Blyth

The port of Blyth dates from the 12th century, but the development of the modern town only began in the first quarter of the 18th century. The main industries which helped the town prosper were coal mining and shipbuilding, with the salt trade, fishing, and the railways also playing an important role. These industries have largely vanished, but the port still receives paper and pulp from Scandinavia for the newspaper industries of England and Scotland.

The town was seriously affected when its principal industries went into decline, and it has undergone regeneration since the early 1990s. The Keel Row Shopping Centre, opened in 1991, brought high street retailers to Blyth, and helped to revitalise the town centre; it closed in 2024 as part of the country council's Energising Blyth initiative. The market place has recently been re-developed, with the aim of attracting further investment to the town.

The quayside has been redeveloped into an open space, the centrepiece of which is a sculpture commemorating local industry.