Fairney Edge, Built Along the Burn

Fairney Burn is a small tributary of the river Pont that runs along the eastern edge of Ponteland. In the early 1980’s, the field which ran alongside the burn up to the Newcastle Road was developed as a small private housing estate by the building company Lemmington Estates.

Lemmington Estates was founded by Peter Cussins from Gosforth who after a short time working in London returned to the North East as a house builder. The company now trades as Cussins Ltd.

The 1980’s were a turning point in Ponteland’s development. It shifted from a semi-rural commuter village into a much more suburban, high-value residential area, strongly influenced by Newcastle’s growth and planning policies during this period. There was a wave of new private housing estates built on the edges of the village at this time and this was one of them.

The houses are mainly detached and semi-detached houses and bungalows with garages, cul-de-sac layouts, and landscaped frontage. These were typical of the 1980’s and reflected national suburban trends — although the “executive home” era of future Ponteland developments would come later.