Lane Nurseries, One of Fourteen

During the early to mid-1900's there were about fourteen separate market garden/plant nurseries in Ponteland. One of the last remaining one’s was the Lane End Nursery on Callerton Lane.

At this time, cities in the North East were expanding rapidly, but transport of fresh produce over long distances was still difficult and expensive. Market gardens in places like Ponteland supplied fresh vegetables, fruits, and flowers to the growing urban populations nearby. This made Ponteland an important “green belt” food producer for Tyneside.

The nursery first appears on the Ordnance Survey Map of 1913 and by 1923 William Kingsley is listed as the owner. At some stage, the nursery was sold to William Wilson whose family continued to run it until it recently closed.

The introduction of supermarkets and their superior logistic systems drove the decline of market gardens in the UK but those close to prosperous urban areas with gardens were able to transition into plant nurseries.

William Wilson died in 1988 and the nursery went into a long decline. The greenhouses which had covered almost the entire site gradually fell into disrepair with just a central core remaining. There were discussions about developing the area with new houses but early this year, the Lidl supermarket chain unveiled plans for a new supermarket on the site.