Friday, 8 November 2013
Coastwalk
Whitley Bay → Blyth
Distance: 8.01 miles
Ascent: 70 metres
Duration: 2 hours 34 minutes
Five Hundred
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We couldn't resist returning for one more long weekend of coast walking this year. At the end of our previous walk we were just seven miles shy of a landmark: our first five hundred mile year. And so, in Ridley Park in Blyth, we crossed that threshold with delight.
Before Blyth was St Mary's lighthouse (we didn't cross the causeway to the island) and then Seaton Sluice.
Blyth turns out to be a charming town. This is a surprise given a complete lack of places to stay the night. Like many other towns on the north-east coast it has a functioning port, but clearly much diminished from its heyday. Part of the harbour has been revitalised with a new board walk, curious artwork and motion-activated posts that deliver a soundtrack of aural history in thick regional voices.
Here we heard of submarines and ships, and our minds turned to this week's news from BAE Systems concerning the future of military shipbuilding in the UK. Coupled with our recent discovery of The Unthanks' album Songs from the Shipyard it was a poignant end to the walk.