The Holy Grail


So – the holy grail of a national coast path around the whole of Great Britain is slowly coming to pass with a new 34-mile section of path opened between Hartlepool and Sunderland.

More in this Guardian article:

Walking England’s new coast path: sea and skylarks in the north-east

On the new coast path… the route, which starts in North Gare beach by the mouth of the Tees and ends 34 miles to the north on the other side of the Wear, is either the ultimate in post-industrial flaneuring, or psycho-geographical ‘edgelanding’ (exploring the boundaries where urban meets rural) – in other words going for a walk in the kind of landscape many of us grew up in.

“Eventually, this path will be part of a 4,500km [2,796 miles] England Coast Path,” said Andrew Best of Natural England, joining me and a friend for the walk. “We chose this area for the first stretch because the local authorities were really up for it – and it’s fascinating but under-explored.” Read on here…