I live within a day's walking of the most varied and attractive coastline as anywhere in the British Islands. Sure its lacks the isolation of Scottish shores, the rolling sands of Southport, or the seaside of Scarborough, but I can experience aspects of all three, enjoy fish and chips from the voted best restaurant in the North or a quality three course meal at the National Glass centre.
I am fortunate to be able to have the time and the means to do this as I share the environment with some of the most economically and socially deprived people in Britain. The problem is not the lack of political will or effort at local and national level. The reality is that it has become cheaper to important coal for our power stations and only a minority of domestic households burn coal, while ships are built in other places, as is much of the steel. It is cheaper and more environmentally friendly and consumer popular to have Scampi sent half way across the world to be hand shelled and then returned home to be packed for the supermarket shelves, or for our Christmas time decorations to be made in China, than locally.
Various actions have and are being taken to change the local economy to the modern world, and tourism is one of these. However the task is how to ensure an increase in the all year number of visitors staying in the wide range of hotels and guest houses, or taking a good meal in the dozens of restaurants, pubs and cafes, along or close to coast and riversides, without destroying the special nature of the environmental mixture.
Seaside South Shields
The stretch of wide sands between the Tyne river mouth and the south harbour pier wall is known as Little Haven, and this is the name of the purpose built 62 room modern hotel at the beginning of the coastline. Here you can a couple can stay for £64 at weekends, including full English Breakfast, or for £94 with two children in a family room, or for that special treat the Penthouse Suite at £180 a night. Between the hotel and the pier wall there are public care and coach parks and a wide beach overlooking the river mouth, which is used for those who wish to keep close to the funfair and fish and chip outlets.
The amusement arcades at the Ocean Park Fun Fare are open all year and the rides from Easter until September from 10 am until late. Part of the Funfair is the Dunes complex which includes a pub restaurant, a ten pin bowling centre and billiard tables, as well as traditional amusements. There are several fish and chips restaurants, tea rooms and ice cream outlets. To one side of the Amusement Park there are beachside homes and between the park and the beach the Local authority has developed an all weather outdoor centre for skate boarding, football and other sports.
The depth of the sands of the beach is extraordinary, with an area of dunes and a small row of beach chalets homes which have been improved to the extent that they are hired out for both week and weekend holiday homes at reasonable rates. Next to the chalets is a popular Italian restaurant which incorporates two railway carriages. Along this stretch of costal main road there are two other restaurants bars with the popular Sand Dancer recently renovated to create a beach bar atmosphere. There is also the amphitheatre with entertainments for family, teenagers and children throughout the summer months of July to August. There is also a covered walk way which doubles as a band space and entertainment area if it rains and from the top there are great views in all directions. There are glorious banks of flowers on the other side of coast road and a former wall of fountains is also used for flowers. The three parks, the caravan and camping site and the football recreation pitches are all on the other side of the road, together with the amateur theatre, the original Life boat, the Sea Hotel and the Ocean Road parade of restaurants and guest house hotels.
Trow Rocks, Frenchman's Creek and Marsden Grotto. At present the Sand Dancer and the old Bandstand marks the end of Seaside South Shields, with the former New Crown Hotel across the coast road to Sunderland. There are plans to convert the bandstand into a café and build a hotel and conference centre on the Gypsies Green Stadium, and which each year becomes part of the end of Great North Run facilities. The land between the beach road, used for emergency and public vehicles, and the Coast Road widens considerably at this point, all the way to the former Trow Quarry and Rocks, above which sit's the former World War 1 gun emplacement.
The beach can be used for sunbathing but swimming is prohibited as this is the designed area for water sports and at different times of the year the surfing is highly regarded.
It is from a recently closed beachside restaurant before the former Quarry that the coast line changes with the majority of the bays and inlets hidden from the Coast Road and from parts of the Leas. It was coincidental that on an early day of my summer walking, a three mastered and rigged sailing ship was anchored off the entrance to the River Tyne, reminding of former times when such vessels would anchor off shore and lower boats to bring in contraband. The most famous location is the cave inside the cliffs at Marsden Bay, subsequently turned into a restaurant and bar.
