1911

The Miners' Institute was established on Front Street, (it is now the Community Centre).


1910

The Whickham Pump was still in place.


1911 Coronation of King George V was celebrated by a procession of decorated wagons and horses from Church Green to Dykes Nook where sports and games were held and each schoolchild was given a commemorative beaker. The Golf Club at Whickham was opened.

1912 The village pump was moved from the footpath, stored in the council yard, and eventually fitted into the wall of Glebe Farm.

1913 An experimental service of motorbuses was operating in the district, but not in Whickham itself.

1914 Rev C.E. Little, rector of St Mary the Virgin at Whickham made shell casings in a workshop in the Rectory. A soup kitchen was run in the grounds of Whickham Social Club. The first bus service from Stanley to Newcastle was via Whickham.

1918 A Victory bonfire was held behind the Spoor Memorial Chapel. It was lit by the oldest resident, Mr. Buckhurst, who almost caught fire himself and had to be dragged clear. The original building in Church Chare became the Rectory again.

1922 The War Memorial was unveiled. The Rectory, in Rectory Lane was changed to Whickham Cottage Hospital.

1923 South End Farm was demolished to make way for the Watergate Estate.

1924 The Hermitage was occupied by Mr. William Campton of Norwood Coke Works. The Cottage Hospital at Whickham opened and was run by public subscription.

1926

The year of the Miners strike and 60% of the population were connected with Whickham, Whaggs and Watergate pits!

1929 A new Scout Headquarters was built in Park Drive.

1930 Remembrance Sunday. Christ Church Scouts lead the church organisations to the War Memorial, marching to the drumbeat. The guides walked out of step as the Brown Owl, Miss Parker thought marching was unladylike.

1935 The Rector banned the annual Hoppings on the Church Green.

1937 The house and grounds in Chase Park were bought from Mr. Wilkinson by Whickham UDC for £7,000.

1939 The house in Chase Park was used by the Fire Service for the duration of the war.

1948 The Dockendale Estate was purchased by the Catholic Church Authority; the stables were later converted into the church. The Ministry of Health took over the running of Whickham Cottage Hospital.

1951The population of Whickham UDC was 23,000.

1953 The amount allocated for the celebration, in Whickham, of the Queen's Coronation was £154. This included tea in the Miners Hall.

The Council took over the maintenance of The Church Green

1954 The Miners Institute was converted into the Community Centre and the pit at the top of Whickham Bank closed. The Hermitage opened as a hostel for retired men.

1955 Work started on providing a new shopping centre in Whickham and the purchase of 6.25 acres of land, for housing, on the Rectory field was proposed.

1957 Council staff started a five-day working week on March the 20th.

1958 The Whickham Boys singing group was formed and they raised money for charity.

1960 The names of Marx Crescent and Lenin Drive were changed to The Crescent and The Drive. Whickham Round Table was started. The house in Chase Park was demolished.

1961 The plans to build 18 houses in Whickham Orchard were approved. Glebe Farm was demolished but a commemorative plaque was placed in the west wall of the telephone exchange. Whickham UDC had 50 acres of parks and open spaces under its care.

1962 Whickham Secondary School opened. The Council approved plans for houses to be built on the Grange Estate and for Morris Men to dance on the Church Green for twenty minutes. The Council recommends that Saturday afternoon burials be discontinued - except in cases of emergency.

1963 A Motor Club started in Whickham. Council meets with local Head Teachers to discuss methods of reducing vandalism.
The first of the houses on the new Whickham Grange Estate was occupied by Mr and Mrs G. Hails on the first of June.

1964 Whickham Parochial School celebrated its 250th anniversary. A paddling pool and children's zoo opened in Chase Park. The shafts and drift at Watergate Colliery were demolished.

1965 The Council met to discuss publishing a magazine for the area called Focus. The "meals on wheels" service was extended.

1966 Fellside Primary School opened and a purpose built Children's Home was completed. The Council agreed to take part in "Britain in Bloom" competition and it cost £17 a year to repair and maintain a council house. First Whickham Scout Troup celebrated their Golden Jubilee. The Queen Mother attended a service in Gibside Chapel. The zoo in Chase Park now had 100 foreign birds including bantams, doves, and golden pheasants.

1967 Population of Whickham was now 27,000. Whickham won the Award of Merit in the Britain in Bloom competition. Six monkeys were put into the park zoo. Whickham Council agreed to a new shopping centre being built on the north side of Front Street and started negotiations to buy all land and properties from Laws Stores to the Square. Three existing shops will be affected and will be replaced by twelve new shops together with a library, clinic, car park and some housing. The first phase will begin in 1969.

1968 A spring was discovered running into the basement of the Community Centre and a pump was fitted to control the water. Fellside Infant School opened and the Primary School became the Junior School. Compulsory Purchase Orders were made for the houses, which had to be demolished for the building of the Western Bypass. The plan for the new shopping centre is still being considered by Durham County Council, Whickham UDC and the Chamber of Trade.

1970 Whickham Secondary School became a Comprehensive School. Aerial photographs of Whickham revealed the remains of a Roman Fort near Washingwell. A Public Enquiry was held about the controversial shopping centre.

1971 Whickham Parochial School moved from its original site in School Lane to new premises on The Broadway.

1972 The Tree Nursery was nearing completion on Whickham Highway but there was no new Community Centre for Whickham! It was hoped that the Front Street development would start next May.

1973 Free bus travel for senior citizens. Revitalization of pre-war council housing has now passed 1,000. The new Catholic St. Mary's Church is now in use and the cost of the church and presbytery was £52,000. The Northern Co-op made a successful bid for the new supermarket at a rent of £20,000 per annum.

1974 On the first of April, Whickham became part of Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council. The final meeting took place of Whickham WRVS. The first shops opened on St. Mary's Green Shopping Centre. Whickham Glebe Sports Club opened on the site of the cricket and Football ground.

1975 The Hermitage Hostel closed.

1976 Pit demolished.

1977 The Hermitage was converted for use by handicapped people. Cloverhill Primary School opened. Queen Elizabeth's Jubilee Celebrations took place. The monument to Lang Jack was moved near to The Crown pub (which is now Lang Jack), by J.T. Bell builders. The stables and coach house in Church Chare were converted into a dance hall.

1980 Whickham Front Street Nursery opened.

1982 The Gibside Hotel was built.

1985 Phase two of St. Mary's Green Shopping Centre was finished.

1986 Front Street Infants and Junior Schools merge to form Whickham Front Street Primary School.

1993 Fellside Infant and Junior Schools merge, in the Junior building, to become Fellside Primary School.

1994 Fellside Nursery School was incorporated into the Fellside building.

1995 Whickham U3A was started.

1998 Gibside School, for children with learning difficulties, opened on the Fellside Infant School site. The children's zoo was closed in Whickham park.

2000 Millennium Celebrations included a New Year Party at St Mary the Virgin Church Hall with fireworks on the Church Green and the production of "Time Lord 2000" in Whickham park by the community.

There was another unusual fund raising event at the end of the century, which involved the Rector and the Churchwarden of St. Mary The Virgin, abseiling down the church tower to raise money, again for repairs to the church.