North Shields

Industrial town and fishing port in Tyne and Wear, northeast England, 7 mi/11 km east of Newcastle upon Tyne; it is part of the Tyneside urban area, on the north bank of the River Tyne; population (2001) 55,200. Industries include engineering, ship maintenance, printing and publishing, and seafood processing. North Shields was the ‘birthplace’ of the steam trawler.

The wet docks at North Shields were built in the late 19th century. These have been replaced by oil-storage facilities and by roll-on roll-off berths for ferries to Denmark and Norway. There are ship-repair yards and a fish quay.