Tuesday 19th September 2023

I have to admit, hand on heart, that today’s walk was quite uninspiring! The first couple of miles was along the Hartlepool promenade so that was fine, with lovely sea views. We even stopped for coffee – we weren’t going to let any opportunities pass.

But after that it was road walking, then across a golf course and then more road walking more or less all the way. We passed through Seaton Carew which seemed a pretty seaside area and along Seal Sands (but no seals to be seen). Apart from that our backdrop today was largely a power station and heavy industrial sites. Really not the best … but every bit has to be done! On the positive side, it was completely flat the whole 10 miles.

About the most interesting part of the walk was seeing the impressive Transporter Bridge – even though it was closed. That brought us to the end of our walk today and in fact it’s the last bit of walking for now – it turns out that our house-sitting accommodation is further from the coast than we’d imagined. So Durham, we’ll be back another time.

And it was with heavy hearts we walked today – after hearing the terrible news this morning of a tragic loss of young life. Our thoughts and prayers are with Christine and family. RIP Ben. xx

Sunday 17th September 2023

Horden to Hartlepool

After Friday’s torturous walk, I had to think hard about continuing on with this UK Coast Walk project … but after much inner and outer discussion, I put my big girl pants on (and trousers!) and got back on that horse. We left our airbnb accommodation in South Shields today and drove to Horden Railway Station, to pick up the path from where we left off. The plan was to walk 12 miles to Hartlepool and catch the train back.

We had read in the guide that the first 3 or 4 miles included clifftop and woodland walking with ascents and descents, so we braced ourselves for some more of what Friday had delivered. However, it was like someone had read our blog and as a result had sent workers out in the night to lay tarmac, fix up coast path signs and chop down all the stingers and prickles. It was so different (after all that worry) … there was no slipping, sliding, tripping, scrambling, stings or scratches … and we didn’t get lost, not once! There was one area of ‘overgrowness” but we sneakily found a shortcut to avoid it (Steve said I won’t tell anyone if you don’t)!! And there were definitely some climbs but with manageable terrain it was completely do-able. We breezed it.

Lots of cliff top walking with spectacular views of the wonderful Durham coastline. So many walkers out for their Sunday afternoon stroll on the beach. My favourite thing – hearing the waves crashing, breathing in the wonderful sea air, hearing the seagulls cry out, taking in the views of sea and sand for miles – it’s just unbeatable.

The sun popped out a couple of times but it was largely overcast again, no rain. Incredible winds however.

After 8 miles of walking we reached civilisation – a promenade. A remarkable thing we’ve noticed on this coastline is that there are so many houses with sea views here – and not the expensive sort of beachside homes you found in many counties, but regular terraced homes and new builds etc. So, walking past all this stunningly located housing we felt sure there’d be cafes in abundance … but it was another 2 miles before we reached the area of ‘Headland’ and came across ‘Mary Rowntrees’ cafe and restaurant where we luxuriated in our first coffee of the day. We were joined by the owner and her son who were absolutely lovely … they asked us to take photos of their restaurant for the blog.

And then we just had to carry on along the Coastal Path a further two miles to the marina in Hartlepool. This involved some road walking so not very glam, that was until we reached the newly developed marina with its cosmopolitan mix of bistros, bars, cafes and restaurants – clearly a popular hangout. HMS Trincomalee is moored here amongst other cultural attractions.

After all the worry, besides the fact that we were heading into the wild wind most of the day, and it was 12 miles, it was an absolute breeze …. and so the adventure continues. xx

We are now installed in our house-sit in the town on Willington, near Durham, where we are based to do some further coast walking as well as looking after the beautiful ‘Casper.’

Friday 15th September 2023

Sunderland to Horden

Stinging nettles and the wearing of shorts is not a great combination … I can categorically confirm that! Especially when the environment seems to have stopped producing dock leaves – always a life-saver when we were kids.

Today’s walk started in the rain … and it ended in the rain, in fact it was wet and misty pretty much all day. As you may tell, it was overall not the best of days … and I’m allowed to grumble because I lived through it.

Started off well with an early bus to Sunderland, made our way to the bridge and down to the opposite side of the docks from yesterday, so we could head south on the coastal path. There was a steep descent of slippery cobble stoned path to the dockside – this turned out to be the start of a slip sliding day.

The first couple of miles was not as glam as yesterday’s beginning although Steve was excited to see the homage to footballer Raich Carter. But the coastal path route was signposted well (always a bonus) and we soon found ourselves at Hendon Beach. Looking ahead it was clearly not going to be a promenade day, very much cliff top walking. We got chatting to some Local Council workers who were there to cut grass and, when asked, we told them that the path we’d experienced so far was well maintained and clearly signposted. All good … they were chuffed.

