New Hartley is a village in South East Northumberland

Northumberland

Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, adjacent to Hartley

Hartley, Northumberland

 Hartley is a historic village in Northumberland, England. The village lies on the A193 road south of Blyth and 4 miles north of Tynemouth. It was a farming and later colliery village but today is part of Seaton Sluice. However it has given its name to the ward of Hartley which covers Seaton...

, Seaton Delaval

Seaton Delaval

Seaton Delaval is a village in Northumberland, England, with a population of 4,371. It is the largest of the five villages in Seaton Valley and is the site of Seaton Delaval Hall, the masterpiece completed by Sir John Vanbrugh in 1727....

 and Seaton Sluice

Seaton Sluice

Seaton Sluice is a village in Northumberland. It lies on the coast at the mouth of the Seaton Burn, midway between Whitley Bay and Blyth. It has a population of about 3,000 people.- Early history :...

. The village is just off the A190 road about 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Tynemouth

Tynemouth

Tynemouth is a town and a historic borough in Tyne and Wear, England, at the mouth of the River Tyne, between North Shields and Cullercoats . It is administered as part of the borough of North Tyneside, but until 1974 was an independent county borough in its own right...

 and 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Blyth

Blyth, Northumberland

Blyth is a town and civil parish in southeast Northumberland, England. It lies on the coast, to the south of the River Blyth and is approximately 21 kilometres  northeast of Newcastle upon Tyne...

. In 2010 the village had a population of 2,001.

History

The village is historically linked to nearby Hartley village, which was originally an Anglo-Saxon settlement Records show that coal mining began in 1291 A number of pits were created and exhausted at Hartley, before a new pit called Hester was sunk at a site in between Seaton Sluice and Seaton Delaval. Soon after, families settled around the new mine, and the village of New Hartley was created.

Houses were built to the North and West of the pit, in a rough L shape, which included a Methodist chapel and an Inn, the "Hartley Hastings Arms" and New Hartley Workmens Club.

The New Hartley Pit Disaster

Hartley Colliery Disaster

The Hartley Colliery Disaster was a disastrous mining accident in Northumberland, England in 1862 in which 220 lives were lost. - Cause :In an age when methane or coal dust and firedamp explosions were common, the tragedy at Hartley Colliery, Northumberland, England was different because it was...

 occurred on the 16th January 1862, it was during the change from the fore-shift to the back-shift when nearly all of the two shifts were still down the pit, that the beam of the pumping engine that kept the pit clear of water broke in two and 20 tons of cast iron plunged down the shaft striping the brattices and rocks and blocking the one and only shaft. It took several days of heroic effort by rescue teams to reach the entombed men and boys - all to no avail all were dead. All in all 204 men and boys perished in the disaster. Either when the beam plummeted down the shaft or as a result of being entombed. A fitting Memorial to all of them is at St. Albans Church, Earsdon. Additionally the everlasting memorial is that Parliament quickly passed a law ensuring that all future pits opened had to have two shafts.
Autumn Watch BBC Television star Kate Humble

Kate Humble

Katherine 'Kate' Humble is an English television presenter, mainly for the BBC, specialising in wildlife and science programmes...

 was reduced to tears after discovering her family history were heavily involved in the disaster through the making of the BBC programme 'Who Do you Think You Are

Who Do You Think You Are

"Who Do You Think You Are" is a dance-pop song performed by British pop group Spice Girls. It was written by the group members with Paul Wilson and Andy Watkins,—also known as Absolute—for the group's debut album Spice, released in November 1996. The song is heavily influenced by early 1990s...

'. Kate's great, great, great-grandfather, Joseph Humble, was the manager at the New Hartley Hester Colliery when the tragedy occurred, the story even more sad and devastating as the accident claimed the life of his 27-year-old nephew, also called Joseph Humble.

Social facilities

The village boasts a friendly local pub called the Hartley Hastings (known locally and rather obscurely as The Haggins) and also a large Working Mens Club. It also has a Post Office, a fast food kebab and pizza takeaway along Double Row,which is the road leading to Seaton Delaval. New for 2011's festive season four christmas street lights have been erected outside the Post Office and adjoining Convenience Store.Within walking distance also along Double Row is to be found a well-supported, friendly and against national trend, vibrant Masonic Hall.

Transport

Local transport is reasonable with the X4 operating a twice hourly service to and from Newcastle, with a 50 minute journey time. Much to residents moans and groans the X4 takes a not very Express route to Newcastle.
Local bus operator Phoenix also provides a 5 times a day service (weekdays only) to nearby Cramlington

Cramlington

Cramlington is a town and civil parish in the county of Northumberland, North East England, situated north of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The town's name suggests a probable founding by the Danes or an Anglo-Saxon origin, the word "ton" meaning town. The population was estimated as 39,000 in...

.
The old Blyth and Tyne Railway cuts through the eastern end of the village. Local campaigns to re-open this line to commuters have so far not succeeded, however if and when local campaign group SENRUG's attempts prove successful the village would benefit from a re opened Seaton Delaval station.

There are many quiet and pretty walks in the local area, with the many tracks and lanes being a testament to the village's proud but neber forgotten mining history.

People of New Hartley

The village is home to ex-Liverpool and Arsenal footballer Ray Kennedy

Ray Kennedy

Raymond Kennedy is an English former football player who won every domestic honour in the game with Arsenal and Liverpool in the 1970s...

, who had begun his career with the New Hartley Juniors.