Tynemouth to East Sleekburn

(Our overall day number 65 - Part of The KC3 ECP Leg 56b and 57 - Seaham to Amble)

Tynemouth to East Sleekburn

6th October 2024 | Miles 14.3 | Elevation gain 486ft

A walk of over 14 miles with varied landscapes. Setting off from Tynemouth on a Sunday morning, we walked for a couple of miles along the seafront up to Whitley Bay, where the low tide enabled us to head down on the beach for a further mile. Back up on the low cliffs, we reached St Mary's Island and its (under renovation) lighthouse - the wind was blowing and a bit cold, so we had a very short photo stop here to mark reaching 700 miles! Along the tops again to reach Seaton Sluice at the six mile mark, where we were able to rejoin the beach for a further 1.5 miles. Around eight miles, we reached Blyth, and around 4 miles of not particularly attractive road walking and industry, eventually reaching the busy A189, crossing the bridge over the River Blyth, before doubling back under the road for the final two mile stretch through suddenly rural fields to reach East Sleekburn
OS Maps Logo
OS Map Preview
View this day's route on OS Maps
Getting there and back
An easy start as we walked from our accommodation in Tynemouth. However it was a long journey back - we walked around half a mile up to St John's Road in East Bedlington, where the not very regular 57A runs back to Whitley Bay, taking about an hour. From there, the yellow metro line takes about ten minutes back to Tynemouth.
Weather conditions
Mainly overcast, cold at times but mostly fine with light jackets
Walking difficulty
Easy and mainly flat - only the length of the day and the section on roads through Blyth made this feel a bit tougher than the previous days

The story of our day in photos

Long Sands, Tynemouth
Cullercoats, between Tynemouth and Whitley Bay
Looking back towards Cullercoats, and Tynemouth beyond
Nice long beach section at Whitley Bay
Looking back from the cliffs towards the beach at Whitley Bay
St Mary's Island - the lighthouse is undergoing refurbishment - selfie to mark 700 miles completed💪
Back onto the beach at Seaton Sluice
Another lovely long section of beach walking up towards Blyth
Looking back at St Mary's Lighthouse
It's over four miles of fairly tedious road walking through Blyth
Blyth Harbour
Some more not very attractive walking - north side of Blyth
Heading along the south bank of the River Blyth
Going round a little inlet, just after Cowpen New Town
That's where we'll cross the River Blyth - the A189 bridge
On the bridge, looking back towards the coast
Always look forward to seeing cows the other side of a fence
Suddenly away from concrete - north bank of the River Blyth, heading towards Mount Pleasant Farm
We're near the power station at Blyth!
Approaching East Sleekburn to end a long day of walking
Useful links
Little Lobo, Tynemouth
Awesome little place serving Mexican food, so good on our first night that we returned later in the trip for a second go!
Hidden on the Harbour, Seaham
A coffee each here before setting off for the first morning's walk
Barca, Tynemouth
We had a pre-dinner drink here on Friday, and then again later in the week. As the website describes, a quirky, cosy bar. Very good craft beer but the wine wasn't up to much.
Allards Lounge, Tynemouth
We had dinner here on Friday evening - a tapas sharing dish type place. This came with recommendations (and a discount code!) from our airbnb host, but Allards must have been having a bad day in the kitchen as, when it eventually arrived, the food was well over done and not particularly enjoyable. We'd been waiting a long time by then so we just put up with it. Oh well.
Michael's Cafe, South Shields
Not far from the ferry on the south bank of the Tyne, we had very welcome second breakfast here on the way to the start of our second walk. Not fancy and unexpected chips with our sausage butties - which went down very well! Ridiculously cheap and extra sausages for dogs.
Fishnet Tavern, North Shields
A pub in North Shields on the coast path near to the northern side of the ferry. A welcome cheese and ham toastie and a pint - looked like there were fancier places to dine on that road, but this did the job for us towards the end of a long day.
Iztuzu, Tynemouth
We ate here on Saturday evening - tasty Turkish food and welcoming service
The Beach House, Whitley Bay
The destination for breakfast, around a couple of miles into Sunday's long walk north from Tynemouth. Dog friendly and good food.
Castaways Tea Shop, Seaton Sluice
A quick coffee break here before walking up the beach towards Blyth
Lola Jeans, Tynemouth
Sunday night burgers here to recharge after our very long day's walking!
The Drift Cafe, Cresswell
Location for second breakfast on Monday morning, en route to Amble. Dog friendly and classy breakfasts.
Cafe Needles Eye, Newbiggin
Looked nice inside but not dog friendly so we sat outside in the semi-rain for a quick coffee and snack. Bit of a shame.
The Grand Hotel, Tynemouth
After dinner drinks here on our last night, after our second visit to the fabulous Little Lobo Mexican.
Crusoes, Tynemouth
Breakfast cafe on the beach, very close to our accommodation, highly recommended by our hosts. We'd been looking forward all week to leisurely breakfast here before the long drive south, but in the event it was a bit disappointing - might have been something to do with the 40 mile an hour gales lashing the beach, but the staff were less than welcoming, and the food was overcooked :(
National Glass Centre, Sunderland
The coast path runs right past this, we popped in for a little look and it would have been worth spending longer here
Shields Ferry
Timetable for ferry across the Tyne to link the coast path south to north