Gadgie Walks

Walking Locally as Advised. January 8th. Northumberland

Mud and water warning

The UK is back in lockdown, government advice is to stay at home except for shopping for essentials and exercising, locally.

The traditional first walk of the gadgie year is from Blyth to North Shields along the England Coastal Path, ending at the Low Lights pub which is a proper ale house, good selection of ales, a roaring fire and a menu consisting mostly of delicious pies. Sadly it is closed, like every pub in the country. As a result I am cutting short my walk and going from Blyth to Seaton Sluice and up the dene to Holywell, a walk we covered a few weeks ago, but local.

The map to use is OS Explorer 316 Newcastle upon Tyne.

Much to my surprise, when I arrived at the car park in Blyth who should I meet but Brian and Margaret who had decided to do the same walk, it being local for them too.

Fairly quiet today but there were quite a lot of people out exercising, locally.

We headed south, suitably socially distanced, along the Eve Black path which runs from Blyth to Seaton Sluice. An alternative is to walk along the beach but we decided the sand would be very soft today and soft sand is hard work.

At Seaton Sluice bridge we crossed the road and took the steps down to the footpath on the north side of Seaton Burn.

The Melton Constable pub at Seaton Sluice, named for a village the Delaval family owned in Leicester, or somewhere down there.

Seaton Sluice harbour. Once busy exporting coal and glass.

We followed the path for a short distance before leaving it to scramble up a muddy, leaf and bramble covered bank to see the Starlight Castle, but we didn't spot it. One day I shall return to find it.

It is a ruin, a folly supposed built by one of the Delavals for a bet in 1750. I got a picture from the internet but it won't upload for some reason.

I found this, today there is little left

So we went back down the muddy bank and walked the footpath through the dene, crossing footbridges first to the south side then back again. There are a number of bird feeding stations in the dene but they were not being used today, although we did see this chap.

Distant view of a Little Egret as we entered the Dene

More water than nusual

cheeky, friendly robin.

At one point the path divides and as we were looking for John Lockey Brian took the low road and Margaret and I took the high road. Close to the bridge that crosses a long dismantled railway we saw John, out for a socially distanced permitted exercise. He walked with us to the first houses in Seaton Delaval. John went home and we three followed the footpath between two houses and then across a field to Holywell Pond.

There is a bird hide, we declared a Herbie and sat inside out of the cold wind, sharing apple and blackcurrant pies, savoury buns and cake, plus a very welcome glass of brandy from Brian to celebrate the New Year.

Lunch over we headed roughly east across fields and the same dismantled railway before turning north over wet fields to Seaton Village farm and the road called The Avenue, passing close to the Delaval Obelisk.

Seaton Delaval Obelisk

We turned left then almost immediately right on the road to New Hartley. To help us on our way a cold shower of rain and hail blew up, lasting only ten minutes probably, it seemed longer.

We left the road at Hartley Junction and followed the farm track to Seaton Red House Farm then on to Lysdon Farm.

A Romany caravan at Lysdon Farm. They are built there.

We crossed one more field at the farm. The gate into a wood was in the middle of a large pool of deepish looking water. We watched a wellington clad lady approach the gate but as the water crept up her boots she turned back The four of us scrambled over a broken but barbed wire fence. Once through the wood we said our farewells to the wellington lady and turned right along the edge of a very muddy field.

Very muddy fields.

In the corner of the field we came to an almost square shaped fishing pond, bereft of anglers today and shortly after joined a metalled road that used to be the track to the local tip. Somewhere beneath us was the remains of our well loved twin tub washing machine that had served us well through two babies.

Soon we were back at the car park, we walked round the Blyth Battery, changed and went home.