Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Tyne and Wear is one of six metropolitan counties in England, comprising the estuary areas of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It is divided into the following council areas: South Tyneside, North Tyneside, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Gateshead and Sunderland. In 1986 the council was abolished, and its powers devolved to the metropolitan boroughs, but the county still exists legally. It borders on County Durham and Northumberland, from which it was created in 1974. It is in the North East region. The area is served by a light railway system called the Tyne and Wear Metro. Towns and villages Blaydon, Boldon, Byker Castletown, Cleadon, Cullercoats Gateshead, Gosforth Hebburn Jarrow Longbenton Marsden, Tyne and Wear, Monkseaton Newcastle-upon-Tyne, North Shields Rowlands Gill, Ryhope South Shields, Sunderland Tyneside, Tynemouth Wallsend, Washington, Whickham, Whitburn, Whitburn Colliery, Whitley Bay Places of interest Hadrian's Wall Gibside Tynemouth Castle Souter Point Lighthouse St. Mary's Lighthouse WWT Washington, a wildfowl and wetland reserve of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust Sea to Sea Cycle Route This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.