Dalton-le-Dale and Dawdon - Durham Heritage Coast Walk

About

St Andrew’s Church is situated within an almost circular churchyard which suggests that the present church may be on the site of an earlier Saxon church. There is a Saxon gravestone built into the wall in the south west corner. On the north side there is a Norman doorway with typical moulding still visible in the arch. The rest of the church is Early English. Leave the church and walk along St Cuthbert’s Terrace, built in 1907, passing East Farm, where the footpath is across the road. At the end of the wooden fence opposite, re-cross the road and note the bridge which we cross on the return journey.

Continue the walk through the village for about a mile until we reach Dalden Tower, which is recorded as being the property of a Norman family. It passed to the Bowes family in 1375. Through marriage it passed to the Collingwood family in the 16th century.Then in 1676 it became the Milbanke’s home until 1792 when the family moved to Seaham Hall. Continue along the road until we come to the decorative gates which enable us to enter the well maintained Deneside Park on the left. Turning right we follow the path behind the children’s playground. Keeping to the lower path cross a small stone bridge over the stream and turn right. Continue uphill until the path reaches the main road. Turn right at the main road and continue up the path until we are facing Maureen Terrace and another roundabout. We cross here opposite Seaham Tool Hire Centre. This was a level crossing to the town centre. The railway was built for Lord Londonderry in 1853-54 to convey coal to the docks at Sunderland. There was a station and railway engineering works here at the end of the line. In 1901 it became part of the North Eastern Railway and was then extended to Hartlepool.

Turn left along Grants Crescent with the intention of noticing street names on our right. The terraces here were built before and after World War One to house workers at Seaham Colliery. Most of the names in this area of Seaham have interesting links with the Londonderry family. Maureen Terrace, which we saw before, was named after the eldest daughter of the 7th Marquess; Benevente, Corcyra and Polemarch Streets, are named after Vane-Tempest racehorses. Turn right and walk between the gardens of Polemarch Street to Princess Road, opposite the cemetery. The fire station opposite is on the site of Seaham’s isolation hospital, once outside the town. Turn left along Princess Road and again looking at street names we see Garron Street. Garron Tower was a family home in Northern Ireland built in 1848; Rainton Street takes its name from the mid-Durham location of the family’s pits. The car park on our left was the site of the Princess Theatre, one of two former live theatres in the town. Opposite is the former Co-operative Society store. Its size gives an indication of the part played in the life of this community.

Crossing the bridge takes us into Dawdon, built for workers at Dawdon Colliery which was sunk by the Londonderrys in 1905. From here we can link to the Durham Coastal Path and Nose’s Point, where there is a picnic area and interpretation and artwork to enjoy. This is the site of the former Dawdon Colliery. Liddle Stack can also be seen on the beach from the Coastal Footpath. Continue the walk by crossing the road here. We go right along the side of Stanley Street and past the Aged Miners Homes. Maglona Street, behind, refers to the third daughter of the 7th Marquess.

At the end of the street we go right between the limestone blocks and, turning left onto the pathway, join the cycletrack. Known locally as ‘The Yellow Brick Road’ this was formerly the Braddyll Railway from South Hetton Colliery to the harbour, which opened in 1833, two years after the harbour began shipping coal. As the route climbs it enters a cutting, where the underlying rock is occasionally exposed. This is the top of the limestone reef that was laid down about 220 million years ago.

As the route climbs it enters a cutting, where the underlying rock is occasionally exposed. This is the top of a limestone reef which was laid down around 220 million years ago. This area is a good place to spot a variety of butterflies amongst the wild flowers during the summer months.

Just beyond the cutting gives us a chance to look around. To the left of the radio masts we can see into Tees Bay where there are likely to be several ships at anchor. The track-bed of the railway widened out here to allow the wagons for the rope-hauled trains to be assembled at this high point.

We leave this track, in front of the electricity substation. This track is the earliest of three main roads running north to south through East Durham. The second was laid down with the growth of Seaham Colliery and was later overtaken by the present A19 trunk road. Perhaps this track is the most interesting. It is known to have been used by Cromwellian soldiers (probably Scots) in 1644 as they marched from Sunderland to Easington and on to Quarrington Hill. It was later used as a coaching road between Stockton and
Sunderland. Behind the sub-station is the typically Victorian gothic Pumping Station for Sunderland and Shields Water Company, built between 1866-1880.

Continue along the farm track. There are great views towards Sunderland and the coast from here. At the bottom of the track is the bridge referred to at the beginning of our walk. This was built in 1749. Prior to this date there might have been an earlier bridge or, more likely, a ford. Interestingly, although Cromwell’s soldiers took this road they did not ransack the church, hidden by trees. We turn left to return to our starting point.