Walk 230

Blyth To Sunderland 22miles

The end of the walk was fast approaching and as I walked out of Blyth on a hot September day I thought that I'd be sorry when it was all over, its such a nice pastime walking in this sort of weather I couldn't think of a better way of spending a day.

Blyth Beach

 I had to slap on a lot of suntan lotion before the walk as the sun was already strong.  I headed along the beach towards Seaton Sluice and then followed the NCN 1 along the cliffs to St Marys Island.

St Marys Island

Soon enough I was back on another beach striding across the sand towards Whitley Bay, I couldn't get the Dire Straits song Tunnel of Love out of my head mainly because it gives a big mention to the Spanish City which is located next to the sea at Whitley Bay.  The Spanish City was having a refurb in an attempt to try and re capture its glory days I guess.
                I passed through Tynemouth and its lovely castle on my way to the last ferry of my journey.

Tynemouth Castle

I managed to have a lunch break whilst on the ferry from North Shields to South Shields which was nice,  once off the ferry I made my way around to the seafront at South Shields, as I walked along the front the sun was glistening off the sand and I thought it looked like Miami Beach, it didn't take long to realise that it wasn't, just a quick glance to my right and one again the word "Dump" came to mind.

As I come to the end of my blog you the reader will notice that I tend not to hold back on my opinions of certain places, but in the case of South Shields I have just cause to call it a dump as my father/mother in law moved here 12 years ago and I have been visiting them at least once a year and I have to say its just awful, no words can explain how terrible it is, so there you have it.

The coast path hugs the coast all the way from South Shields to Sunderland and the highlight is the Souter Lighthouse which is magnificent with its traditional red and white stripes.

Souter Lighthouse

By now the temperature was a balmy 27 deg and I was burning quite quickly so I was happy to see the last beach of the day at Whitburn Bay.  Overall a great days walk and only 4 more days to go.

Accommodation: Father in laws house!