Ashbrooke is a residential area of

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

North East England North East England, commonly referred to simply as the North East within England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of County DurhamNorthumberland, , Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and part of northern North Yorkshire. ...

directly south and south-west of the city centre. Ashbrooke developed through the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

as Sunderland's first

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

. Originally occupied by large middle-class families, including much of Wearside's

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population, a fair number of the larger residences have been reorganised into dwellings of multiple occupancy, home to the local University of Sunderland's students and young professionals. The large, well-built houses, the wide, tree-lined avenues, and the often colourful street names ('The Esplanade', 'The Oaks', 'The Elms', 'West Lawn', 'Holmlands Park') signify the area's affluence. The area lies within walking distance of Park Lane and

University A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

stations on the Tyne and Wear Metro system. Local punk band The Toy Dolls wrote a song about Ashbrooke Launderette on their 1987 album Bare Faced Cheek. Various members of the band still either live or work in Ashbrooke. Ashbrooke is part of St. Michael's ward and is represented by three Conservative councillors; Lyall Reed, Peter Wood and Michael Dixon.

Sport

Ashbrooke Sports Ground, opened on 30 May 1887 for cricket and rugby, is home to many amateur sports associations such as bowls, cricket, tennis, hockey, squash and rugby union. A Tennis tournament before Wimbledon was used as a warm up for players such as Jimmy Connors and Martina Navratilova. While a minor county,

Durham County Cricket Club Durham County Cricket Club (rebranded as Durham Cricket in February 2019) is one of eighteen first-class cricket, first-class county cricket, county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the Historic c ...

played games at Ashbrooke, including fixtures against touring international sides. The 1926 Australians attracted a crowd reputed to be over 20,000 for their two-day game in 1926, and the ground also hosted a match between Durham and the West Indians in 1950, notable for Kenneth Trestrail scoring a century in each innings. In 1990, Indian cricketer

Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who List of India national cricket captains#Men's cricket, captained the Indian national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketer ...

made his first appearance in England at Ashbrooke Sports Ground against a League Conference Cricket Conference XI. Sunderland Rugby Football Club currently play in the Durham/Northumberland Division 2.

References

City of Sunderland suburbs Sunderland {{TyneandWear-geo-stub