The story begins with an Allenhead miner and his wife who decided to live in the cave when he retired aged 80 with the consequence that gentle folk came on horse and in their carriages to look at this phenomenon, and couple had the great idea of providing refreshments. The cave was then developed into an Inn and a smuggler was shot with his ghost haunting the place ever since and a pint is left out each evening and is sometimes drunk. Another man who betrayed his comrades was imprisoned in a barrel which was held by the winch which took the contraband up to the cliff top through a cave shaft.
The main development of the cave into a major building occurred between 1828 and 1874 resulting in eight rooms including a kitchen, ballroom and bedrooms. The facility was then aquired by the Whitburn Mining Company, which in turn became the Harton Mining Company and a barrister was installed as tenant whose main interest was gambling. Tenant after tenant followed and the establishment degenerated. In 1898 the lease was acquired by Vaux, the former Sunderland brewing and hotel owning company, and became the freehold owners in 1939. The Marsden Grotto has a lift alongside the cliff which takes visitors down to the first floor dining room, or the lower bar with beach veranda where snack meals can also be purchased. Towards the end of the twentieth century the fortunes of Vaux changed and the establishment closed its doors. The vast River Wearside plant was demolished and has remained vacant for over half a decade because of an ongoing dispute about its future use. Oxford Hotels acquired the Grotto in 2006 and it has been developed into a fish restaurant with the lower level now Jack's bar.
It was a bright sunny day when I made the walk down the pathway from the Leas, and then across the rocks and sands to the Inn. There are also two sets of public steep stairs, leading to he beach, although one was closed for safety reasons. It is wise not to walk too closely below the cliffs because of the risk of falling rocks. I arrived at midday and was able to take the last vacant table on the veranda, enjoying an overflowing prawn baguette with a little salad for £5.50. An accompanying full salad costs an additional £2. I spent a pleasant hour overlooking the famous Marsden Rock, once arched, until it too began to fragment so it had to be blown up to prevent serious injuries to the many young and old who like to explore at the base.
My journey exploring the rocky coast land was only halfway.
I am fortunate to be able to have the time and the means to do this as I share the environment with some of the most economically and socially deprived people in Britain. The problem is not the lack of political will or effort at local and national level. The reality is that it has become cheaper to important coal for our power stations and only a minority of domestic households burn coal, while ships are built in other places, as is much of the steel. It is cheaper and more environmentally friendly and consumer popular to have Scampi sent half way across the world to be hand shelled and then returned home to be packed for the supermarket shelves, or for our Christmas time decorations to be made in China, than locally.
Various actions have and are being taken to change the local economy to the modern world, and tourism is one of these. However the task is how to ensure an increase in the all year number of visitors staying in the wide range of hotels and guest houses, or taking a good meal in the dozens of restaurants, pubs and cafes, along or close to coast and riversides, without destroying the special nature of the environmental mixture.
Seaside South Shields
The stretch of wide sands between the Tyne river mouth and the south harbour pier wall is known as Little Haven, and this is the name of the purpose built 62 room modern hotel at the beginning of the coastline. Here you can a couple can stay for £64 at weekends, including full English Breakfast, or for £94 with two children in a family room, or for that special treat the Penthouse Suite at £180 a night. Between the hotel and the pier wall there are public care and coach parks and a wide beach overlooking the river mouth, which is used for those who wish to keep close to the funfair and fish and chip outlets.
The amusement arcades at the Ocean Park Fun Fare are open all year and the rides from Easter until September from 10 am until late. Part of the Funfair is the Dunes complex which includes a pub restaurant, a ten pin bowling centre and billiard tables, as well as traditional amusements. There are several fish and chips restaurants, tea rooms and ice cream outlets. To one side of the Amusement Park there are beachside homes and between the park and the beach the Local authority has developed an all weather outdoor centre for skate boarding, football and other sports.
