Weather: Windy but clear in
the main.
Distance:
14 km (8.7 miles) Total Distance: 3019 miles
We
packed up at our friends and said goodbye to the girls and set off to
Middlesborough, being careful to show Margaret the sprawling industrial parts I had walked
passed the previous day. I knew she'd be interested. We stopped off
to see the Transporter bridge but it wasn’t operating because of the very windy
conditions.
They
dropped me off at the fire station at Seal Sands and then drove on to
Hartlepool leaving me a three or so mile walk along the A178 with no footpath
in the main. There was a strong wind which meant that I walked with my
sweatshirt hood up for most of the time which must have been a pretty weird
sight to all the passing motorists.
The
area was not quite as densely packed with chemical industry as the previous day
had been – though I did pass another Huntsman Tioxide plant.
Just
past the nuclear power station I got off the main road and headed down towards
the sea along a road leading to Oxford Chemicals (whom I had never heard
of). It was a pleasure to be off the
main road at last. Just before I got to
the small chemical factory I took a path to the left, over a golf course and
then after a mile turned right towards the sea.
I was unsure at this stage whether I could get down to the beach and
what it would be like once I got there, particularly after passing a sign
saying ‘Danger – Quicksand’.
Fortunately, it was fine and a path/track led through the dunes and down
to the beach that was a relatively firm bit of sand
The
walk along Seaton Sands was very windy. I suppose I was fortunate that the
wind was coming off the land and not off the sea. The wind made sand from the dunes blow over
the beach creating a shimmering effect, almost as if I was walking on liquid.
I was also fortunate in that the blowing sand mainly stayed at leg height and
was not blowing into my face.
At the far
end of Seaton Crew I took to the promenade which was also a cycle track all the
way to Hartlepool. I got a little lost
in the new dockside development area but after walking over a building site got
to where I was to meet the family only some ten minutes late.
I met
Margaret and the boys in the foyer to Hartlepool Quay, a sort of museum
dedicated to the French / British wars at sea, with wax models, videos and
games from the past. I was a pretty good modern museum. Margaret and the boys had been an hour or so
already and had visited half the museum but the bits I saw I was impressed with, apart from the having to stand up for the first half hour on a walk through
section! We were surprised how few
visitors there were considering it was half-term, may be because the weather
was so chilly.
We
drove down the A19 to friends in Brigg and had a very pleasant evening
curry with them. The next day I went to
a meeting in Grimsby and Margaret and the boys took the car to Cleethorpes and
spent the day there.
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