Captain's Log

Seaton Carew

I was back on my England Coast Path Venture today with an out-and-back walk from Seaton Carew to the Transporter Bridge on the River Tees. I’d attempted this walk in 2024 by starting from RSPB Salthome and walking northwards. I was put off by having to walk on the verge of the busy A184 for a 100 yards. I hadn’t realised that there was a perfectly good path on the other side of the road! The path was partly hidden by vegetation which is why I didn’t see it. Anyway, I thought I’d give the route another try today.   

I parked at the large carpark at the Seaton Dunes and Common Nature Reserve. It was next to a club swingers course and so I parked as far away from the fairway as I could; I didn’t want to come back and find dents in my car from a sliced golf ball. It was a lovely sunny morning with a little haze. There was a definite chill in the air. I could see the towers of prospective windmills stacked vertically in a row to the south. They looked like rockets ready to be launched. The huge blades were layed horizontally nearby. Next door to the windmill factory was Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station. This produces about 2% of the UK’s electricity demand. It was commissioned in 1983 and I remember having a very small part in its initial support. On the other side of the windmill factory was a huge metal object that had tipped on its side. I couldn’t make it out from this distance, but it looked a little like an oil rigg. Maybe they were cutting it up for scrap.

Oddly enough, you don’t get a view of the coast on this section of the ECP. The beach was beyond the dunes which were about 400m away. In between was the club swingers course and I had to keep a canny out for incoming as I made my way southwards. The track eventually came to Zinc Works Road. I was going to park here once to start a walk. There’s space for roadside parking for quite a few cars. On the south side of the road is a factory for the company Natura Global. On the previous occasion the smell from this factory was so pervasive and offensive, I felt nauseous. There was no way I’d leave my car there to be permeated with such a horrible odour. Later research revealed the company creates fragrances and flavourings for the perfume and food industry. The smell wasn’t as strong today, but it was still there. In fact, 5 hours later I can still taste that awful odour. I headed down the Zinc Works Road to the main A184. On the other side of the road was a large man-made hill which was a landfill sight. It certainly attracted many seagulls. 

A184

I left Zinc Road and started walking southwards. The road would be my guide to the Transporter Bridge over the River Tees, which would be my turnaround point for the day. I was delighted to find that the ECP used fairly good paths alongside the road. Sometimes it drifted slightly away from the road. There was no mistaking I was walking near a busy road; the noise of it accompanied me throughout the walk. Even so, it provided less distraction than you might imagine. The first part of it was on a pavement and the raised elevation gave me a better view of the massive object that I thought was being cut up for scrap. My best guess was that it was an oil rigg, but at a different angle I thought maybe it was a ship. It was definitely being cut up since there were big mounds of scrap metal near to it.     

The pavement changed to boards over a marshy area and then I reached grass. Given the rain we’d had over the last two months, I thought it would be quite boggy, but it wasn’t bad at all. There was a high bank of earth on my right side with a barbed security fence in front. The area beyond contained huge tanks of oil. A sign said they were managed by Conoco. The pipes leading into the site were buried underground. I could make out the path of them heading towards the Tees. A series of signs indicated the position of the pipes and what was running through them. 

Greatham Creek

The ECP headed away from the road and on to a high bank that ran parallel to it. On the other side was the large expanse of Greatham Creek nature reserve. This was quite a large area of marsh land and it was full of birdlife. Teesside provides such contrasts: just next door to a massive oil refinery, there’s this wonderful nature reserve. The path finally found its way back to the road and to the viewing area for Greatham Creek. There were half a dozen seals sunbathing in the mud. The tide was on its way out and I saw the nose of another seal making its way through the water back to the sea.     

I crossed the road and picked up the ECP on the other side. The views were quite open over the marshes, but the horizon consisted of the factories on Teesside. I noticed a couple of pillboxes. I’m not sure how far the Germans would have got if they’d landed in the mud of Greatham Creek. As I walked along the path, I noticed what looked like a stoat making its way towards me. I stopped and started taking photos. It didn’t clock me until it was about 20m away and it then quickly scuttled off into the vegetation.

