Durham: Seaton Carew to Redcar 10/7/2006**

We went straight from Seaton Carew to the dunes above Seaton Sands, the beach being a mix of loose sand and stones and difficult to walk.  The dunes were mostly spoiled by excessive growth of sea buckthorn, while the more established grassland was fenced off as a golf course.  Attempts to clear the buckthorn had been made recently, resulting in a first succession flora of creeping thistle and bittersweet, plus musk thistle, tall rocket, great lettuce, twiggy spurge and the hawkweed Hieracium vagum.  We saw graylings flying.  The main dunes ended in a bay but we could continue among more inland dunes after the golf course, dominated by field horsetail but including pyramidal orchids.  Eventually we found the way blocked by a power station and chemical works, the first part of the large industrial complex that totally occupies the Tees estuary, which was to remain completely inaccessible for the rest of the day.  Apart from not seeing the coast we were from now on to be dominated by the noxious smells and smutty air of oil terminals, chemical, steel and coal works, and the jarring racket of huge lorries.  We had to walk alongside the A178 south to Middlesbrough with industry on both sides and narrow verges keeping us close to speeding vehicles.  The only relief was provided by a number of pools and Greatham Creek, which were excellent bird-watching sites with nesting Arctic and common terns, ruddy and tufted ducks, mute swans, geese and coot.  We had a close view of a male ruddy duck displaying by rapidly beating his conspicuous blue-grey bill against his chest.  The contrasting black, white and chestnut plumage made it a beautiful bird.  After four miles of this busy road we reached the Tees at the impressive Transporter Bridge, large blue steel girders from which hung a ferry that carried cars and walkers like us across on payment of a toll.  From the other side of this crossing the Teesdale Way, a national trail, was meant to start and we did find a few small plaques announcing it on one street. We followed the route past a “look no hands” clock-tower, across a bridge over a small tributary basin of the Tees, and past Middlesbrough FC’s Millennium Stadium.  Passing through another industrial area, the trail was supposed to continue on the other side of a parallel railway track, but we could find no access to it and the trail signs had totally vanished.  Returning to the roads we eventually found a way down to a railside footpath.  This was strewn with refuse and sandwiched variously between fences and walls, continuing in this way close to the railway for three miles.  The air was polluted by surrounding factories and an area of huge spoil heaps; the fumes were sometimes so strong we had to hold handkerchiefs over mouth and nose.  Where they had dredged the pathside ditch mud was just thrown up over the path and whitish cinders thrown down, making it uncomfortable to walk, while occasional marshy spots meant we had to step carefully, sometimes balancing on planks and sleepers thrown down haphazardly.  It was obvious very few people ever used this trail and indeed there was no reason why they would want to do so.  There were a few, but very few, interesting plants, most notably crown vetch, which was the find of the day.  We were even rather glad of the change when we re-emerged on the A1085, despite the roaring traffic, because there was an even walkway providing relief from stumbling through rubble and undergrowth.  We walked by road past Cowpen Marsh Nature Reserve and Seal Sands into Redcar as far as the railway station.  Crown vetch

Transporter Bridge     Seal Sands     Grayling