Lower Teesdale Way - Leg X: South Bank to Warrenby – Wednesday 24 September 2014

With a train involved both in getting to the start and getting back from the end of the leg, parking at Thornaby station  is a forgivable extravagance  at £2.80; and another £2 gets me a couple of stops down the line to South Bank station. The view from the footbridge is not inspiring and neither is the notice on the Teesdale path waymark, which notifies of closure at a condemned bridge up ahead. The diversion is via the A1085, which will introduce a lot of tarmac into the route.

Undeterred I set off down the familiar path alongside the railway, soon bounded on the right by a couple of large pipelines. Across the railway are the remains of some foundry or other that, despite seeming derelict, seems to still be flaring off some by-product. The day is fresh but here the air is heavy and I feel the need to breathe through a hanky for a few hundred yards.

After just a mile a tangle of road and rail bridges leads me to judge it time to get off the path and seek the diverted route. An exit leads past a Network Rail van, through a service yard to the road, but unfortunately a locked, ten foot high, spiked gate bars the way. It looks from the map that I need to go another half-mile or so down the path to find another way onto the road and return the half mile back to this point. As I turn resignedly, the Network Rail driver emerges from nowhere and happily lets me out.

This is Tees Dock Road, and does what you would expect, with lorries thundering to and from the port. After half a mile, negotiating a couple of roundabouts, the A1085 (known locally just as the trunk road) is reached and it runs dead straight and pan flat for two miles between the steel works (once British Steel, then Corus, and now Tata) and the chemical plants of Wilton (once ICI and now a hotchpotch of successors).

It’s a lonely old walk and the only other creature at large (outside of a vehicle) is, bizarrely, a deer that peers at me from the embankment that separates the road from the steelworks, before making its way back down into the wilderness of what now must be surplus land being re-claimed by nature.

As the dual carriageway starts to rise over the railway, an overgrown slip road to nowhere goes off to the left and this leads, at said railway, back onto the Teesdale way path proper again. Turning right leads up some steep wooden steps, and ironically back onto the dual carriageway and a continuation along the A1085.

Before long, just as the road reverts to a single carriageway, the map indicates a footpath on the left, and a gate (albeit fastened shut) hints at the way. No waymark has been seen since South Bank station so a leap into the unknown is needed and climbing the gate a faint path leads diagonally right up to and along a ridge. Keeping to the right of a square building of indeterminate use, and avoiding being hit by a stray scrambling bike, I look hopefully for a bridge over the railway. Even close to the train tracks the way is not obvious, but heading to the right reveals a gap in the hedgerow and a small iron footbridge that leads up and over to Coatham Marsh nature reserve.

A walk around the pond, where two swans dip and dabble, provides the only period of quiet in the whole day; larks can be heard. Paths diverge but heading towards the buildings brings me out in Warrenby, still short of the coast by the width of a couple of fairways of the links course here. But it is a short walk up the road to Coatham where following a sign to the sea front enables a seat to be found on the promenade, giving a panoramic view of the offshore wind farm and to its left the South Gare breakwater that guards the entry to the Tees.

It’s still not a pleasant place to linger long, so the best plan is to walk the other way, down the sands to reach the more resort-like Redcar, with its new Beacon (a ‘vertical pier’) providing a good café in its interior (other catering establishments are also available).

This to me is a much more satisfying end point for the Teesdale Way. Somewhere to sit awhile and reflect on the 72 miles from Barnard Castle, covered in ten stages, just within a twelve months period. Majestic most of its way, the Tees flows through varied landscapes, quiet and wooded slopes, picturesque villages, rolling farmland, suburban parks, city riverside living, industrial decay and rebirth, to the seaside.

A good walk.

Lower Teesdale Way - Leg IX: Stockton to South Bank – Monday 8 September 2014

Parking again near the Tees Barrage at Stockton, the Teesdale Way Path is re-joined over the barrage on the North Bank. Past the impressive white water course, and along the tow path toward Middlesbrough, this first mile or so is between the river on the right and Portrack Marsh on the left, with the barrage behind and the A19 flyover ahead.

Once under the flyover the somewhat older Newport Bridge approaches. It’s currently closed to traffic being repainted, which is a slight worry as it provides the Tees crossing for the Teesdale Way. The path goes under the bridge and loops up to the road, at which point it is clear that it remains passable for cyclists and pedestrians. Once over the river some steps lead down to the tow path which then goes under the bridge and downstream, now on the south bank.

Underfoot the tarmac and concrete gives way to a wide shale path with grassy verges. On this side of the river are the remains of industry, largely flattened; across the water is the back end of Billingham with the remnants of chemical plants hanging on. The old wharves can be seen, rotting gently away, although one ship is moored over there so something is still moving in or out.

After a couple of miles, the path forks at a ‘viewpoint’, marked by an iron bench. My old map says turn inland here, but the continuing towpath indicates the possibility of a newer riverbank route. It turns out to be no more than a spur that stops dead after a couple of hundred yards, so the inland fork remains the only option and some road walking is in prospect.

However before the path hits the road it goes through the weirdly impressive Teesaurus Park where large steel plate dinosaurs peer out of, or over, the trees, and about four miles into the walk it’s a good place to sit for fifteen minutes and have a snack.

From the park the route turns left along Riverside Park Road, through the newish business park, now separated from the river by some industrial units showing welcome signs of industry. Keeping left along first Depot Road, then Vulcan Street, leads eventually to the foot of the iconic Transporter Bridge.

The route continues straight on, past Middlesbrough College on the right, heading for the unmissable double zeros of Tremenos and the Riverside Stadium, home of the Boro. Just past Tremenos are seats by the Middlesbrough Dock from where the contrasts of the new and the old architecture can be pondered, for me over lunch.

At just under six miles, and only one o’clock in the afternoon, the option of Middlesbrough Station is rejected and the slightly risky alternative is adopted of finding a station up the line where trains may or may not stop.

A footbridge crosses the inlet to the dock and the way is then via The Halyard and The Leeway round the front of the stadium (or just across the car park), until the road straightens, separated from the railway on the right by tree and bushes.

Soon a level crossing appears to the right, and once over it a path leads off to the left, now adjacent to the railway line. The railway is a constant companion and the path is the first of the day to feature earth and grass, resembling a real countryside way. The surroundings don’t match though, with the A66 away to the right; the path is a narrow fenced in corridor, often punctuated with scrap, litter and overflowing detritus of adjacent businesses.

A couple of road bridges intervene which are either ducked under or climbed over, and one stretch features a stretch of brambles with blackberries ripe for harvest.

A couple of miles after leaving Middlesbrough Dock the path emerges at South Bank station, a welcome sight made even more welcome by the train timetable that confirms a regular service is in operation. In fact a wait of just three minutes is required before a train rolls up and £2 sees me back at Thornaby station in no time at all.

The short walk back to the Tees Barrage adds a bit to the eight mile stretch that was more interesting than exhilarating, illustrating as it does the Tees’ historic importance in the development of Middlesbrough.