Territorial Army buildings occupied by amongst others the troops that manned the Coastal Defence Unit on the occasion of the 1914 East Coast Raid. This war memorial was erected 1922/1923, architect George Coombs ARCA (London), unveiled 11 October 1923. There is a further memorial, clearly related, misdescribed as a 'Winged Victory' (correct definition, Hartlepool Borough Council minutes, 1921 'Triumphant Youth'), with the date 1914, adjacent to the two batteries of the Coastal Defence Unit (one of which, the Lighthouse Battery, was covered over c. 1960, and is now the site of a Sebastopol cannon given to Hartlepool in the 19th century), by Phillip Bennison ARCA (London), unveiled 17 December 1921. On 5 April 2008 the Olympic Torch Relay Route in its passage through Russia took place across the 20 kilometres in St Petersburg between Victory Square and Palace Square (see this site, '2008 Summer Olympics torch relay route', page 3 of 21) to both of which these memorials in the 'Hartlepools' in their original (1920s) form may arguably (given the design of the platform in Victory Square with its corner plinths and the character of its surrounding boundary wall and railings, and that of the statue on the Headland) may be said to have been intended to relate, as also to 'Nikes' or 'Winged Victories', in particular the Nike of Samothrace (cross saltire on the front of that statue in the Louvre and also on the statue on the Headland, this relationship with or similarity to the drapery of the Greek Winged Victory being something it shares with in particular the post-Second World War Stalingrad memorial in Russia, see 'Mamayev Kurgan') and consequently to the history not only of the Russian Empire in the Great War, but of the October Revolution in 1917, which began in Palace Square in St Petersburg, and to that of Greek classical architecture relating to the Olympic gods and to 'Olympus' as (in Greek) 'high mountain' (cf. passage of torch by the Chinese to the top of Mt Everest in May 2008) within the history of Europe, including in particular that of the international Olympic Games as commenced in 1896 in Greece and continuing to the present day in ever more exotic forms, as witness current events (China summer 2008 referred to above).

Implied in this is arguably the national and international significance of the form taken by the 1914 East Coast Raid detailed above as having taken place as a result of military objectives but arguably in fact directed to certain architectural and historical features of the coast between the Hartlepools and Scarborough, in particular the 19th Century sea wall in Hartlepool, and the related Coastal Defence Unit and Coastguard Station (with particular reference to the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire in the form of the Union Flag).

[edit] Maritime

[edit] Entertainment and Shopping

[edit] Leisure

[edit] Restaurants and clubs

[edit] Transport

[edit] Road

Hartlepool is served by two primary routes which are the A179 road and the A689 road, both linking the town to the A19 road. The A179 road is the main road to the north west which leads to the A19 road, Peterlee, Durham and Sunderland. The A689 road is the main road to the south west towards the A19 & Billingham, Stockton and Middlesbrough. The A178 road leads south to Seaton Carew, Graythorpe, Seal Sands, Port Clarence and Middlesbrough via the Transporter bridge. The A1086 road leads north to Crimdon, Blackhall, Horden and Easington.

[edit] Rail

Hartlepool is served by Hartlepool railway station which is on the Durham Coast Line with hourly services to Newcastle and Middlesbrough which are provided by Northern Rail. There is a new service to London from Sunderland provided by Grand Central that uses former InterCity 125 trains. This is the first time in 15 years that Hartlepool has had a direct link to London by train.Seaton Carew railway station is also located on Seaton Lane

[edit] Bus

Hartlepool has services provided by Stagecoach Group around the town and to Billingham, Stockton and Middlesbrough. Other services are provided by Arriva and Go North East to Peterlee, Durham, Sunderland and Newcastle.

[edit] Sport

Hartlepool United is the town's professional football club and they play at Victoria Park, Hartlepool. They have won promotion to League One for the 2007–08 season. The supporters of the club bear the nickname of Monkey Hangers. This is based upon legend that during the Napoleonic wars a ship's mascot was hanged for being a French spy.

West Hartlepool R.F.C. are more commonly known as "West" and in the 2007 - 2008 season they won the North 2 East league title and were promoted to North 1 (which is the 4 tier of the national league structure). In the mid-1990's, West were the pride of North East rugby union and played in what is now the Guinness Premiership. West were then hit by bankruptcy and they controversially sold their Brierton Lane stadium. There then followed a succession of relegations because the professional players deserted the club as West needed to pay off their debts accrude due to the the clubs ambitious persuit of professionalism.

[edit] Tall Ships' Races

On 28 June 2006, Hartlepool celebrated after winning its bid to host The Tall Ships' Races. The town will welcome up to 125 tall ships in 2010, after being chosen by race organiser Sail Training International to be the finishing point for the race. Hartlepool will greet the ships, which will have sailed from Kristiansand in Norway on the second and final leg of the race.

Hartlepool already has good links with tall ships after almost 40 vessels visited Hartlepool in 2005 en route to Newcastle, and Hartlepool Council, PD Ports and Hartlepool Marina teamed up in April this year to submit a bid to host the race.

Hartlepool Mayor Stuart Drummond said: "There's a great spirit of partnership in the town and we put together a very strong bid. We knew we had the capability and the passion to be a top class host port and we are delighted that the race organisers felt the same. The event will present a tremendous opportunity to showcase the town."

Allan Henderson, Hartlepool Marina Director, added: "This is fabulous news and a great honour. Hartlepool already has an excellent name in the maritime world, and the skippers and crews of the tall ships which visited us last year were very impressed with the fantastic welcome they received. Hosting the Tall Ships race further reinforces Hartlepool's well deserved reputation as a first rate visitor destination."

[edit] Local media

[edit] Monkeys

Hartlepool is famous for allegedly executing a monkey during the Napoleonic Wars. - see The Hartlepool monkey hanging - for more information.

Historians have also pointed to the prior existence of a Scottish folk song called "And the Boddamers hung the Monkey-O". It describes how a monkey survived a shipwreck off the village of Boddam near Peterhead in Aberdeenshire. Because the villagers could only claim salvage rights if there were no survivors from the wreck, they allegedly hanged the monkey.

"Monkey hanger" and Chimp Choker are common terms of (semi-friendly) abuse aimed at "Poolies", often from bitter footballing rivals Darlington. The mascot of Hartlepool United F.C. is H'Angus the monkey. The man in the monkey costume, Stuart Drummond, stood for the post of Mayor in 2002 as H'angus the monkey, and campaigned on a platform which included free bananas for schoolchildren. To widespread surprise, he won, becoming the first directly-elected Mayor of Hartlepool, winning 7,400 votes with a 52% share of the vote and a turnout of 30%. He was re-elected by a landslide in 2005, winning 16,912 on a turnout of 51% – 10,000 votes more than his nearest rival, the Labour Party candidate.

The monkey legend is also linked with another of the town's sports clubs, Hartlepool Rovers RFC, which uses the hanging monkey as the club logo. On tours it would hang a monkey on the posts of the rugby pitch to spread the story.

The bone
The bone

In June 2005 a large bone was found washed ashore on Hartlepool beach, which initially was taken as giving credence to the monkey legend. Analysis revealed the bone to be that of a red deer which had died 6,000 years ago.

The bone is now in the collections of Hartlepool Museum Service.

[edit] Notable people

[edit] Town twinning

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.teesvalley-jsu.gov.uk/old/private/jsuwarddataweb2005.xls

[edit] External links

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