From blot on the landscape to much-loved beauty spot
HOW A 40FT CRATER BECAME COUNTRY PARK
JUST over 40 years ago a giant hole in the landscape of urban Tyneside had filled with 35 million gallons of water to a depth of 40ft.
The question was: what was to be done with it?
The crater had been created by nearly 200 years of quarrying magnesian limestone from a site which is now adjacent to the busy Broadway main road from Tynemouth to Whitley Bay.
After digging operations ceased, a four-and-a-half acre area of the 16-acre site filled with water and was considered a danger, especially to children.
The site had been leased in 1961 by the Duke of Northumberland to the local water company for use a stand-by reservoir.
But the hardness of the water and its bacterial condition meant it would be expensive to treat, which left what was a watery white elephant.
Then the former Whitley Bay Council stepped in and the Duke agreed to hand over the land with the proviso that it be used for leisure purposes.
The result was the creation of what is now Marden Quarry Park, which was opened by Princess Margaret 40 years ago on November 22, 1977.
And on Wednesday North Tyneside Council will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the park, with its lake and islands, which is designated as a Local Nature Reserve.
Pupils from Cullercoats Primary School will plant bulbs and Young Mayor Oscar Daniel will plant a tree, accompanied by students from Marden High School.
Mayor Norma Redfearn will also plant a commemorative cherry tree alongside the plaque which marked the official opening by Princess Margaret.
The history of the park dates to 1684 when Henry Hudson leased land for quarrying.
During its working life it contained large lime kilns, a brickworks, a tower which served as offices and an explosives store and quarry workers’ cottages that occupied what is now the area of the site’s car park.
Quarrying finally ended in 1880 but the park as seen today is less than half the size it was at time of closure, when the site stretched from Hillheads Road to the North and covered the rugby and cricket grounds to the west.
The history of the site is reflected in the name of The Quarry Inn opposite the park.
When the council took over the site, hardcore was dumped to reduce the water level to 4ft and islands were also created to attract bird life.
Today, the Green Flag park is an important nature reserve and wildlife haven in the middle of a busy urban setting, with the large wildfowl lake supporting breeding birds such as the mute swan, mallard, moorhen, coot, tufted duck and seasonal migrating birds.