Deeside

For Strathdee in Scotland see River Dee, Aberdeenshire

Deeside^[1] (Welsh: Glannau Dyfrdwy) is the name given to the predominantly industrial conurbation of towns and villages that lie on, or near the River Dee in Chester.^[2][3] These include, Connah's Quay, Mancot, Pentre, Shotton, Queensferry, Sealand, Broughton, Hawarden, Ewloe, Sandycroft and parts of Saltney. The population is around 32,000, with the majority (16,526) living in Connah's Quay.

Deeside is known for its industry, providing jobs for the people of Cheshire, Merseyside & North Wales. The biggest employment area in Deeside is Deeside Industrial Park which has both historical and contemporary significance,^[4] and provides Deeside and the surrounding area with jobs in many different industries from construction to food production. Deeside is also home to steel manufacturer Corus and aircraft manufacturer Airbus. The Airbus factory is in Broughton, where wings are produced for the Airbus A330 and the A380. The motto of the factory in Broughton is "Without us, it's just a bus" meaning that the parts that make Airbus aircraft fly, rather than just run along the ground, are made in Deeside. Toyota's highly advanced engine manufacturing plant is located here.

History

Ancient history

The industrial estate still contains visible relics of Deeside's ancient history, such as the remnants of a human-made henge on a roundabout on a motorway roundabout in the Deeside Industrial Area.^[5] Shotton's history dates back around 1000 years to Saxon times.^[6][7]

Recent history

Until industrialisation in the nineteenth century, Shotton remained a cluster of hamlets: a settlement comprising Shotton, Nine Houses and Shotton Hall, which itself dates back to 1637.^[3][8][9] Coal mining developed in the eighteenth century, then in 1889 the opening of the Hawarden Railway Bridge over the River Dee improved access to the reclaimed Dee Marshes.^[3] Following this, in 1895, the Summers family purchased 40 acres (160,000 m²) of Dee marshland,^[10] on which they established Shotton Steelworks.^[3][10]

In September 1896, Shotton Steelworks began producing sheet steel. The development of this steelworks on the banks of the River Dee changed an area that was once mainly marshland, with Shotton - just across the Dee - previously little more than a hamlet. Shotton Steelworks led to the development of whole communities to house the influx of workers, estimated up to 13,000 at the height of the industry,^[10] with Shotton and Connah's Quay Jetty hubs of activity serving the steelworks.^[11] There were also brickworks and other industries in and around Shotton, and Connah's Quay developed as a town on the banks of the Dee Estuary, becoming known for its shipbuilding industry.^[4]

Education

Primary schools in the area include: Taliesin Junior School, Bryn Deva Primary, Wepre Primary, Dee Road Infants, Custom House Lane, Golftyn Primary, Venerable Edward Morgan, Shotton Infants, Sealand County Primary, Sandycroft County Primary and St Ethelwold's Primary School.

Secondary schools in the area include: Connah's Quay High School (Connah's Quay), John Summers High School (Queensferry) and St Davids High School (Saltney).

Further Education

Deeside College is a large and popular college in Connah's Quay. It offers a range of full and part-time courses as well as apprenticeships. In an inspection in 2007 the college gained the highest possible grade 1 inspection ratings for its Work Based Learning provision.

Transport

Bus travel in Deeside is mainly provided by Arriva North West who offer services to Chester Bus Exchange from a starting point in Connah's Quay. Arriva also provide a service to Rhyl in North Wales from Chester which passes through parts of Deeside.

Arriva provide Train services in the Deeside area. The main services are to Liverpool and Manchester and to Wrexham and Rhyl. There are also services to London and Cardiff which call at Deeside

The Deeside Shuttle Bus

The Deeside Shuttle Bus is a service which enables people to travel to and from work at a time convenient to them. The Deeside Shuttle Bus allows local residents to book a seat on the bus at a time and place specified by them, which will take them to work on Deeside Industrial Park. It has proved very popular and has now grown to serve other local areas.

Landmarks

The most striking landmark in Deeside is the fixed cable-stayed bridge, which was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1998. The bridge is known as the Flintshire Bridge but is commonly referred to by locals as the "New Bridge".

Local media

Television

The Deeside area is mainly covered by the Winter Hill signal. This provides BBC North West and ITV Granada.

