Twixt Wear and Tyne October 4th
A goodly number of gadgies are still holidaying, leaving three (John C., Harry and me) of us to enjoy a local walk which may be affected by the tail end of hurricane Lorenzo. We are walking the coast north from Sunderland to South Shields. Easy to follow; going north the sea is on the right, going south it is on the left. No map required but if needed the walk is covered by ;
OS Explorer 308 Durham and Sunderland and OS Explorer 316 Newcastle upon Tyne.
No cars either, we met at the Haymarket Metro Station in Newcastle and took the metro to St Peter's just north of the river Wear. St Peter's church has Saxon origins, is one of the oldest churches in England, started in 673 AD and is where the Venerable Bede spent some of his time as a monk and historian. He also lived at St Paul's in Jarrow for some time.
The portly gentleman on the local TV station said the morning would be wet but the afternoon would be dry, with a breeze. He was wrong, it rained lightly most of the day, clouds coming in off the sea.
No car park this week but this is the metro station at St. Peter's and a metro train.
Having got off the train at St. Peter's we crossed the road and went down the bank to the promenade along the river Wear.
Picture of a picture. St. Peter's church. We didn't visit it today but should you be in the area it's well worth looking into. Saxon tower at least.
The promenade winds its way past Sunderland University buildings, the glass museum where you can watch demonstrations of glass blowing, the Sunderland yacht club marina and finally reaches the sea near Roker Pier.
Art at the university
and on the walls of the marina
Roker Pier on a grey day.
Just north of the pier the walk turns away from the sea and climbs up to Roker Park but almost immediately returns to the sea side. (This section of the walk is on the Weardale Way).
There are some interesting rocks in the area if you are a geologist.
Looking like badly made concrete it is a natural form of conglomerate, boulders embedded in the magnesium limestone. Information anybody?
Sticking close to the coast the walk continues past Seaburn and Whitburn, both looking like typical English coastal towns, bnbs and hotels. There is a large school at Whitburn overlooking the sea, must be heaven in those boring algebra lessons.
The school at Whitburn, a Church of England Academy
Beyond the school the path (Now the English Coastal Path) passes a Rifle Range but as there were no red flags flying we assumed it was safe. There were about twenty horses grazing on it too, must be the cavalry. At the north end of the range we found a hut, unfortunately well locked, but we sat at the back of it for a Herbie Spot. Sandwiches and coffee, no sharing today!
Beyond the range is Whitburn Coastal Park, a small nature reserve, and then we arrived at Souter which has a lighthouse and rather fine foghorn, both National Trust properties.
Souter Lighthouse and foghorn
From here the footpath meanders close to the sea, above cliffs which seem to be crumbling. Every few yards a notice warns that it is dangerous to cross the low barrier and wander near the edge.
At Marsden there is a lift down to the famous Marsden Grotto, a café.
Grotto entrance
This area was once a mining village, all gone now although the lime kilns remain:
Lime kilns at Marsden
Sea stacks.
As we walked along the cliff tops, passing Frenchman's Bay and Graham's Sand Harry spotted a school of Dolphins not too far from shore. There were at least half a dozen, heading south for the winter. They added wonderfully to the day, along with the curlews, turnstones, herons, oyster catchers and a single solitary Goldcrest that we had seen.
Soon we were at the sports ground at South Shields where the Great North Run ends, half a marathon from Newcastle. We walked through South Marine Park and down Ocean Road, that long line of curry houses until we near the station.
For refreshment after the walk we went to the Wetherspoon's pub, The Woodhave. It is named for William Wouldhave, a boat builder from years ago. Good beer, good fish and chipsand then the metro home to Newcastle.
According to my GPS this walk is 10.5 miles, easy going.
We walked for 3 hours and 36 minutes, talked for a mere 36 minutes as we lunched. Not a day for hanging around.
Contains OS data, copyright. Crown copyright and database right 2019
A goodly number of gadgies are still holidaying, leaving three (John C., Harry and me) of us to enjoy a local walk which may be affected by the tail end of hurricane Lorenzo. We are walking the coast north from Sunderland to South Shields. Easy to follow; going north the sea is on the right, going south it is on the left. No map required but if needed the walk is covered by ;
OS Explorer 308 Durham and Sunderland and OS Explorer 316 Newcastle upon Tyne.
No cars either, we met at the Haymarket Metro Station in Newcastle and took the metro to St Peter's just north of the river Wear. St Peter's church has Saxon origins, is one of the oldest churches in England, started in 673 AD and is where the Venerable Bede spent some of his time as a monk and historian. He also lived at St Paul's in Jarrow for some time.
The portly gentleman on the local TV station said the morning would be wet but the afternoon would be dry, with a breeze. He was wrong, it rained lightly most of the day, clouds coming in off the sea.
Having got off the train at St. Peter's we crossed the road and went down the bank to the promenade along the river Wear.
The promenade winds its way past Sunderland University buildings, the glass museum where you can watch demonstrations of glass blowing, the Sunderland yacht club marina and finally reaches the sea near Roker Pier.
Just north of the pier the walk turns away from the sea and climbs up to Roker Park but almost immediately returns to the sea side. (This section of the walk is on the Weardale Way).
There are some interesting rocks in the area if you are a geologist.
Sticking close to the coast the walk continues past Seaburn and Whitburn, both looking like typical English coastal towns, bnbs and hotels. There is a large school at Whitburn overlooking the sea, must be heaven in those boring algebra lessons.
Beyond the school the path (Now the English Coastal Path) passes a Rifle Range but as there were no red flags flying we assumed it was safe. There were about twenty horses grazing on it too, must be the cavalry. At the north end of the range we found a hut, unfortunately well locked, but we sat at the back of it for a Herbie Spot. Sandwiches and coffee, no sharing today!
Beyond the range is Whitburn Coastal Park, a small nature reserve, and then we arrived at Souter which has a lighthouse and rather fine foghorn, both National Trust properties.
From here the footpath meanders close to the sea, above cliffs which seem to be crumbling. Every few yards a notice warns that it is dangerous to cross the low barrier and wander near the edge.
At Marsden there is a lift down to the famous Marsden Grotto, a café.
This area was once a mining village, all gone now although the lime kilns remain:
As we walked along the cliff tops, passing Frenchman's Bay and Graham's Sand Harry spotted a school of Dolphins not too far from shore. There were at least half a dozen, heading south for the winter. They added wonderfully to the day, along with the curlews, turnstones, herons, oyster catchers and a single solitary Goldcrest that we had seen.
Soon we were at the sports ground at South Shields where the Great North Run ends, half a marathon from Newcastle. We walked through South Marine Park and down Ocean Road, that long line of curry houses until we near the station.
For refreshment after the walk we went to the Wetherspoon's pub, The Woodhave. It is named for William Wouldhave, a boat builder from years ago. Good beer, good fish and chipsand then the metro home to Newcastle.
According to my GPS this walk is 10.5 miles, easy going.
We walked for 3 hours and 36 minutes, talked for a mere 36 minutes as we lunched. Not a day for hanging around.
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