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.’