Fenham

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates: 54°59′05″N 1°39′19″W / 54.9848°N 1.6553°W

Fenham
Church of the Holy Cross
Fenham Fenham shown within Tyne and Wear
Population	22,376 (2001)
OS grid reference	NZ220656
Metropolitan borough	Newcastle upon Tyne
Metropolitan county	Tyne and Wear
Region	North East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
Postcode district	NE4
Dialling code	0191
Police	Northumbria
Fire	Tyne and Wear
Ambulance	North East
EU Parliament	North East England
UK Parliament	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
List of places UK England Tyne and Wear

Fenham is an area of the west end of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It lies to the west of the city centre, and is bounded on the north and east by a large area of open land known as the Town Moor. To the south lies Benwell, whilst West Denton lies to the west, Blakelaw and Cowgate to the north, and Arthur's Hill and Spital Tongues to the east. The area has an ethnically mixed population, and is also home to a large number of students.

The area covers two wards of Newcastle: Wingrove Ward, and Fenham Ward. At the 2001 Census the overall population was found to be 22,376 of whom 14.4 per cent belonged to an ethnic minority, more than twice the average for Newcastle as a whole. Of persons age 16-74, 52.3 per cent were defined as economically active, compared with 58.5 per cent for the city as a whole.^{[citation needed]}

History

Fenham grew up as a separate township from Newcastle, lying on the western outskirts of the city. Much of the land originally belonged to religious charitable institutions, and there are covenant restrictions on the building of any licensed premises. In 1895 Benwell and Fenham Urban District was created; in 1904 the area was incorporated into Newcastle upon Tyne.

Fenham did not become a residential area until the 20th Century. Housing was built on a large scale when tram lines were extended from Central Station via Barrack Road. Further expansion was facilitated by the development of trolley buses and bus links to Westerhope.^[1]

The BBC Broadcasting Centre on Barrack Road houses Radio Newcastle and Look North.

Local Amenities

Fenham possesses a public library on Fenham Hall Drive. The library is currently closed for refurbishment and will reopen as a partnership venture between the City Council and Your Homes Newcastle in January 2014.^[2] Fenham has an active residents group called Fenham Association of Residents FAR that launched the FAR Community Centre in 2001. The FAR Community Centre offers activities for all age groups offering activities aimed at helping residents improve their self-esteem and skills. There is also a public swimming pool, since August 2005 run as a community organisation. The pool was shut in 2003, but in 2004 the Liberal Democrats took control of Newcastle City Council from Labour; one of their pledges was to re-open Fenham pool, which was achieved with substantial financial backing from residents of the local community.

The main local schools include Westgate Community College on West Road, Saint Cuthberts RC High School on Gretna Road and Sacred Heart RC High School . There are also some private schools situated in Fenham, one is Dame Allan's on Fowberry Crescent.

Popularity in Local Region

The town is also becoming increasingly popular with students and young professionals however unlike other parts of the city experiencing a growth of student numbers relations between locals and the seasonal influx of students are kept civil in large part thanks to the local council.

Ethnic minority

Today Fenham is most well known in the local area for its large Asian community with many of the businesses in the area being Asian-owned and including many speciality stores such as a halal butchers and Asian jewellery and clothing stores. There are many ethnic minority groups living side by side in Fenham with a significant number of people being of either Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin.

Councillors

There are three councillors for the Fenham electoral ward: Helen McStravick, Matthew Myers and Marion Talbot, who all represent the Labour Party. Marion Talbot won election in May 2012 securing 1735 votes beating her nearest rival PJ Morrissey in second on 643 votes. Talbot has since been elected to an Executive post of Performance and Resources Portfolio.

External links

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