... of major manufacturing activity in the north of the UK. Beginning with the extraction of coal to fuel the industrial revolution. This acted as a catalyst, which initiated a process of cumulative causation in northern areas and consequently led to the development of shipbuilding, textile, iron and steel and port-based activities. It was industries such as these that constituted the springboard for British expansion abroad and dominated the functionality of the regions major conurbations (Champion and Townsend, 1990). As Britain's position as the leading manufacturing economy changed in the twentieth century and competitors from other industrialising nations checked the growth of northern industries a new source of dynamism was needed. This was provided by the boom conditions after the Second World War, which led to new rounds of investment occurring mainly in consumer goods and motor vehicles and components manufacturing, though traditional industries still persisted to draw some. Relative prosperity was however ...

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