narrative_location seacoal 
Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan county in the North East region of ___MASK66___ around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear . It came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972 . It consists of the five metropolitan boroughs of South Tyneside , North Tyneside , City of ___MASK87___ , Gateshead and City of Sunderland . It is bounded on the east by the North Sea , and has borders with Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south . Alnwick is a large market town in north Northumberland , ___MASK66___ . The population at the 2011 Census was 8 , 116 . Seacoal ( 1985 ) is a British docudrama film about the harsh industrialised beach of Lynemouth , Northumberland , and the local residents of the Lynemouth traveller camp . The film stars many of the local travellers as themselves , and many well known north - east actors , such as Sammy Johnson . Gateshead is a large town in Tyne and Wear , ___MASK66___ , and the main settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead . The local authority of Gateshead is also the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead . Gateshead lay in the County of County Durham . In 1835 it became part of the Gateshead County Borough . After the Local Government Act 1972 , in 1974 , Gateshead became part of the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough local authority , and part of the Tyne & Wear Metropolitan County . The town lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne opposite ___MASK87___ . Gateshead and Newcastle are joined by seven bridges across the Tyne , including the Gateshead Millennium Bridge . The town is known for its architecture , including the Sage Gateshead , the Angel of the North and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art . Residents of Gateshead , like the rest of Tyneside , are referred to as Geordies . Gateshead ' s population in 2011 was 120 , 046 . Ashington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland , ___MASK66___ . With a population of around 27 , 000 , measured at 27 , 764 at the 2011 Census ; it was once a centre of the coal mining industry . The town is located some north of ___MASK87___ and west of the A189 . The south of the town is bordered by the River Wansbeck . The North Sea coast at Newbiggin - by - the - Sea is about from the town centre . Lynemouth is a village in Northumberland , ___MASK66___ . It is northeast of Ashington , and is close to the village of Ellington , which is to the north west . The village was built close to coal mines . Sammy Johnson ( May 14 , 1949 , Gateshead  November 1998 ) was an English actor . A County town is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within the county , or it has been established over time as the " de facto " main town of a county . The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its original meaning of where the county administration or county hall is based . In fact , many county towns are no longer part of the administrative county . For example , ___MASK76___ is administered by a unitary authority entirely separate from the rest of Nottinghamshire . Many county towns are classified as cities , but all are referred to as county towns regardless of whether city status is held or not . Cumbria (; locally ) is a non - metropolitan county in North West ___MASK66___ . The county and Cumbria County Council , its local government , came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972 . Cumbria ' s county town is Carlisle , in the north of the county , and the only other major urban area is Barrow - in - Furness on the southwestern tip of the county . County Durham ( locally ), occasionally Durhamshire , is a county in North East ___MASK66___ . The county town is Durham , a cathedral city , whilst the largest settlement is Darlington . It borders Tyne and Wear to the north east , Northumberland to the north , Cumbria to the west and North Yorkshire to the south . Historically , the county included southern Tyne and Wear , including Gateshead and Sunderland . North East ___MASK66___ is one of the nine regions of ___MASK66___ that are classified at the first level of NUTS for statistical purposes . It covers Northumberland , County Durham , Tyne and Wear , and the Tees Valley . The region is home to three large conurbations : Teesside , Wearside , and Tyneside , the latter of which is the largest of the three and the eighth most populous conurbation in the United Kingdom . There are only three cities in the region ; ___MASK87___ is the largest city in the region with a population of just under 280 , 000 , followed by Sunderland , both of which are located in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear . The city of Durham is the county town of County Durham . Other large settlements in the region include Darlington ; Gateshead ; Hartlepool ; Middlesbrough ; South Shields ; Stockton - on - Tees ; Alnwick and Washington . ___MASK69___ ( Scots : ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of ___MASK78___ . It shares a border with ___MASK66___ to the south , and is otherwise surrounded by the ___MASK22___ , with the North Sea to the east and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the south - west . In addition to the mainland , the country is made up of more than 790 islands , including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides . The North Sea is a marginal sea of the ___MASK22___ located between Great Britain , Scandinavia , Germany , the Netherlands , Belgium , and France . An epeiric ( or " shelf ") sea on the European continental shelf , it connects to the ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north . It is more than long and wide , with an area of around . Northumberland is a county in North East ___MASK66___ . The northernmost county of ___MASK66___ , it borders Cumbria to the west , County Durham and Tyne and Wear to the south and Scotland to the north . To the east is the North Sea coastline with a long distance path . The county town is Alnwick although the county council is in Morpeth ( for the moment , as there are plans to move it to nearby Ashington ). The northernmost point of Northumberland and ___MASK66___ is at Marshall Meadows Bay .