Day 88 Sunderland to Newbiggin by the sea

 

 Date: Wednesday 10^th August 2011   Distance: 29.79 Miles

 

Breakfast was very nice even though it was buffet style and there was a lot of choice. We watched a curiously out of place “hoodie”, with the attitude gait, pile his plate with bacon and when asked what he would like to drink gave the straight answer, ”Beer!”  We had more interest than you would expect as it was the time of the riots but the staff were brilliant with him and gave him the courtesy extended to everyone else.

 

We decided to wait until the rain had stopped as we had until 12 to vacate our room. I watched crabbers emptying their crab traps on the shore in front of the hotel. The pickings looked poor and mostly the contents-seaweed, sand and tiny creatures were thrown back in the sea.

 

We left at 10.30 and followed the coast with good views of the sea and sometimes along the cliff edge. We’d passed Roker Rocks, Parsons Rocks and sandy Whitburn Bay and then at South Bents there were 2 tall rocky outcrops with many cormorants and large gulls. Just after left south Bents was a sign for Marsden Grotto- a gastro-pub in a cave. After Whitburn town came a sign for the national trust Souter Lighthouse, smartly painted and open!

 

There was a nice long run into South Shields with some interesting old monuments. The shopping precinct had many high street stores and there were flowers and a Market place at the end. We found the cycle path again and took the ferry, crossing the Tyne at £1.25 each for a 5 minute trip. It was a large boat with cycle Route 1 signposted on its doors.

 

Arriving at North Shields we took a historical route through the fish quay and the little restaurants utilising this local fare. Up by the Castle and Priory (seen from the other side of the river and English Heritage) it began to rain. Between Sharpness Point and Cullercoats there were surfers on the lesser waves than at Hartlepool. We passed several museums and an aquarium.

 

At Whitley Bay we felt we needed respite from the weather so we stopped at a pub and was surprised to have well kept real ale and fresh fish from the quay with chips, cheap but very tasty. The pub was at the bottom of the hill with railings not so far from the coast road.

 

The cycleway took us along the coastline with a view to St. Mary’s Island and Lighthouse. After Seaton Sluice, where a little river inlet should have been pretty if the weather had allowed, it was still lovely riding through the sand dunes.

 

We were surprised at the largeness of Blyth but we couldn’t find a suitable place to stop for refreshments, opting for an out of town Macdonalds. We were cold and wet and we dried out a bit and read the paper! The bike was under a porch which was good as our bags were beginning to leak a bit.

 

 

Later we passed a lot of industrial areas- like the power station and nearby mine now both closed. We followed the cycle track through Sleekburn and Cambois  after crossing the river Blyth on an old iron bridge. The cycleway went by the coast until it followed the A road which took us to Newbiggin-by-the-sea where we located our B and B, The Old Ship. It certainly had potential as locals said we ought to try there and we said that we were already booked in. Unfortunately there was no evening meal and the only eating place was an Indian Restaurant and we trekked round the whole village looking. Bob was very brave, I thought, as he tried their chicken kashmiri and I had a korma. It was a lovely authentic Indian meal with fresh naan and a bottle of house wine. We were puzzled as to why one of the 3 or more pubs couldn’t do a simple menu as there was a camp site nearby.

 

Newbiggin is a small seaside town that has lost much of its sandy beach. Our room had a view over the top of the public loos, of an ordinary larger than life sized couple, statues looking out to sea on a high plinth at probably the low tide mark. A museum, closed when we arrived, and 13th century church are maybe worth looking at.

The Old ship had ukulele nights alternate Wednesdays but we missed out. Apparently they show guests how to play. Sounds fun. Tonight was supposed to be a singer’s night and the mikes were up and ready but no one seemed to want to brave the miserable weather. We took our beer to bed!