North Shields

A town built on fish and coal

North Shields grew up from the Middle Ages as a "shield" — a fishermen's shelter — on the Tyne's north bank, close enough to the open sea to become one of the region's most important fishing harbours, while also handling its share of the coal trade that dominated the whole river. By the 19th century its Fish Quay, marked by the paired navigation towers known as the High and Low Lights, was one of the busiest fish markets in England.

The herring girls

Each summer, the port's population swelled with "herring girls" — young women, many from Scotland, who followed the North Sea herring fleet down the coast gutting and packing the catch by hand, before moving on to East Anglia by autumn. Their skill, speed and hard graft were essential to the whole industry, and their story is told today at the Fish Quay's Old Low Light heritage centre.

North Shields today

Commercial fishing continues at North Shields on a smaller scale, alongside a lively harbourside of restaurants and bars built into the old fish market buildings. The Shields Ferry still crosses from here to South Shields, and North Shields Metro station connects the town to the rest of Tyneside — see this site's dedicated Metro & Ferry page for more.