Is Ashington a nearby town to Hartlepool?

[TBY-Paul]

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Apparently the final lot of track works has now been awarded. In addition, as in the nearby town of Hartlepool, the derelict platforms at Ashington are soon to be demolished.

If forum members think Ashington is a “nearby town” to Hartlepool, there’s something seriously wrong with their geographic knowledge.
For Reference:-
Ashington, a town approx 15 miles “North“of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Hartlepool, a town approx 30 miles “South” of Newcastle upon Tyne.
To give a sense of scale, Manchester to Leeds is about 42 miles.

 

[Starmill]

To give a sense of scale, Manchester to Leeds is about 42 miles.

Indeed. Two nearby cities.

 

[adrock1976]

If forum members think Ashington is a “nearby town” to Hartlepool, there’s something seriously wrong with their geographic knowledge.
For Reference:-
Ashington, a town approx 15 miles “North“of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Hartlepool, a town approx 30 miles “South” of Newcastle upon Tyne.
To give a sense of scale, Manchester to Leeds is about 42 miles.

I agree.

Splitting hairs, it could be said that Ashington is in Northumberland, with Hartlepool being in County Durham.

Also, a friend of mine (born 1968) who I worked alongside with is originally from the Sunderland area where he spent the first five years of his life before moving away to the East Midlands region in 1973. Whenever he sends items ordered online to his aunt who still remains in Sunderland, the county for the address if a required field is put as County Durham, as he has never recognised Tyne & Wear as it did not come into being until 1974. This is a similar principle to me having never recognised the residents of Buckingham Palace as I never had a say nor a vote on who is to reside there.

 

[Bald Rick]

This is a similar principle to me having never recognised the residents of Buckingham Palace as I never had a say nor a vote on who is to reside there.

OT - but you don’t have a say or vote on who is Head of State in any other country, do you not recognise them either?

 

[Starmill]

Splitting hairs, it could be said that Ashington is in Northumberland, with Hartlepool being in County Durham.

Places in different counties or even countries can still be nearby, amazingly.

Also, a friend of mine (born 1968) who I worked alongside with is originally from the Sunderland area where he spent the first five years of his life before moving away to the East Midlands region in 1973. Whenever he sends items ordered online to his aunt who still remains in Sunderland, the county for the address if a required field is put as County Durham, as he has never recognised Tyne & Wear as it did not come into being until 1974. This is a similar principle to me having never recognised the residents of Buckingham Palace as I never had a say nor a vote on who is to reside there.

Yes and they could write "Moon County" on the address if they wished, it would make absolutely no difference whatsoever to the mail being delivered because Royal Mail don't recognise (for this purpose) counties any more. Some forms don't even permit a county to be entered, because it is irrelevant. What does your friend do then?

Goes to show how much difference people's views on these things actually make. None whatsoever.

 

[Killingworth]

Apparently the final lot of track works has now been awarded. In addition, as in the nearby town of Hartlepool, the derelict platforms at Ashington are soon to be demolished.

Nearby? It's nearly 40 miles. That's foreign parts to any native of Ashington or Hartlepool!

 

[androdas]

Splitting hairs, it could be said that Ashington is in Northumberland

Ashington 100% is in Northumberland and always has been, The southern border of Northumberland County Council is about 10 miles away just south of Cramlington. After that you have City of Newcastle and North Tyneside.

 

[Starmill]

Nearby? It's nearly 40 miles. That's foreign parts to any native of Ashington or Hartlepool!

Forty milles is hardly far on the scale of the whole country.

I'll never understand how people get a kick out of complaining about something which was left no ambiguity. I can only assume its some sort of attempt to make themselves look "informed".

 

[Western Lord]

What constitutes nearby is something that varies, I believe in parts of Australia travelling 200 miles to the local shop is normal.
Parochialism also plays a part. I am reminded of the episode of Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads when Bob invited Terry to a dinner party, telling him that one of the guests was from down south. "What, Middlesbrough?" said Terry.

 

[J-2739]

Indeed. Two nearby cities.

I don't think it is as simple as distance in kilometers to determine proximity between centres; there's also cultural affinity, transport links, and where the amenities are. Especially for small towns near large cities.

 

[nw1]

I agree.

Splitting hairs, it could be said that Ashington is in Northumberland, with Hartlepool being in County Durham.

