Amble grew in the nineteenth century as collieries were opened; its location at the mouth of the River Coquet, and its then newly built railway links to the Northumberland coalfields, made it an ideal centre for the transportation and export of coal. Other industries, such as ship building and repair, and sea fishing, expanded with the growth of the town, although traditional Northumbrian fishing vessels such as cobles will have sheltered in the natural harbour here for centuries previously.

Today, the collieries in Northumberland are all closed (the last, Ellington, closed in 2005), and the railway no longer serves Amble. However, the fishing industry survives, albeit with a somewhat reduced numbers of vessels, as does a small marine industry, mainly concentated around the construction and repair of yachts and other pleasure craft. A small industrial estate is located to the south west of the town, whose clients include food processing plants, vehicle repairs and telecommunications companies.

Tourism forms an important sector of the town's economy - part of the harbour has been redeveloped into a marina, and several caravan parks, guest houses and B&Bs exist to serve visitors to the Northumberland coast.

Saint Cuthbert lived on Coquet Island just offshore from the town,which retains its strong Christian identity. Amble's four churches are often quite busy, especially at Christmas eve-although the impact of liberalisation of licensing laws on Midnight Mass remains to be seen. Nearby Warkworth is noted for its castle.

[edit] Communications

[edit] Road

Amble town lies near to the A1, the main national north/south trunk road, providing easy access to Newcastle upon Tyne (30 miles south) and to the Scottish capital Edinburgh (80 miles north).

[edit] Rail

The main East Coast railway link between Edinburgh (journey time approximately 1:10) and London (journey time approximately 3:45) runs via the nearby Alnmouth for Alnwick Station or Widdrington Station with a weekday service of 15 trains per day north to Edinburgh and 13 trains per day south to London.

[edit] Air

Newcastle Airport lies around 35 minutes drive-time away, and provides 19 daily flights to London (Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and London City), with regular flights to other UK centres. The airport also operates regular flights to many European destinations, along with destinations in Africa and North America.