Team Valley Trading Estate

The Team Valley Trading Estate was established in 1936 - one of the first purpose built industrial estates in the country. It was built as a response to the failure of traditional industry in Gateshead. Nearly £2,000,000 of central government funding was awarded under the Special Areas (Development and Improvement) Act of 1934 into economic regeneration to create a clean pleasant light industrial environment. The resulting TVTE intended to provide employment for 15,000 workers with 15 years. It was mastermined by William G Holford under Colonel Kenelm C Appleyard, formerly of Birtley Iron and Engineering Works, who headed a new company, North Eastern Trading Estates Ltd. Constructed began in 1936 and the estate was formally opened by King George VI three years later. The 650 acre estate is recognised by Pevsner as a remarkable example of planned architecture by W. Holford. The building of the estate involved extensive reclamation works and culverting of the River Team which originally was decorated with trellises and climbing roses. The estate was designed on a grid plan and consists of wide roads and verges. The double row of Wheatley elm on Kingsway North is perhaps the most significant landscape feature. Originally factories were encouraged to create their own garden areas, although sadly there are no remains. In the late 1980s the estate underwent a major environmental improvement scheme in an attempt to attract new development. This scheme by Brian Clouston & Partners reinforced many of the original features, including the replanting of the elm avenue with lime as well as solving unsightly late C20 problems such as the containment of car parking and storage yards. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The Team Valley Trading Estate was a pioneering solution to the economic depression of the 1930s as the first government industrial estate; with its sponsoring body the first publicly funded Estate Company. Various sites were considered, but the Team Valley was eventually chosen, mainly due to the topography of the site and the excellent transport links by road and rail. The 700 acre site, designed by William G Holford (later Lord Holford and only 29 at the time), was transformed from boggy pasture land using colliery waste. The main north-south axis road, Kingsway, was 2 miles long, and at the time the widest in England. In the vast space was included two 24’ carriageways, with a landscaped strip 24’ wide between, bordered by 4’ grass verges and 6’ cycle tracks, privet hedging and 8’ footpaths. Services were laid in the verges in order to facilitate easy and unobtrusive access. The architect showed a great deal of foresight, as in addition to this generous provision, he ensured all factories were to be set back 30’ from the pavement to allow for ample parking for motor cars, which were rare at the time. Together these would have given a feeling of great openness that was very modern compared with the cramped alleys familiar in the centre of Gateshead. The landscaping also created an attractive setting for the brave new world of light industry, contrasting with the unwholesome and contaminated setting of the heavy industrial past. The intention to look positively to the future is clear. On Kingsway North, a double row of Wheatley Elm is of particular landscape interest, but when the site was officially opened these were but a small part of the planting scheme. 10,000 plants and bulbs were introduced along the full length of Kingsway, including tulips, daffodils, palms and ferns, giving an exotic feel. A narrower east-west axis connected Low Fell and the Ravensworth Coach Road. The dirty River Team (known locally as ‘The Gut’) was cleaned up and canalised to improve the environment, in what was, at the time, the longest river rectification system in England. It was culverted for 100 yards in the centre, but for the first mile, at the south end of Kingsway, its course was diverted into a deep concrete channel, which replaced the central grass strip to the northern end. With aesthetic as well as safety concerns, wire mesh covered these concrete channels, and roses and other climbers were planted to enhance the area. A football ground, tennis courts and a large playing field were originally included in the design, to allow for the recreational and exercise needs of workers. Even the secondary streets were named after elements of the natural world (many trees, but also some birds etc.), presumably in order to bolster the connection with a healthy, natural environment. It is of great importance, too, that a quirkily irregular historic plot known as Twenty Pound Close was retained in the design, with its distinctive woodland character.
There is now a garden behind St George’s House, but more gardens were apparently originally envisaged that were never laid out. This is likely to have been due to the onset of war, as many of the factories were requisitioned and labour and financial resources became restricted. The landscaping scheme, though, remains impressive and is an interesting design of its time, with great potential for restoration and enhancement into the future. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The Trading Estate came out of the central government’s Special Areas initiative, commissioned to address the problems in those areas worst hit. It was hoped that the introduction of Light Industry would offset the decline in heavy industries. Although there are no gardens as originally envisaged, a renewal scheme in the late 1980s in sympathy with the original design included replanting of avenues of trees and removal of inappropriate intrusions. MATERIALS / SPECIES Concrete, lawn, Wheatley Elm DESIGNER W G Holford
Roads/services George Wimpey & Co DATES Built 1936 Opened by George VI 22/02/1939 LOCAL LIST