Teesside Teesside Teesside () is the conurbation in the north east of England around the urban centre of Middlesbrough that is primarily made up of the towns Billingham, Redcar, Stockton-on-Tees, Thornaby and surrounding settlements near the River Tees. It was the name of a local government district between 1968 and 1974—the County Borough of Teesside. Teesside remains an important centre for heavy industry, although the number of people employed has declined. Traditional industries, primarily steelmaking (British Steel) and chemical manufacture (Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI)), have been replaced to a large extent by high technology activities, science development and service sector roles.
English of Northumbria (spoken in mining towns such as Ashington), Mackem (spoken in Wearside) and arguably Smoggie (Teesside). It is spoken mainly if not exclusively in the modern day counties of Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and Durham. The Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria was much more extensive than this, covering most parts of Yorkshire, and some parts of Cumbria, Lancashire and Scotland. The major Northumbrian dialects today are Geordie, Northern Northumbrian, Western Northumbrian, Southern Northumbrian or Pitmatic, Mackem, and arguably Smoggie, which is transitional between Northumbrian and Yorkshire English. To an outsider's ear the similarities between the dialects far outweigh the differences between the