NORTH-EAST PRIDE

SIMON BAXTER TAKES A TRIP TO SEE ASHINGTON FACE BLYTH SPARTANS ON BOXING DAY...

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THE A189 Derby, two World Cup heroes, a Newcastle United legend and a fast bowler.

As I leave the A189 spine road to turn into Ashington, the Woodhorn Colliery Museum sits as a permanent reminder of the industrial past of this part of south-east Northumberland.

Once the biggest mining town in Europe, Ashington has had its fair share of industrial growth, decline and regeneration. Aged miners' cottages sit adjacent to modern housing estates and a busy hospital on the approach to the ground.

The ground itself is somewhat of a symbol of the changing landscape, the club having been moved to allow a new supermarket development and a nearby leisure centre.

A new railway link allows people to access education, entertainment and cultural activities in Newcastle. But none of the new trains were the first Ashington Express.

This title belongs to Steve Harmison, England fast-bowler, who played for and later managed Ashington FC.

Taking a wander through the colliery rows, lines and lines of long terraced streets, one chances upon Hirst Park, an oasis of sorts, whose trees and greenery take you away from memories of economic strife, and the passionate history of the miners.

Here, standing as a representative of this proud past and hope for the future, is a statue of World Cup winner Jack Charlton.

Adopting the pose of a down-toearth grandad, a man you'd see walking around the town, flat-cap and jacket, a man of the community, with the only hint of his legendary status of World Cup winner being a 1960s-style football tucked under his arm.