RSPB Saltholme

RSPB Saltholme was on my route today and so I decided to pop in to its café for some coffee and cake. There were 2 greeters at the sentry box outside the Visitors Centre. The young one looked like she was a trainee.  
‘Have you been here before?’ she asked.
‘Yes. I’m just here to get a coffee in the café today though’ I replied, as I showed her my RSPB card. ‘Well, I’d check out the Sandmartins’ boxes. There’s Marsh Harriers too…’ and she was away, enthusiastically telling me all the birds I wouldn’t be going to see today. I hadn't the heart to interrupt her patter and so waited  patiently until the end. I thanked her for the information. If that was the Good Greeter, I met the Bad Greeter in the Visitors Centre. Having shown my card to the Good Greeter outside, I thought it would be fine to make my upstairs to the café. As I passed the entry desk I heard, ‘Excuse me. Do you have a card?’ I explained that I'd shown it to the pair outside. ‘Well, I have to scan it here.’ I dug out my wallet and extracted my RSPB membership card. She didn’t actually scan it but clicked a ‘happy customer’ counter on her desk.    

The Cheese Scones were still warm and about the best I’ve ever had in a café. There was a wonderful view out of the cafe’s windows, across the ponds and marshes. I could see cooling towers beyond the marshes and the unmistakable blue outline of the Tees Transporter Bridge. That’s where I’d be heading next.

Transporter Bridge

I continued following the road southwards. The Transporter Bridge gradually loomed larger. A feature of the path was the amount of litter that I came across. It was the usual stuff: drinks bottles, coffee cups and cardboard boxes. I came across a large canister of nitrous oxide, presumably empty. Some of this garbage had blown onto the marshes. It looked like somebody had tried to put some netting on the fences to stop this happening in one spot, but it seems they’d eventually given up. It still amazes me how people can dump rubbish like this out of their car windows.    

The path headed away from the A184 for the final approach to the Transporter Bridge. It wound its way back and reached the road again. The official ECP carried on westwards from here along the A1048. I’d do that section of the ECP on another day. The top of the Transporter Bridge was way above me and I decided to see how close I could get. I didn’t really have to walk far to reach the side of the River Tees and get an unobstructed view of the bridge. It looked incredible. I got a better view from this north side of the Tees than I did from the south. I could seen the unusual Tenemos sculpture on the other side of the river as well as the Riverside Stadium, home of Middlesbrough FC. It was a fine view and well worth making the small detour from the ECP to get it. Photos taken, I turned around and started to make my way back. 

Return

I made my return using almost the same route as my outbound journey. The morning’s haze had burnt away now and the day had turned out perfect for walking. 20 minutes walk from the Transporter Bridge, I came across a Kestrel hovering over the marsh. Rather than fly away, it flew to a branch of a tree directly above the path. I was surprised that it let me get to within 20 metres before it flew away towards some massive fuel tanks. 

I was still full from that magnificent Cheese Scone that I’d had at RSPB Saltholme and so I didn’t pay them another visit on my return journey. At Greatham Creek the tide had gone out and so had the seals. Only birds were patrolling the muddy creeks. I only met one other walker on the A184 section of the walk. Unless you are doing the ECP, I guess its not a popular path. Despite the busy road and the patchwork of industrial sites, I can’t think of anywhere where I’ve seen a greater variety of wildlife,

I turned on to Zinc Works Road and prepared my olfactory senses for the Natura Global factory. How anybody can work there seems unbelievable to me. Rather than risking my life crossing the club swinging course back to the carpark, I headed up to the top of the dunes to get a view of the mouth of the River Tees. It was a spectacular panorama. A large ship was just leaving and a tug returning. The windfarm was clearly visible off South Gare. On the side of the River Tees, I could just make out the viewing tower at Redcar. I dropped down off the dunes and made my way back to the carpark. 

It had been a superb day for walking. The walk was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. I thought I’d be walking on narrow grass verges and avoiding lorries for most of the route, but it wasn’t like that at all. I find large industrial sites impressive, although I can understand why people will have a different view. A walk that includes both Greatham Creek and RSPB Saltholme must be worth doing though.