Log No 8. Sat 6th Apr 2013 - N of Hartlepool to Sunderland, 17 miles (147 miles walked)

Being unable to find a campsite for today's walk we had decided to leave the tent here, walk with light packs and get a bus back from wherever we finish.

The wind had eased during the night so it felt a bit warmer as we set off at 7.50 in the sunshine.

It was easy going again with most of the stream crossings having a gentle detour rather than being short & steep.

We had a down and up to cross Dene Mouth then a bit further on we came across an unusual bird sitting on the cliff top.

It was very easy walking.



The path followed the railway line for a bit and there was an interesting detour under the viaduct to get across the stream into Hawthorn Hive.

Our minimum objective for today was Seaham and we arrived here at 12.00.

We spent a while here doing some shopping before moving to the end of the sea front to finish off our lunch.

It was only about 5 miles to Sunderland so we decided that would be our destination for the day.

The map showed a public path along the coast and a sign said this was the Durham Coast Path but the next sign said the path was closed as it was lost due to erosion.

Ignoring the signs we followed the cliff edge without any problem all the way to Sunderland.

Once again we had to detour around docks and we got to the bus station at 15.00.