Whitley Bay - Attractions

Attractions

Whitley Bay was famous for its permanent seaside fairground, the Spanish City. A fairground returns to the town on bank holiday weekends, the Easter and summer holidays, but is now located on 'the Links', an expansive seafront park to the north of the original Spanish City site. The Spanish City Dome, which is a Grade II Listed building, is to become the centrepiece of a multimillion pound regeneration of the seafront complex, which will include hotel and leisure developments. Also in the town is St. Mary's Lighthouse. The Spanish City is the subject of the Dire Straits song Tunnel of Love, along with Whitley Bay and the nearby town Cullercoats.

The ice rink was also the region's premier concert venue until the Newcastle Arena (now Metro Radio Arena) opened in 1995. The venue played host to the top names in the music industry throughout the 1980s and 1990s, such as The Jam in 1982, The Cure in 1985, Oasis in 1994 and The Stone Roses in 1995, as well as a one-off night to the World Wrestling Federation.

The Park View Shopping Centre was opened in 2004 after many years of deliberation, linking the many fine niche retailers on Park View with the high street retailers in the town centre and with its rooftop car park also adding 173 much-needed car parking spaces. Shops with premises on this site include Iceland, Superdrug and Boots. However, the centre was badly hit by the closure of the Marks & Spencer food outlet when the company cut back many stores at the height of the recession. The town suffered further impact from the closure of its large Woolworths store and the long standing T&G Allan's store, which were opposite each other in the very centre of the town.