Day 104 – Hartlepool to Redcar

The first two walking days of 2018 are in mid-April due, among other things, to Ben having secured some work at Roehampton University during its Spring Term. However, given that we’ve only just entered the first relatively settled period of an otherwise very wet so called spring, this is probably a blessing. Ben and Gary travel to Hartlepool on a direct train from London and en route meet up at York with John (who spent the night with his son in Birmingham) and also Mike Jopson who lives just outside York and is joining us for these two days and possibly for some future days in the area. We arrive in Hartlepool at 11:10 and are back at our 2017 end point by 11:30. Mike hasn’t chosen the most scenic of sections to start his walking experience with us. We get about an hour of beach action between Hartlepool and Seaton Carew, but then need to move away from the sea in order to get through industrial Teesside. Initially, this involves crossing some dunes and Seaton Carew Golf Course, and then around five miles alongside the A178 to Middlesbrough. Apart from crossing the road on several occasions (and John taking two or three interesting diversions along unofficial and rather damp grass paths) in order to keep as far away as possible, but not very far, from haulage traffic, the only point of any note is the sighting of several seals in and alongside Greatham Creek which we cross about half way along the road. Subsequent study of a local map reveals that this is not a million miles away from an area called Seal Sands (eat your heart out Chris Packham) which, despite its name, still seems to be in the middle of a huge industrial estate. Anyway, at long last – i.e. shortly after 2:15 – we turn off the A178 to reach the Tees Transporter Bridge. This is a gondola suspended by cables from the main beam which can carry about six cars plus pedestrians across the Tees in 2 or 3 minutes. For us pedestrians, this comes at a cost of a mere 60p each, so we decide not to bother asking about concessions. On the south side, we go around a small dock leading off the river and pass the Riverside Stadium which we think might be the first professional football ground which we’ve seen, whilst walking, since we left Poole Harbour 7 years ago. A couple of hundred yards after the stadium we turn right, cross the Middlesbrough to Saltburn railway line, and then turn left – resisting any temptations of the Navigation Inn – onto a narrow track. However, although we are now thankfully away from roadsides and on what is the start of a section of the England Coast Path, our surroundings still aren’t particularly picturesque. To our left is the railway with what look like disused steelworks beyond, and the coast even further beyond. To our right are a series of storage depots, with fuel pipes running outside them, and a particularly malodorous biofuels plant. But after 90 minutes or so, we’re on the outskirts of Redcar and, having crossed some fields, we reach the Cleveland Golf Links and our first view of the sea since leaving Seaton Carew over 4 hours ago. Unfortunately, the tide is in (can’t have everything I suppose) so there’s little opportunity for any evening beach action before we reach our overnight stop, O’Grady’s, a pub with rooms 200 yards from the sea front, at about 6 o’clock. We’ve walked almost 19 miles in around six and a half hours so it’s perhaps not entirely surprising that, in a break with tradition, we have two pints before freshening up. For £35 per night B&B, the rooms are incredibly good value. Supper is also excellent, particularly the cod – which may or may not be from Whitby – and is washed down with a couple of bottles. Ben retires before stickies, and the rest of us have just the one double Talisker each before climbing the wooden hill at 9:30.

Day 103 – Seaham to Hartlepool

It somehow seems strange to have a full English breakfast in an Italian restaurant, and a cracking brekker it is too. We’re away shortly after 8 o’clock and, after a 45 minute stroll along the sea front, we climb up into an area which is reminiscent of some parts of the South West Coast Path. It’s a track through a stretch of woodland above the coast, and involves a series of short descents and ascents in order to reach and cross some narrow inlets from the sea. But after our third or fourth ascent/descent near Horden, and before climbing again, we look out at the shoreline. Lo and behold, the tide times have worked in our favour because the sea is going out and there’s a beach extending for what could be a couple of miles up to the next headland. It would be churlish not to take advantage of this and, as we walk, the tide goes further out so that, by the time we reach the headland, we’re able easily to walk round it and reach another long stretch of bright and almost deserted sand. A glorious way to spend much of the morning because, as it transpires, we’re on the beach for over two hours and, by the time we have to leave it, we’re almost at Hartlepool Golf Club. Once past the course, we’re only a mile or so from the centre of Hartlepool as the crow flies, but we have the time to  maintain purity and keep following the coastline around a headland known as The Heugh to the east of the town and then back towards the centre through a very smart marina where our coastal walk comes to an end. Once again, we’ve completed around 18 miles in about 6 hours and there’s still a couple of hours until our train is due to leave. However, rather than have something to eat and drink at one of the attractive establishments at the marina, we decide to get the walk into town of 20 minutes or so out of the way and have our lunch closer to the station. Initially, this seems to be a very poor decision because the centre is a bit run down and several establishments which might have been bars appear to be shut, or shut down. These include the Hillcarter Hotel which, although relatively modern on the ground floor at least, also looks closed. However, having established that a restaurant along the road, whilst open, doesn’t purvey alcohol, we return to inspect the Hillcarter more closely and discover that there is an entrance to a sprawling – and empty – ground floor bar. It comes as something of a relief that this is able to provide us not only with ciders, but also with sandwiches and chips. And an hour or so later, feeling suitably refreshed, it’s a mere three minutes to the station for the journeys home.   

Day 102 – South Shields to Seaham

Ben and Gary arrive in Newcastle on time and, after taking some sustenance in the station’s Costa Coffee, purchase three Metro tickets so as to maximise our chances of catching the 11:35 to South Shields following John’s scheduled arrival just before 11:30. And although John’s train is delayed by a few minutes (due to a local rattler not vacating a platform promptly), a brisk walk into the Metro station, coupled with John holding the closing train doors for his less speedy companions, results in our objective being accomplished. We get to South Shields around noon, and are under way from the sea front by 12:15. It’s our final two walking days of 2017 and, with an early evening sunset, the aim of reaching our overnight stop in Seaham (some 18 miles away) before darkness falls may prove to be slightly optimistic. However, the storms of recent weeks have thankfully passed through and the skies look reasonably bright as we move southwards. Prospects are improved by an hour or so of beach action on forgiving sand at Whitburn and Seaburn, before we move back up to footpaths at Roker and approach Sunderland on an attractive riverside path alongside the Wear, past part of the campus of the University of Sunderland, and cross the river over the eponymous Wearmouth Bridge. The southern side of the river proves to be somewhat less attractive than its northern counterpart, following streets on the landward side of docks and old industrial estates. However, once we’ve passed through the suburb of Hendon, the route edges gradually back towards the coast. By now, dusk is beginning to fall but the tracks and paths are clearly marked, and we’re soon onto footpaths alongside roads leading into Seaham. We’re staying at a place called Massimo’s, which is an Italian restaurant with a few rooms – and a small bar. Having completed just over 18 miles in 6 hours, the bar has to be our first port of call, although it most likely would have been in any event. Beer and cider (to include flavoured cider) is in bottles only, but is still very welcome. We return to the bar after visiting what prove to be comfortable and well appointed rooms, but soon repair to the restaurant for a good meal, a couple of bottles, and stickies all round. Another 18 miles await tomorrow.