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Waterville Road, NORTH SHIELDS, NE29 6BT

Formerly the junction (cross-roads) of Ripley Avenue with Waterville Road but now pedestrianised, hard-landscaped and rather bleak. The semi-circular structure of this part of the estate had been laid out by 1937 although the street names are different; for example, Ripley Avenue seems to have been Bridges Road. See here for other detail: Image, Image

The square is really a circle centred on the former junction of Ripley Avenue (northern part now pedestrianised) and Waterville Road. It looks like a roundabout on Google Satellite view, with a paving design of contrasting colours forming an interlocking design. However, the west-east traffic on Waterville Road passes directly through its centre. To the north (shown), there is a semi-circular, paved square at road level with steps leading up to Ripley Road North Image through another hard-landscaped area with an arched sculpture Image It appears to have been laid out in part of its current form by 1937. If it has a name or any other history then I have been unable to find it. "A five-year plan drawn up in 1930 projected the construction of 850 new council homes. In 1932, the Council purchased a 135 acre greenfield site on the north-western fringes of North Shields from the Duke of Northumberland. This was to be the Ridges Estate – the original name of Meadow Well and one by which it is still sometimes known. The new estate contained 1961 homes. Forty of these were old people’s bungalows, 268 were self-contained houses and 1653 (84 per cent) were so-called Tyneside flats, common in the area – two-storeyed dwellings with flats top and bottom and separate ground-floor front doors, built in blocks of four. In practice, the layout of the Estate paid some tribute to the earlier superior cottage suburbs in its ‘Garden City’-style crescents and cul-de-sacs and it represented a good home to its new residents." However, Meadow Well became the classic ‘problem estate’, and centre for riots in 1991 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meadow_Well_riots The reasons why are discussed in the links below: Municipal Dreams: https://municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2016/02/16/the-meadow-well-estate-north-shields-i/ https://municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2016/02/23/the-meadow-well-estate-north-shields-ii/ Recent research (28/01/2018) has at last reveealed the name of this square. 'Central Focus', a hard landscaping project by Brambledown Landscape Services Ltd. for North Tyneside Council: "Redevelopment of the Meadowell area of North Shields. The levels and walls create an amphitheatre effect, while the ‘Celtic Knot’ paving is a distinctive and unique feature. This project won a BALI National Landscape award for Hard Landscaping."

I have been unable to find out the name or designer of these arched metal columns in the concrete square of Waterville Road Image

"The first thing that strikes me is the quantity of concrete balls left lying round like a giants been out playing marbles..." Joan Armstrong - a week in Meadow Well (2006) http://www.bbc.co.uk/tyne/content/articles/2006/09/12/meadowell_diary_feature.shtml Steps below the iron sculpture go down to a large semi-circular square on Waterville Road providing the centre-piece of the semi-circular crescent of Avon Avenue Image

Opened in 1982 by the Tyne & Wear Metro on the line from Newcastle to Tynemouth. View east towards North Shields and Tynemouth.

Photo 3 of a series of 9, showing the metro stations between Tynemouth and Chillingham rd (Newcastle)

Near Meadow Well Metro station.