Bill Quay

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Bill Quay
Bill Quay shown within Tyne and Wear
OS grid reference	NZ297626
Metropolitan borough	Gateshead
Metropolitan county	Tyne and Wear
Region	North East
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	GATESHEAD
Postcode district	NE10
Dialling code	0191
Police	Northumbria
Fire	Tyne and Wear
Ambulance	North East
European Parliament	North East England
UK Parliament	Gateshead East and Washington West
List of places: UK • England • Tyne and Wear

Coordinates: 54°57′25″N 1°32′13″W / 54.957, -1.537

View of Bill Quay - June 13, 2004

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.

During the 19th century it was an industrial area catering for chemical works, bottle works, Robson's Paint and shipbuilding. The area saw an economic upturn at the end of the 19th century when the CWS (Co-Operative Wholesale Society) opened its vast and extensive string of factories along its main thoroughfare, Shields Road. Boutlands, Harrisons and Wood-Skinner were shipbuilders at Bill Quay with Harrisons remaining the last shipbuilders on the Tyne's south bank until its closure recently.

Bill Quay is also home to a well supported local cricket club (Bill Quay Albion). They currently compete in the Durham Coast league

Moreover, Bill Quay is home to Bill Quay Community Farm, an important urban farm and one of only 16 farm parks nationally recognised by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust in the UK. Breeds include Tamworth pigs, Jacob sheep, Hebridean sheep, Scots Grey hens and Bagot goats. It plays host to Chickenstock, a showcase festival for local Gateshead based bands that happens yearly.

[edit] Bill Quay in fiction

The novel Schoolfrenz by Ray Crowther (ISBN 0-9541110-3-6) is set mainly on Tyneside. Bill Quay is mentioned several times and is the location for a murder scene in the book. The author's website (Ray Crowther) contains an extract from Schoolfrenz about Bill Quay, and has photographs of Bill Quay and the surrounding area.