Our walks are nothing if not educational so consequently I learnt today that Lewis Carroll wrote 'The Walrus and The Carpenter' while holidaying with a cousin in Whitburn. So now you know.
It wasn't too long before the photographic opportunities began to come thick and fast. For example the restored Whitburn Windmill where a mill of one form or another has existed since 1779.
Before long we were leaving the houses and the coastline behind us as we headed inland and uphill towards our next viewpoint.
Another former windmill provided a setting for a brief stop with some wonderful views across towards Sunderland and beyond in one direction and Newcastle and Northumberland in the other.
Continuing across part of South Shields Golf Course we were rewarded with some wonderful views of both piers at the mouth of the Tyne as well as the ruins of Tynemouth Castle and Priory and the white paintwork of St Mary's lighthouse.
Then we began our descent back towards the coast, emerging beside Marsden rocks which I recall looking very different to how it does today. At one time one of the rocks formed a perfect arch but tidal erosion caused part of it to collapse in 1996.
It is still an impressive sight however and is home to a large colony of sea birds.
Leaving that view behind us, we then continued along the cliff tops past the impressive Souter Lighthouse.
Another interesting fact coming up - this was the first lighthouse in the world designed and built to use alternating electric current.
It was a great aid to shipping in the area as the Whitburn Steel reefs were the cause of many a shipwreck, no fewer than twenty in 1860 alone!
The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1988 and it is now owned by the National Trust who opened it to the public. Oh, and it is also said to be haunted.
It wasn't far from there back to the car park where we all agreed that it had been an excellent walk in glorious sunshine. The first of many this year I hope.
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