Saltburn-by-the-Sea

It was a 07:30 start at Saltburn-by-the-Sea. I knew I had to get there early since the carpark on the sea front gets so busy that it often has its own little traffic jam. Some female sea swimmers were just returning to their cars as I walked towards the pier. I'd seen this swimming group on the national news last week. The beach at Saltburn had lost its blue flag status due to excessive sewage overflows into the sea. The group members obviously didn't think much to that situation. 

An information plaque at the pier described its history. It was opened in 1869 and in its first six months had 50,000 visitors. The pier head was washed away n 1875, and in 1924 SS Ovenbeg ploughed into it. As I would find later at Redcar, piers are very vulnerable structures. There is a steep embankment from the pier up to the town at the top and in 1884 an inclined tramway was built to make things easier for the holidaymakers. It uses an ingenious system of counter-balancing water tanks as its power source. It is still working today and is the earliest surviving operational example of a funicular railway!

There were many knitted fish tied to the fence at the end of the pier. There was no notice to explain this phenomenon. It seems that the theme of the knitted items changes over time. 

There is a wonderful view of the the high Huntcliff to the south. The beach just seems to stretch for mile after mile to the north. I could just see some buildings which I presumed was Redcar. The other dominant feature was the windfarm quite close to the coast. I returned back to the promenade and then set off northwards along the beach. 

Surfboards, Spaniels And Starfish

I saw an amazing thing as I made my way towards Redcar. It was a motorised surf board. I'd no idea that these things even existed. A fellow was using one to travel from Redcar to Saltburn, and then he turned around and came back again. What stunned me was the speed of the thing. Looking on the internet, some can get up to 35 mph. I could well believe it looking at this chap perform. The other oddity was how he actually stayed upright on the thing; he didn't seem to have any problems at all. I'm not really a watersports person, but it did look fun and so I had a look to see how much they cost...£5,000-£10,000. I think I'll stick to walking. 

A kafuffle was taking place to my right. Somebody's Spaniel was chasing a couple of Terriers. The owner of the Terriers managed to get them on a lead. The owner of the Spaniel approached them, but the Spaniel then dashed over to me. It wasn't much bigger than a puppy and was boisterous rather than aggressive. The owner marched over to me and managed to grab the Spaniel. I told him it was fine, and it hadn't touched me. Unfortunately, the owner was from the Barbara Woodhouse school of dog discipline and gave the Spaniel a hefty whack on its back. It made me wince and miserable for a while...and probably did for the dog too.

A dozen people were laid on their backs with their feet in the air. 'Curious' I thought. And then I realised that it was some sort of exercise class. If things couldn't have got more surreal at that moment, three motorised paragliders came along the beach and swung low over me and the group. I think the pilots were a bit mystified about what was going on as well. When I reached the group they'd got up from their backs and were sat cross-legged like a row of Buddha's, with palms together and fingers touching their chins. I left them to their exertions. 

As I approached Redcar I started finding areas of sand where there were dozens of dead Starfish. I'd seen an item about this on the national news. Some people are saying that it is to do with the dredging for the new Tees Port being built further up the coast. They say that the release of decades of industrial waste in the silt is poisoning the marine life. The Environmental Agency say that it is 'normal for this time of year' and that high tides and recent storms are the probable cause. DEFRA say that it is probably a 'novel pathogen' as the likely cause. Whatever it is, the Starfish aren't having a good time of it. 

Redcar

I walked up from the beach on to Redcar's promenade. By chance this was at the very same point that the pier used to stretch out to the sea. The pier was opened in 1874 but severe damage was caused in 1875 by a storm (the same that damaged Saltburn's pier). The pier was also damaged by a number of ships that ran into it. A mine, during the Second World War, also caused damage. By 1980 the council thought it was beyond repair and all that remains now is an information board and a blue plaque. 

Redcar was nowhere near as bad as I was expecting. It is no Cullercotes and it'll never by a Whitby, but its okay. There has been quite a bit of money spent on and around the promenade. Sure, there are a few shops that have had their last 'Closing Down Sale', but show me a town that hasn't. It has a high viewing station that looks like a helter skelter from afar but this was permanently closed due to 'antisocial behaviour. The large boating lake didn't have any boats on it, but it did have a shopping trolley thrown into it. I got the feeling that the town was really trying, but hadn't quite got there yet. It's a work in progress. 

I sat down at a bench on the promenade and started eating a sarnie. A couple of young starlings instantly appeared between my feet and looked longingly at me...or at my sandwich. You shouldn't feed bread to birds (it isn't nutritious for them) and so they only managed to get any crumbs that I dropped. 

