Mickley is a cluster of small settlements and former

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

, now in the parish of Prudhoe, in the Tyne Valley, between Prudhoe and Stocksfield in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

, England. It lies south of the

River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Wat ...

and is accessible via the A695. The electoral ward of Mickley comprises the hamlets of Mickley Square, West Mickley (including Mount Pleasant), High Mickley, plus Cherryburn and Eltringham Farm. The population is a little under one thousand. In 1951 the parish had a population of 1862. The Mickley settlements are served by St George's Church, which was built in 1830. Other facilities in Mickley include a garden centre, two social clubs, a deli and a cafe on the A695. There is a public house (The Blue Bell Inn), dating from the 1820s, at Mount Pleasant.

History

Thomas Bewick Thomas Bewick (c. 11 August 17538 November 1828) was an English wood-engraver and natural history author. Early in his career he took on all kinds of work such as engraving cutlery, making the wood blocks for advertisements, and illustrating ch ...

wood-engraver Wood engraving is a printmaking technique, in which an artist works an image or ''matrix'' of images into a block of wood. Functionally a variety of woodcut, it uses relief printing, where the artist applies ink to the face of the block and ...

and author of ''

A History of British Birds ''A History of British Birds'' is a natural history book by Thomas Bewick, published in two volumes. Volume 1, ''Land Birds'', appeared in 1797. Volume 2, ''Water Birds'', appeared in 1804. A supplement was published in 1821. The text in ''Lan ...

'', the first practical field guide, was born in 1753 at Cherryburn House, just north of Mickley Square. Cherryburn House is now a

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

site. There were several collieries in Mickley. Mickley Moor Colliery operated from 1766 till about 1781. Its successor, Mickley Colliery, was just below Mickley Square: it operated from the 1950s until the 1940s. There were also drift mines at West Mickley, and in the woods to the East of Mickley Square. This village once also produced "Mickley bricks," which can still be found in neighbouring areas. The brick kiln remains at the lower end of Mickley.

Governance

Mickley was formerly a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, ...

and

chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status It had a similar status to a township but was so named as it had a chapel of ease (chapel) which was the commu ...

in Ovingham parish, from 1866 Mickley was a civil parish in its own right until it was abolished on 1 April 1974 and merged with Prudhoe.

Notable people

: see above. * Joe Tulip, professional footballer with

Queen of the South F.C. Queen of the South Football Club is a Scottish professional football club formed in 1919 in Dumfries. The club plays in Scottish League One, the third tier of Scottish football. They are traditionally nicknamed the '' Doonhamers'' but are mo ...

in the club's days in Scotland's top division *

Bob Stokoe Robert Stokoe (21 September 1930 – 1 February 2004) was an English footballer and manager who was able, almost uniquely, to transcend the traditional north-east animosity between the region's footballing rivals, Newcastle United and Sunderlan ...

, professional footballer and later manager, who won an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

winners medal as a player with

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East En ...

In 1955, and later managed

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

to victory in the same competition in 1973. * Fred Liddle, professional footballer with

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

, Gillingham,

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

and

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

between 1927 and 1939

References

External links

Mickley photosMickley map
{{authority control Villages in Northumberland Former civil parishes in Northumberland Prudhoe