 It has a busy Front Street with a collection of pubs, shops, and amenities, and is well served by public transport, with eight buses an hour to Newcastle on weekdays courtesy of Go North East's "Northern 6" (via the Metrocentre) and "Toon Link X30/X31 / Northern X70/X71" (via Gateshead) services.The village is surrounded mainly by farmland, with plantations of trees to the east, and neighbours the villages of Marley Hill and Byermoor, as well as the large village of Whickham on the border with County Durham.The village is mostly housing, with older terraced properties mainly situated near the shops, and large housing estates built from the 1960s onward radiating from this area.