A Cramlington New Town

The town Cramlington can be found in Northumberland. It is approximately nine miles north of Newcastle and six miles southeast of Morpeth.

There is easy access to the city by car public transport and rail. Commuting time is approximately twenty minutes.The town is served by Cramlington railway station, with services to the Metro Centre, Morpeth and Newcastle provided by Northern Rail. Local bus services are provided by Arriva Northumberland and the town has good road transport links being situated between the A1 A19 and A189 roads.

Cramlington is also notable for its many roundabouts especially the notorious Moor Farm roundabout which links the A19 and A189 as well as other roads to Cramlington. As of 2006 it has been announced that Moor Farm roundabout is to be traffic controlled as traffic lights will be installed working on a similar operation to those at the A19 Silverlink roundabout, due to continuous congestion and also frequent accidents on a severe scale. The river Blyth is close by as is Plessey Woods Country Park.

The origin of the name Cramlington has been suggested to mean homestead. Cramlington has had settlement for many years as early as 1270. However it was redeveloped in the sixties and named Cramlington New Town. The population reaches twenty nine thousand.
Historically in the twenty century, the area centre around the development of mining. However like many other areas the decline in coal brought with it, many struggles. New industries now include Air Filtration Equipment, Merck Sharp and Dohme and Pharmaceuticals. There is also a number of Far East companies. This large-scale mining brought an enormous amount of people to the area.

The present Anglican church of St. Nicholas, built in the Gothic style, was consecrated in 1868 responding to the rapid increase of the population in the area.
The town centre has a large attractive shopping mall and the Concordia Leisure Centre and swimming pool complex. Market Day is Wednesday. There are also a number of bars and restaurants surrounding the village square.

At East Cramlington are the beautiful Project 2000 Botanic Gardens.

Education in schools is to a high standard. At present the education system is changing from a three tier system to a two tier system. This change will affect all schools in the town possible closures of some first and middle schools. There has been concern from local residents over traffic and parking arrangements at the new sites.