Also, a friend of mine (born 1968) who I worked alongside with is originally from the Sunderland area where he spent the first five years of his life before moving away to the East Midlands region in 1973. Whenever he sends items ordered online to his aunt who still remains in Sunderland, the county for the address if a required field is put as County Durham, as he has never recognised Tyne & Wear as it did not come into being until 1974.

Surprised, as I'd expect someone born in 1968 to have little in the way of memories of anything before 1974. Certainly I have very few memories from the years before N+6 (where N is my birth year), and only started to have consistent and strong memories in N+7. (That said, I have almost photographic memory of later in childhood).

As for the original question, well they're both in the North East so I think it's fair to say they are relatively nearby - though I have to admit that for me personally, "nearby" would suggest it's within 20 miles or so. So for me, Guildford is not "nearby" to Portsmouth (42 miles, according to a road sign on the A3), but on a country-wide scale, it is. One of those terms with a flexible meaning, I guess.

 

[gg1]

If forum members think Ashington is a “nearby town” to Hartlepool, there’s something seriously wrong with their geographic knowledge.
For Reference:-
Ashington, a town approx 15 miles “North“of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Hartlepool, a town approx 30 miles “South” of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Based on the geographical knowledge of people I've worked with over the years, I suspect if you took a random sample of people across the UK, less than 50% would even know both Hartlepool and Ashington are in NE England, let alone give a rough estimate of the distance between them.

 

[Essan]

I'd never heard of Ashington - and looking on a map would struggle to find it as it's nowhere near Hartlepool

For the record, Evesham is not a nearby town to Wolverhampton or Swindon either (both under 40 miles away as the crow flies). Nor is Croydon near to Brighton.

The exception might be when talking on a wider geographic scale, in the sense that anywhere in the UK is near anywhere else in the UK, compared to Beijing.

 

[gswindale]

I agree.

Splitting hairs, it could be said that Ashington is in Northumberland, with Hartlepool being in County Durham.

Also, a friend of mine (born 1968) who I worked alongside with is originally from the Sunderland area where he spent the first five years of his life before moving away to the East Midlands region in 1973. Whenever he sends items ordered online to his aunt who still remains in Sunderland, the county for the address if a required field is put as County Durham, as he has never recognised Tyne & Wear as it did not come into being until 1974. This is a similar principle to me having never recognised the residents of Buckingham Palace as I never had a say nor a vote on who is to reside there.

Do you recognise the residents of my house? I don't think you had a say or a vote on who is living here!

locality is relative and I think that over the years, the definition of "local" has expanded. I seem to recall when I was growing up that my parents would use a pair of compasses on a map to create a circle a specific distance from our house which would define where we would travel - that was based roughly on travel time, so subject to the quality of roads. As roads have improved in quality, it stands to reason that a "local" day out would now see people travelling further afield than say 50 years ago (for instance I can get to Aerospace Bristol in approx 1hr 30 these days due to the motorways, but if I avoid motorways, the travel time is listed as 3hrs).

Personally I think that anywhere that takes more than about 30 minutes to get to is not "local", however my "local" McArthur Glen site is in Swindon which is about an hour away, whereas the next closest is pushing 2 hours assuming decent traffic.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I'd never heard of Ashington...

Birthplace of Bobby and Jack Charlton (members of the 1966 World Cup winning England football team).

 

[nw1]

Strangely I've heard of Ashington since about 1980, despite never having lived anywhere near it.

When I was a child I was fascinated by road maps and noticed certain towns (mostly large, well-known places) were marked as "Primary Towns" (towns included on green signs on major road routes). Ashington was one, and I remember noting that it was unusual that a place that I hadn't heard of (then) was one.

More recently in 1988 we went on a school trip to that part of the world, we didn't pass through Ashington but nearby (on the A1) and could see in its general direction. I seem to remember it was very industrial with lots of chimneys but I'm guessing all that's gone now?

 

[Railcar]

To add to the confusion, there are two English villages named Ashington, one in West Sussex and one in Somerset. When travelling near the Sussex Ashington, I asked my eldest daughter (age 6 or 7) how the name would be pronounced if it had 'w' at the beginning of the word. I was proud of her when she pronounced it correctly, with a 'wosh'.