It was shortly after this, round about the County of Durham sign, that things went seriously wrong – lack of coastal path signs found us taking wrong turnings, walking round in circles and through all sorts of tricky terrain. A number of these errors meant that we endured even more steep ascents and descents than we needed to do … oh how we laughed!!! Between that and finding some paths completely overgrown, so getting scratched and stung to pieces – in the rain – things were not shaping up well. But of course we soldiered on – we were not far off Seaham where breakfast awaited.

After eight miles we had reached Seaham which this year won an award for the ‘Resort of the Year.’ Also famous for it’s mole sanctuary. But for us it provided a place for sustenance and the chance to sit down and reassess our mission. Do we call it a day … or do we walk on, knowing that it would be another 7 or 8 miles to the next public transport linked destination? Well, after tuna melt toasted panini and restorative mugs of cappuccino of course you’re ready to ‘bring it on’ and so we wrapped up warm and headed on our merry way.

I have to say, there were some incredibly scenic parts to the next leg of the walk, albeit largely shrouded in mist and we were never far away from the sea, which we love. Also some touching memorials to the area’s mining history. However, this section of coastline was one of the worst paths we’d encountered … it was tough. In summary, it was massively overgrown, slippery underfoot, narrow paths that literally just about fitted in the width of your foot, so many steep inclines with difficult steps and of course the same going downhill each time … again and again and again. We continued to get lost and found ourselves retracing our steps, we had to wade though water and sinking mud. At one point we had to scramble up a hellishly steep, stone uphill path that was so overgrown we could see nothing beneath our knees – we just had to step and hope for the best with all sorts of tripping and slipping hazards. I lost my balance for a moment and grabbed out … onto a piece of gorse (not great). This particular scramble will forever be imprinted on my brain and the echoes of “this is ridiculous” and “I hate Coastal Walking” will surely be remembered!!? And … why oh why did I wear shorts?

So, 16 more miles to add to the collection … and yes, you know it, we’ll be back for more. But for this section at least – trousers definitely recommended.

Saturday 16th September 2023

No rest for the wicked – another early morning as we had volunteered to be ‘Park Walkers’ at the South Shields parkrun. Boy was it cold and windy. But there were over 200 turned out in this harsh weather to run the beautiful route. A Full English Breakfast at the Sand Dancer pub afterwards seemed utterly justified.

Thursday 14th September 2023

Walking from Sunderland to South Shields

After a long car journey up from MK yesterday, we settled for an early dinner and an early night in our very comfortable bijou Airbnb accommodation in the Sandhaven area of South Shields. (Some of our fellow Redway Runners would have been in these parts last weekend, finishing the Great North Run). And so it was that we were then up with the larks this morning to hit the Coast Path Trail. But too early in fact for Steve to use his bus pass, having decided to bus to Sunderland and walk back … wind directions considered. At £2 a pop for bus fares at the moment though there wasn’t much call for grumbling!

Disembarked at St. Peter’s Church in Sunderland and had a short walk through the city, taking in the spectacle of the ‘Stadium of Light.’ Many years ago, Steve drove me, Alice, Geraldine and Emma all the way up here for a ‘Take That’ concert … waited for us and drove us home again. In desperation I had bought the much sought after tickets online, not having a clue how far away from us it was – but Steve came to the rescue, “Love is ” … and all that.

We happened upon a set of steep steps leading down to a dockside path, from there we picked up the England Coast Path signs and the signs were pretty spot on the rest of the walk. So a smooth and picturesque start with signs of the city’s shipbuilding history and parts of the University campus. Still too early for the cafes though – seems that folks don’t breakfast till 10.00am around here.

Once we reached the promenade there were eating establishments a-plenty and so we tucked into breakfast baps and lashings of hot tea. The whole walk today was with stunning sea-views and alongside wide sandy beaches. We ‘southerners’ are full of thinking our beaches are the best but I can tell you Northumbria takes some beating. There were a handful of swimmers and surfers in today – I’m determined to try out this September North Sea by the end of the week – suspect it’s a wee bit colder up here!! Mostly promenade and cliff top walking today, essentially flat but always scenic. Passed through Roker, Whitburn, Marsdan Bay, Souter Lighthouse, Sandhaven and Littlehaven. Saw Lime-Kilns, Lighthouses, windmills and even a Cave Bar and Restaurant – something for everyone.

This area is so pristine with wide open recreation areas. Some fabulous sculptures and art installations all along the path too, as well as some beautiful rolling lyrics along the wall. Keeping it correct we walked all the way up through Littlehaven to the ferry point, as we’d finished off in North Shields the last time we were up this way. We clocked up 11 miles today.

From the coastal path end we walked a further two miles to get back to our Airbnb – always seems like dead miles when not recorded on Strava! But a fabulous first day for the Rambling Roses, back on our beloved Coast Path.