Atonement

At the north end of Redcar I came a curious piece of artwork on the promenade. It is called 'Left Luggage' and was created by artist Lewis Robinson in 2007. It just looks like a series of boxes with a pigeon on top and a rifle leaned up against them. There is also what looks like a film director's chair. A plaque says that it celebrates the filming of Atonement here in 2006. I've seen the film and it has a unique five and a half minute continuous shot that involved hundreds of people (and horses...some dead) and was done in one take. The scene represented the evacuation  of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk. The continuous shot follows one of the main characters along the beach. Looking at the beach to South Gare it is very easy to envisage how it could represent Dunkirk. The only problem I could see would be the near-shore windfarm of about 30 turbines and the chimneys and industrial detritus beyond the dunes. Maybe the windfarm wasn't there in 2006. 

I presume the 'Left Luggage' refers to the equipment that was left by the British as the escape was made from Dunkirk...although I guess the pigeons would make their own way home.

South Gare

It is a wonderful beach to South Gare. Potentially, one of the best I've walked along. The windfarm provided interest for the walk. A couple of boats were carrying out dredging work. The massive Teesside industrial complex was mostly hidden by the dunes and wasn't that intrusive. Parts of South Gare is actually reclaimed land from thousands of tons of basic slag from the blast furnaces. There was a lighthouse at the end of South Gare but this was fenced off. The road to the lighthouse was lined with dozens of motorhomes, some of them quite posh. It was an odd location to park up since this was the only point on my walk that I could see the whole panorama of the Teesside industrial complex. I could see a massive industrial object that seemed to have tumbled on to its side, back to the south. At first glance, it looked like a super tanker had washed up. South Gare was my turning point and so rather than walk on the beach back to Redcar, I decided to make my way over to this mysterious structure via the dunes. 

Teeside Blast Furnace

My sense of scale left me when I entered the dunes. I thought the industrial complex was much closer to the beach front. In reality, I had to walk quite a long away from the beach to get a decent view. As I got closer I began to realise what I was looking at. It was a massive blast furnace on its side. The scale of it was unreal. Later research showed that the blast furnace had been blown up last November (2022).  All it seemed to have done was topple it over on to its side. It is an impressive but ultimately sad sight. I started making my way back to the beach through the dunes. They were really a haven for birdlife.  I read that the high limestone content of the slag produces a soil attractive to lime loving plants. Eventually I found my way back to the beach. 

Return To Redcar

Back on the beach, three girls galloped their horses close to the sea, occasionally letting the horses go for a paddle. Nearer to Redcar somebody was having varying success to catch the wind in a land yacht. Redcar's promenade was much busier with people when I returned. The sun had obviously brought the punters out. Fish and chips with an ice cream desert looked the favoured order of the day for most people. Young kids were bouncing high on trampolines with harnesses and elastic bands attached to them ensuring that they didn't blast off into space. People smiled and looked happy. Forget what miserable documentary makers have to say about Redcar, people seemed to be enjoying it today.

I made my way back through the Starfish Cemetery and headed towards Saltburn. Quite a few people were swimming and paddle boarding in the sea now. Others had erected tents or windbreaks and made their encampments for the day. There was even a man who was walking his tortoise, although at a very slow pace.

Dead Man's Money

I looked down and there was a £20 note. I picked it up and then looked about me There wasn't anybody near me that may have just dropped it. I sighed. This was Dead Man's Money and would bring me bad luck. I first mentioned this in the Captain's Log of Borrowdale Dead Man's Money. Basically, my philosophy is that you accumulate bad karma if you benefit from somebody else's misfortune. The only way to mitigate the bad luck would be to donate the £20 for charitable use. I decided that it would go to the RSPB. Unfortunately, before I had the chance to donate it, the bad luck already started to happen. Firstly, I found out that I'd left one of my laminated maps in last night's hotel room, and secondly a bottle of milk leaked in my bag soaking some of my clothes. I'd probably end up having to throw these away given how old milk honks horribly. Take my word, if you find any money, it is Dead Man's Money and it'll only bring you bad luck. 

Return To Saltburn

Saltburn was transformed when I got back. The place was busy with people. I had promised myself an ice-cream when I'd finished the walk, but I couldn't be bothered to join a queue of a dozen or so people. I took another walk to the end of the pier. Somebody was using a drone to film a surfer who was making the most of the small waves. As I expected, there was a traffic jam in the carpark. The problem is caused by its one-way system and how some cars wait for other cars to leave, resulting in an ongoing traffic jam. I was glad of my forethought since I'd parked immediately in front of the exit and so could make a quick getaway.

Starfish cemeteries, purported deprived towns and industrial demolition may not appear to form the basis of an exceptional walk. But this really was an exceptional walk. Those Saltburn and Redcar beaches really are amazing.