Day 101 – Blyth to South Shields

The Commissioners is a modern hotel with nearly 50 rooms on 3 floors, so it’s perhaps not a surprise that we get a help yourself buffet breakfast. It’s hard to think when this might last have happened. Possibly as long ago as at the Best Western Hotel in Clevedon? In any event, it’s not a bad spread and we’re on our way by 8:30. As happened yesterday, we’re soon on the beach, although today the firm sand is very close to the water so we’re frequently moving away from incoming ripples. It’s a hard life, but at least it’s comforting to hear after the first hour that the notebook is still with us. However, Ben announces that on this occasion he has lost his (or, more accurately, his youngest son’s) water bottle. Anyway, again as with the early stages of yesterday’s walk, we’re able to stay on the beach for almost 3 miles, until we reach Seaton Sluice, a place name which seems ideally suited to a Geordie voice – or it is if Gary’s (and, to a lesser extent, Ben’s) attempts at the accent are anything to go by. As we walk round the sluice we realise that we could have taken a route closer to the sea, but the impurity is minimal and it isn’t too long before we’re back on the cliffs which take us above Hartley Bay and on towards St Mary’s Lighthouse. From there, we enjoy almost another hour of beach action at Whitley Sands, where Gary hears some genuine local voices discussing Seaton Sluice and also bumps into a Fulham shirt wearing holidaymaker. There’s then only a short detour from the shoreline, to walk past the white-domed Spanish City and through Whitley Bay itself, before we can get back to the beach at Cullercoats, a small and attractive resort which is famous for its artist colony in the 19^th century. And by the time we have to leave the sand for the final time on this part of the walk, we’re almost at Tynemouth with its mediaeval castle and priory – a photo requirement for John, and a noteworthy moment for all of us. Strictly speaking, we’ve spent the last few miles in the Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside, but in proper county boundary terms, we’ve now reached the southern end of the Northumberland coast and are looking over the Tyne towards County Durham (or South Tyneside I suppose). We turn inland, walk along the north bank of the river, and reach North Shields shortly after noon. There are several very tempting places of refreshment along a street of converted quayside buildings, but it’s a bit early for lunch and we’re not too far from the Shields ferry, and one of the half hourly services from the North Shields Pier is due to leave at 12:30. We therefore press on, duly catch the 12:30 ferry and get to South Shields 10 minutes later. By now, John and Gary are both rather footsore (conversely Ben is almost in spring chicken mode, despite one of his boots falling apart and being held together with a spare lace), but we decide to continue for another 30 minutes so as to tick off the south bank of the Tyne and get round to the South Shields sea front. From there, we walk (or, so far as two of us are concerned, hobble) into the centre of the town and, having ignored at least two pubs, finally fall into one which is quite close to the Metro station (possibly the Ship & Royal). After a pint of cider each – and an extra half for Ben and Gary – we get to the Metro just before a train to Newcastle Central is due to leave. We reckon that, amazingly, the last time all three of us used public transport whilst on the walk was between Fleetwood and Lancaster when we took a bus to get to and from our overnight stop, the wonderful Stork Inn at Conder Green (although Ben and John took the train to get to the Ratty Arms at Ravenglass on one of the later sections which Gary has yet to complete). We arrive at Central station around 3pm and, in what is certainly a travel “first” for us, we catch three different trains. Gary leaves almost immediately back north to Alnmouth for a short family break and, following a much shorter break in the station’s Centurion Bar, John and Ben leave for Cheltenham and London respectively.