Easington Colliery to Shotton – 5 March 2022
Unfortunately, it’s not the Garden of Eden but Castle Eden Dene that we walk through on this set of new routes. There is a Garden of Eden Bridge in Castle Eden Dean if that is some consolation. The routes were supposed to finish at a pub in Castle Eden but due to the pub being refurbished, the finish is now a pub in Shotton called the Black Bull. One of the routes actually does not start at Easington Colliery but a bit further north close to Seaham so the walk on the programme is wrong and the start of one route is wrong but everything else is okay.
All three routes are coming south along one of the most scenic of the Durham coastlines. The longest route at 12.5 miles starts just south of Seaham at Nose’s Point and works its way down the coastline until the entrance of Castle Eden Dene. The 10.5-mile route starts at Easington Colliery and also makes its way to the entrance of Castle Eden Dene and finally the 8-mile route starts between Easington Colliery and Horden and also goes south to the entrance.
Castle Eden Dene contains a deep ravine with paths running either side of a burn that often contains no water. The burn runs west to east and exits under the A1086 road and a huge viaduct into the North Sea. The viaduct was constructed in 1905 and consists of 10 arches each spanning 60 feet. All the routes are going under the viaduct and then possibly through the tunnel under the A1086 road. There is an alternative to going through the tunnel by taking a path just to the north of the tunnel and crossing the A1086 road but it is much more fun in the tunnel.
The idea is for all the routes is to take a path on the north side of the burn all the way to the A19 road where there is a shorter tunnel that takes a path to the disused railway where a short walk north leads to a footpath east and back over the A19 on a pedestrian footbridge which is close to the finish in Shotton. The only problem is there are lots of paths running through the Dene and it is probably quite easy to take the wrong one.
What happens if we cannot find our way through the A19 tunnel? Well, there is a way of getting out of the Dene on the north side and making a way through a housing estate on the southern edge of Shotton but we will not even consider that.
One of the best sections of the coast in Durham, railway viaducts, tunnels, a deep ravine and a chance of not finding a way out. If you want to join us for a walk you can get in touch with us using the Contact Page of our website and you can also download the walk descriptions below and the GPX routes here.
The image for this post was taken on a walk by some members of the club after the lockdown in 2021 and shows Blast Beach looking south from Nose’s Point.