The depth of the sands of the beach is extraordinary, with an area of dunes and a small row of beach chalets homes which have been improved to the extent that they are hired out for both week and weekend holiday homes at reasonable rates. Next to the chalets is a popular Italian restaurant which incorporates two railway carriages. Along this stretch of costal main road there are two other restaurants bars with the popular Sand Dancer recently renovated to create a beach bar atmosphere. There is also the amphitheatre with entertainments for family, teenagers and children throughout the summer months of July to August. There is also a covered walk way which doubles as a band space and entertainment area if it rains and from the top there are great views in all directions. There are glorious banks of flowers on the other side of coast road and a former wall of fountains is also used for flowers. The three parks, the caravan and camping site and the football recreation pitches are all on the other side of the road, together with the amateur theatre, the original Life boat, the Sea Hotel and the Ocean Road parade of restaurants and guest house hotels.
Trow Rocks, Frenchman's Creek and Marsden Grotto. At present the Sand Dancer and the old Bandstand marks the end of Seaside South Shields, with the former New Crown Hotel across the coast road to Sunderland. There are plans to convert the bandstand into a café and build a hotel and conference centre on the Gypsies Green Stadium, and which each year becomes part of the end of Great North Run facilities. The land between the beach road, used for emergency and public vehicles, and the Coast Road widens considerably at this point, all the way to the former Trow Quarry and Rocks, above which sit's the former World War 1 gun emplacement.
The beach can be used for sunbathing but swimming is prohibited as this is the designed area for water sports and at different times of the year the surfing is highly regarded.
It is from a recently closed beachside restaurant before the former Quarry that the coast line changes with the majority of the bays and inlets hidden from the Coast Road and from parts of the Leas. It was coincidental that on an early day of my summer walking, a three mastered and rigged sailing ship was anchored off the entrance to the River Tyne, reminding of former times when such vessels would anchor off shore and lower boats to bring in contraband. The most famous location is the cave inside the cliffs at Marsden Bay, subsequently turned into a restaurant and bar.
The story begins with an Allenhead miner and his wife who decided to live in the cave when he retired aged 80 with the consequence that gentle folk came on horse and in their carriages to look at this phenomenon, and couple had the great idea of providing refreshments. The cave was then developed into an Inn and a smuggler was shot with his ghost haunting the place ever since and a pint is left out each evening and is sometimes drunk. Another man who betrayed his comrades was imprisoned in a barrel which was held by the winch which took the contraband up to the cliff top through a cave shaft.
The main development of the cave into a major building occurred between 1828 and 1874 resulting in eight rooms including a kitchen, ballroom and bedrooms. The facility was then aquired by the Whitburn Mining Company, which in turn became the Harton Mining Company and a barrister was installed as tenant whose main interest was gambling. Tenant after tenant followed and the establishment degenerated. In 1898 the lease was acquired by Vaux, the former Sunderland brewing and hotel owning company, and became the freehold owners in 1939. The Marsden Grotto has a lift alongside the cliff which takes visitors down to the first floor dining room, or the lower bar with beach veranda where snack meals can also be purchased. Towards the end of the twentieth century the fortunes of Vaux changed and the establishment closed its doors. The vast River Wearside plant was demolished and has remained vacant for over half a decade because of an ongoing dispute about its future use. Oxford Hotels acquired the Grotto in 2006 and it has been developed into a fish restaurant with the lower level now Jack's bar.
It was a bright sunny day when I made the walk down the pathway from the Leas, and then across the rocks and sands to the Inn. There are also two sets of public steep stairs, leading to he beach, although one was closed for safety reasons. It is wise not to walk too closely below the cliffs because of the risk of falling rocks. I arrived at midday and was able to take the last vacant table on the veranda, enjoying an overflowing prawn baguette with a little salad for £5.50. An accompanying full salad costs an additional £2. I spent a pleasant hour overlooking the famous Marsden Rock, once arched, until it too began to fragment so it had to be blown up to prevent serious injuries to the many young and old who like to explore at the base.
My journey exploring the rocky coast land was only halfway.
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