Ashington Overseas Development

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Ashington is a large village in Northumberland, which grew a few farms to a thriving coal mining village. It is 15 miles from the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, and is often considered to be a town due to its size. However, as it is lacking a town hall and a mayor, Ashington is technically a village. The coal mining industry grew in Ashington in the 19th century, when the Duke of Portland constructed housing to encourage workers escaping the potato famine to come and work at the local collieries he was founding. By 1887, Ashington had become a model pit village. Six hundred and sixty five houses had been built in eleven long rows, running from east to west, to accommodate the colliers. The houses were considered highly practical and supposedly cheap to build at round £70 each. One known as 'The largest mining village in the world'?, Ashington's deep pit coal mining finally began to end in the 80's and 90's, with the final colliery, Ellington, closing in 2005. Ashington has no remaining deep mines, but its proud history is remembered at the nearby Woodhorn Colliery Museum. Locals of Ashington have their own distinctive accent known as Pitmatic, which is akin to but differs from Newcastle's Geordie dialect.