TEES VALLEY & DURHAM - Geography and history
Tees Valley (comprising the Unitary Authorities of Middlesbrough, Stockton on Tees, Redcar & Cleveland, Hartlepool and Darlington) and Durham County cover a combined area of 3,000 km2 in the south-east of the North East, around a third of the total area of the region. Durham county is much the greater in extent and contains the eastern edge of the Pennine hills and the Durham plateau. These upland areas are bisected east to west by the rivers Tees and Wear. Tees Valley, to the west, comprises chiefly the flatter coastal plain around the estuary of the Tees, where the centres of population are located. The south-east of the county, bordering the North Yorkshire dales, is more sparsely populated than other parts of the Tees Valley and Durham area.
The centres of industry have developed alongside the rivers Tees and Wear and the principal towns are Darlington, Stockton on Tees, Middlesbrough, the city of Durham and Hartlepool. Communication links run chiefly north to south. The A1(M) trunk road traverses Durham whilst the A19 runs through Tees Valley, with the major link between them being the A66. The main railway lines also run north to south and links with London and Scotland from Durham City and Darlington are fast and efficient. Tees Valley?s ports comprise Hartlepool and the River Tees (?Teesport?). Tees and Hartlepool is the second largest port in the UK in terms of Tonnage. Teesside airport, located east of Darlington, provides scheduled services to European cities and charter flights to other international destinations.
Changing industrial landscape
The existence of significant deposits of coal, iron ore and limestone led to the early industrial development of these areas with growth of iron and steel and associated industries based on these strengths, especially around Middlesbrough during the time of the industrial revolution.
Other traditional industries have however declined in recent years. Coalmining once a major employer in Durham County is now virtually non-existent compared to the tens of thousand employed several decades ago.
The development of chemical and latterly petrochemical industries has continued. The growth of chemical and petrochemical plants around Billingham, Wilton near Middlesbrough and ?Seal Sands? at the mouth of the River Tees, with companies such as Imperial Chemical Industries, Huntsman and BASF, constitute the largest petrochemical complex in Europe.
Continued diversification of the industrial base has continued, with electronics (Samsung, Filtronic) and pharmaceuticals (GlaxoSmithKlineAvecia) and call centres (Orange) being represented.
These structural changes in the industrial base have led to higher unemployment rates. With an unemployment rate of 10.0 per cent, Middlesbrough had the highest unemployment rate of all local and unitary authorities in England & Wales in 2001/02. In the Tees Valley and Durham area, Durham County had the lowest rate at 6.1 per cent. Despite this the unemployment rate is converging with the UK rate.
Busy towns and desolate uplands
The total population of Tees Valley and Durham was 1.1 million in 2002. The population fell by 2 per cent between 1992 and 2002, with all areas apart from Stockton on Tees showing a decline during this period. The population density was 370 inhabitants per km2, in 2002, although it varies from nearly 2 500 persons per km2 in Middlesbrough, to 30 persons per km2 for Teesdale in Durham, making it one of the most sparsely populated areas in England.
Geographically, Tees Valley and Durham County are quite dissimilar with Tees Valley a compact, principally urban area, and Durham much larger and more rural.
Soft wheat, cattle and milk are the main agricultural products, although patterns of agriculture vary with the relief of the area. In the uplands of the Pennines and Tees Valley sheep farming predominates, whilst on the flatter eastern parts of Durham, arable and dairy farming are practised. In 2001, in the Teesdale district of Durham, employment in the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry accounted for around 9 per cent of total employment in the area, the highest in Tees Valley and Durham.
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