9 December: Durham Coast

Today we walked north of Sunderland, a circular walk down the coast, inland over Cleadon Hill, and back to the sea. We parked by Souter Lighthouse:

The wind was strong enough to affect my horizontal hold. Then south, along the cliff-top path. The strong low sun made photography difficult, but I liked this picture of the cliffs, beach, and sea:

We turned inland at Whitburn. It was the first time I'd been there since I fell on the beach and broke my knee 2 and a half years ago. The village is charming, with a nice little church, a Gothick confection of a vicarage with fancy chimneys and lacy brickwork frills, and lots of expensive Georgian village houses.

After a snack in a park, we followed a path along field edges to the top of the hill. From here we could see south past Teesside to the Cleveland Hills. There's the ruin of a windmill at the top. The wind was blowing straight and hard and chill off the Pennines today - it would have turned the absent sails wonderfully well.

Another food stop near a Victorian water tower, where we watched a prat in a 4 wheel drive vehicle tear up and down the bumpy common.
The path crossed a golf course ("Look out for Golf Balls from the Right") then gave us amazing views up the Northumberland coast before dropping down to Marsden. The cliff top path took us back to Souter.

Then we drove up to South Shields to see the "Conversation Piece" by Juan Munoz - a number of figures grouped and spaced in a big paved area behind the dunes.


Then back to a roaring fire, pots of tea, and an early birthday cake.

Brilliant day.