Northumberland Street is a major shopping street in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, in the North East of England. It is home to a wide range of different retailers, banks and cafes, and in terms of rental per square metre, Northumberland Street is the most expensive location in the UK outside of London's Oxford Street to own a shop. There are currently over 51 retailers including pubs on Newcastle's Northumberland Street.[1]
The street runs from the Haymarket Interchange Metro station and The Newcastle Civic Centre in the north, towards the Monument Metro Station at the south. It encompasses the entrance to the Eldon Square Shopping Centre It also houses the entrance to the Monument Mall shopping centre.
South of Blackett Street, Northumberland Street turns into Pilgrim Street which runs to the Tyne Bridge. From the opening of the bridge in 1928 until the opening of Newcastle's Central Motorway (A167(M)) in 1975, Northumberland Street was part of the A1 between London and Edinburgh. It is now pedestrianised.
Until 1999, the most northerly section of Northumberland Street from Northumberland Road onwards was still open to traffic and a busy bus route, which led to the shops in this part of the street being much less popular than those farther south. This section is now pedestrianised in keeping with the remainder of the street. However, some electronic maps still show this part as an accessible road.
Delivery traffic is still permitted to drive up Northumberland Street in the early morning to complete deliveries, but, after that, all non-pedestrian traffic is banned, including bicycles and skateboards.
Here is a list of some of the retailers, cafe's and banks that can be found on Northumberland Street as of February 2011: