Hartlepool, Seaton Caraw and Crimdon

Fish and chips at Vettals after a torrential downpour.

Rain cleared- its a different day

Houses on the town wall

Looks like the church needs more than flying buttresses - probably built on sand. 

Town wall and harbour from top of the park.

Steel Works at Redcar

South Gare

Houses on the Green

Headland from Seaton Carew

Hart Beach Crimdon with the Little Tern colony fenced off on the left.

Crimdon beck with the wardens hut for the Little Terns on the horizon. Apparently the eggs have been stolen on previous years, the watch is not carried out for the full 24 hours so any determined thief will just wait until its vacated. 

hartlepool post article

Start of the Magnesium Limestone cliffs which run all the way up the Durham coastline to the headland at Tynemouth.

Glass Centre to Stadium of Light then Roker Park and the Marina

Lunch in the Glass House in the National Glass Centre watching Blue Tide being offloaded on the opposite bank.

Sunderland fish quay

Wearmouth Road and Rail Bridges 

Interesting pattern on walkway- was it laid this way or etched into the slabs?

Bridges from the west

Statue of Bob Stokoe celebrating the 1973 FA cup win against Leeds Utd.

I was in Zambia at the time and we were listening on the radio on short wave. Our boss at the time Buster Matthews, a Northern Rhodesian who was married to a Sunderland girl, promised us a day off work if they won- we never did get the day off.  

Large chimneys? opposite the Wheatsheaf pub.

Interesting fascade on the buildings opposite the entrance to Roker Park.

Bandstand in Roker Park.

Wearmouth Pier

Marina

Trawler in the Marina with a Berwick registration- Golden Lily.

3.6 miles circular walk passed the old Roker Park Stadium were I used to stand as a teenager in the Roker end- its now a housing estate. 

Walk to Kepier Woods

Walk from car park on the access road from the A690 to Belmont along the River Wear to Kepier Farm and back.

Path from car park

Bridge over deep ravine caused by heavy erosion in the steep slope exposing the carboniferous bedrock.

River Wear with Wood Anemones, Lesser Celandine and Ransoms just coming into flower.  

River island of pebbles below start of Kepier Woods. See last photo for wildlife.

Bank erosion probably caused by nesting sand martins. Lots flying nearby. 

Kepier Farm

Kepier gatehouse

Looking back to Kepier

Severe erosion cracks on footpath- seems to be made up with old colliery spoil - not long before all of this corner will have slumped into the river.

Goosanders on pebble island with mallards swimming nearby.