Radio

The local radio station in Deeside is Chester's Dee 106.3 which broadcasts from its studio just off Sealand Road in Chester. The station is well known by locals and is regularly seen at public events, for example firework displays. Other local radio stations include BBC Radio Merseyside and Radio City 96.7.

Newspapers

There are three main newspapers for Deeside: these are The Evening Leader and The Chronicle. There is also a free weekly paper called the Evening Standard.

Notable people from Deeside

It is notable that a significant amount of the people on this list are or were footballers. This reflects the fact that football is a common pastime in the region. Several generations of the Gladstone-Glynne family were also born in Deeside.

• William Ewart Gladstone, 19th century Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who spent his last years in the area.
• Ann Keen, MP for Brentford and Isleworth, born in Hawarden.
• Craig Lawton, Left winger currently playing for Cymru Alliance League side Bala Town F.C., formerly of Manchester United.
• Angus McLean, former manager of Hartlepool United F.C..
• Grenville Millington, Chester City F.C. player.
• Michael Owen, England and Manchester United F.C. footballer.
• Gary Speed, former footballer for Leeds United FC and Everton FC.
• Henry Weale, Victoria Cross recipient who fought in the First World War.

External links

• "Map showing location of Deeside, Wales". Google maps. http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&num=10&lr=lang_en&as_filetype=&as_sitesearch=&as_qdr=all&as_rights=&as_occt=any&cr=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&safe=images&q=Deeside+Wales&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Deeside,+Clwyd,+UK&gl=au&ei=i8fUS_K-CIqg6gPGp9CkDw&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CAgQ8gEwAA. Retrieved 25 April 2010. 
• "North East Wales Photos: Old and new photos of Connah's Quay, Shotton & Queensferry". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northeast/sites/deeside/photos.shtml. Retrieved 25 April 2010. 
• man-made henge at Deeside
• images of Shotwick

References

1. ^ BBC (Last updated 14 December 2005), Wales, North East: Deeside (panoramic), http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northeast/panoramics/pages/deeside.shtml, retrieved 26 April 2010 
2. ^ "Map showing location of Deeside, Wales". Google maps. http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&num=10&lr=lang_en&as_filetype=&as_sitesearch=&as_qdr=all&as_rights=&as_occt=any&cr=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&safe=images&q=Deeside+Wales&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Deeside,+Clwyd,+UK&gl=au&ei=i8fUS_K-CIqg6gPGp9CkDw&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CAgQ8gEwAA. Retrieved 25 April 2010. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d} "Deeside history", The Flintshire Chronicle, 8 August 2008, http://www.flintshirechronicle.co.uk/flintshire-information/flintshire-history/2008/08/08/deeside-history-51352-22083190/, retrieved 26 April 2010 
4. ^ ^{a b} BBC, North East Wales: A Pen Picture, http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northeast/sites/deeside/pages/pen_picture.shtml, retrieved 26 April 2010 
5. ^ May, Roger. "Standing Stones, near to Shotwick, Cheshire". Geograph. http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/116845. Retrieved 25 April 2010. 
6. ^ Norry, Roy (16 March 2010), The History of Shotton - Deeside, North Wales in pictures and text, http://www.northwaleslinks.co.uk/the-history-of-shotton-deeside-north-wales/, retrieved 26 April 2010 
7. ^ Atkinson, Keith (Last updated 4 January 2006), "1. Shotton From Saxon Times", The History of Shotton - Deeside, http://www.angelfire.com/fl/shotton/history1.html, retrieved 26 April 2010 
8. ^ Atkinson, Keith (Last updated 4 January 2006), "2. Shotton from the 13th Century", The History of Shotton - Deeside, http://www.angelfire.com/fl/shotton/history2.html, retrieved 26 April 2010 
9. ^ Atkinson, Keith (Last updated 4 January 2006), "4. Shotton Hall", The History of Shotton - Deeside, http://www.angelfire.com/fl/shotton/history4.html, retrieved 26 April 2010 
10. ^ ^{a b c} BBC (Last updated 10 June 2009), North East Wales: Shotton Steelworks and Garden City, http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northeast/sites/flintshire/pages/steel.shtml, retrieved 25 April 2010 
11. ^ BBC (Last updated 17 March 2009), North East Wales: Steelworks' Jetty, http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northeast/sites/deeside/pages/photos3.shtml, retrieved 25 April 2010