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Geography and Infrastructure
The latitude and longitude of Cramlington are 55.07N & 01.59W NZ2676. The River Blyth is close by, as is
Plessey Woods Country Park.
The town is served by Cramlington Railway Station with services
to the MetroCentre, Morpeth and Newcastle Upon Tyne provided by Northern Rail. Cramlington has an extensive bus
service of which is provided by Arriva Northumbria. With the X1,X2,X3,X4,X5 and X6 buses linking the town to Newcastle Upon
Tyne respectively. As of early 2007, there have been rumours of a possible metro link being established in the future through
sharing the somewhat redundant line between neighbouring towns Blyth, Bedlington, Ashington and Morpeth. Cramlington also
has good road transport links, being situated between the A1, A19 and A189 roads. The town is also notable for its
many roundabouts, especially the notorious Moor Farm roundabout which links the A19 and A189 as well as other roads to Cramlington.
In 2006, it was announced that Moor Farm roundabout is to be 'traffic controlled' with traffic lights installed, working on
a similar operation to those at the A19 Silverlink roundabout, due to continuous congestion and also frequent accidents on
a severe scale. It has also been announced that Blyth Valley Council are proposing the construction of a new bus concourse,
of which will be located near to Manor Walks Shopping Centre to improve public transport links for commuters.
ECONOMY
There are several large industrial zones in Cramlington, most to the town's north-west, housing
major pharmaceutical companies including Merck Sharpe and Dohme. Other growing chemical companies including Aesica Pharmaceuticals
are also present.
The popular Manor Walks shopping centre was constructed in the centre of the town in the 1970's,
and was subsequently expanded in the mid- 1990's and in 2003/04. The centre now includes retailers such as Argos, ASDA,
Boots, Next and Sainsbury's.
EDUCATION
Schools in Northumberland currently operate under a three tier system, however, the council
recently made the decision to convert to the national two tier system. This change will affect all schools in the town. For
example, Cramlington Community High School, which is currently one of the largest high schools in the country, will absorb
a neighbouring middle school to increase its student capacity.
Prior to the closure of the area's many middle schools, some elementary schools will be relocating
to the former middle school sites, which will allow disused sites and land to be sold to housing developers and other parties.
It has been proposed that the changes will begin as of September 2007, however there has been concern from local residents
over traffic and parking arrangements at the new sites.
LEISURE
Cramlington boasts many leisure facilities such as the Sporting Club at Cramlington High School
and Northburn Community Sports Centre but the town's main leisure centre is Concordia. Cramlington Concordia is situated in
the town centre adjacent to the shopping mall and was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in the 1977. It consists of a leisure pool,
originally designed as an indoor tropical paradise, indoor football pitches, tennis, badminton and squash courts, as well
as a climbing wall. It also features a gymnasium, sauna, bowling green,bar and lots more.
As part of the new town design, the town has a large cycle path network. A cycle route also
connects the town to the nearest beach, in Blyth. As of late March 2007, Blyth Valley council have announced that the cycle
network is to be extended to allow access to the neighbouring town of Bedlington.
TWIN TOWNS
As part of Blyth Valley, Cramlington is twinned with Solingen of Germany, Ratingen of Germany
and Glendzhik of Russia.
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