Weather: Windy but dry.
Distance:
23 km (14.3 miles) Total Distance: 2999 miles
It was
October half-term break and we were to go on a family holiday to
Yorkshire. We go a good early start for
us and were on the road at about 8.00am.
As the boys were still half-asleep
we had a quiet run all the way up in about three and a half-hours without
stopping.
We
parked up by the station in Saltburn and went to the excellent Signals café
next to the station for coffee and elevenses.
We then strode down the steep hill to the promenade and the family
walked with me till the promenade ran out and I took to the beach. Margaret took the boys back to the amusement
arcade and I headed for Redcar. The walk
along the beach was not too bad and the sand fairly firm. I passed Maske but saw little of it as it
nestled up on the cliff top.
I
could see the steel works starting to appear in the distance as I neared Redcar
and came up off the beach onto the promenade again. Redcar was a bit mixed. Some bits looked
quite nice but the centre did have a little concentration of amusement
arcades. I stopped for a pee and a
breather before stepping out onto Coatham Sands dominated by the nearby steel works. It was pretty windy by this stage and there was hardly anyone on this
desolate stretch of sand.
I was
determined to get as far North as I could up to South Gare Point. It appeared
to take an age to get there but just as the sand was showing signs of getting
softer and softer I arrived. I saw quite
a lot of cars which appeared to be either just people come out for a drive or
birdwatchers, though hardly anyone had ventured out of their cars.
The sight of cars encouraged me as it meant
that there was probably a public access road back through the steel works.
Access to the tip of Gare Point itself was restricted but I managed to get
pretty near the end before having to turn round to start heading up the Tees
Estuary towards Middlesborough.
Almost
as soon as I turned around my view changed.
I had hoped to see something of the building of the new effluent
treatment works at Bran Sands as I had heard so much about it as part of a bit of work I had been involved in. There was however no sign of the new works but what I did see was a
large collection of green huts that appeared to form a complex of fisherman’s
huts cum holiday village but I have no idea who would want to stay in the
shadow of the steel works.
The
path I thought would go through the steel works actually went around the edge
though there were great views into the blast furnace and I could see molten
metal being poured out. This was
actually not an easy road to walk as it was narrow in parts and quite busy.
The road then took a few sharp bends and
turned towards an industrial estate. I
sort of guessed where the public footpath led, over the hillock of wasteland. There were no signposts around and neither would there be all the way to
Middlesbrough. I could see a footpath
over the railway and headed for that. I hit a strange bridge with overgrown grass on
both sides. I got to the main road that
was a bit of a relief, which appeared clean after the dirty steel works
road!
I skirted to road for a mile or so
and after passing one of the entrances to the Corus steel works I saw what I
thought was the footpath under the railway and alongside a lot of pipes. It was hardly a path of outstanding natural
beauty!
The
path was grim to say the least and where it threatened to be boggy and wet
someone had thoughtfully laid old railway sleepers to make it passable. Time
was quickly going and I had to get back to Saltburn to meet the family. I left to path and my walk for the day and
headed up the main road from the dock towards the Middlesborough to Redcar
road. I got there and actually ran the
last bit thinking a bus was due any minute.
I saw a bus stop which was a great relief.
There was a gentleman there who told me all
about buses to Saltburn and we had a chat about different things. The people
around here are pretty friendly! When
his bus came he told another man waiting to look after me as I was a stranger
and the other man did indeed tell me where to get off the bus – what a
gent!
The only problem with the bus was
that it was to go into Redcar, change drivers and then go on to Saltburn – but
the new driver never appeared – so when the ‘Express Bus’ pulled up behind a
lot of us got off and hopped on that much to the bemusement of that
driver. I was a little late at Saltburn
but not much – not bad considering I had done no homework on bus times etc.
We
stayed with friends in Caterick that night. Our boys and their girls
played the evening away.
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