King Charles Coast Path - Whitley Bay to Newcastle (★★☆☆☆)

This walk was the second of two days of walking, having previously walked from Ashington out to the coast at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, and then down to Whitley Bay, on the previous day.

Today's walk would continue on down to Tynemouth, and then cut in through North Shields - and then on to Wallsend, to join up with the Hadrian's Wall Path through to Newcastle.

Starting out from Whitley Bay, I first head off to get some supplies for the day - and then head off following the coast southwards out away from Whitley Sands, and through an initial section passing above a rockier, rather than sandier, section of coast - heading past Brown's Point to Cullercoats Bay.

Cullercoats Bay

While walking this section, it is very obvious that the good folk of Whitley Bay like to get out and about in the morning - with a morning jog being the most popular activity, but with early morning swims and cycles along the coastline also being high on the list of things to do to start the day.

The little beach at Cullercoats Bay is obviously a popular spot for an early swim, but there are more people out on the next beach at Long Sands - with dog walkers out in force through the main of the beach, and numerous surfers out towards the end of the beach.

Long Sands

This stretch has a lot of different beaches. There was the large beach at Whitley Sands, the smaller beach at Cullercoats Bay and then you have this larger beach at Long Sands. And here I am heading out of Whitley Bay, and into Tynemouth.

At the end of the beach I head up onto the higher ground above, and past another much smaller beach at Short Sands, before passing Tynemouth Castle on my way to Freestone Point.

Tynemouth Castle

You can walk out along the North Pier to Tynemouth Lighthouse (at the entry point to the harbour) - and I had planned on doing so today - but the winds are up, and the waves are hitting against the Pier wall, so I'm not tempted to head out.

Instead I find a bench and see in the Amsterdam ferry, which I will meet up with at its birth in North Shields later in the day.

Incoming ferry from Amsterdam

Here my path continues on, turning to the right and along the River Tyne - and my path with continue to follow this river for the rest of the day.

Heading along the Tyne having given the ferry a head start

The path along the river is reasonably busy today, with people mostly walking out towards me - and it is through this busy section that I head round to the little lighthouse in the picture above, where the route cuts in to follow the road, past the Fish Quay. There seems to be a lot of good fish to purchase here, but I'm not sure it will really last my walk home without everything getting quite smelly on the way.

And so I continue on, following the road along the edge of the Tyne, before reaching the North Shields terminal for the Shields Ferry.

As you read on, you will find that the section from here to Newcastle is not the most amazing section of walking - and I can also confirm that this is despite this being the better side of the river to walk along. 

For my walk today, I do want to complete the section this side, in order to tick off the final missing section of Hadrian's Wall Path (having left the path at Newcastle last time round to head home) - but otherwise I would say either side of the river to Newcastle is not particularly worth doing.

Indeed, if I were to do this walk again (and this I may well do as there have been some very enjoyable parts), I would at this point get on the ferry, head across to South Shields - and then it is a nice walk round to Sunderland, with more beaches, some cliffs and Lizard Point to enjoy along the way. The writeup for that walk can be found here.

As it is, I continue my journey on to Newcastle and head round the disused docks, before meeting up with Royal Quays Marina.

This is a pretty little marina, and I stop at a bench on the far side just before the River Tyne Trail heads off in on an inland course.

Royal Quays Marina

View from my bench before I head inland

This marina is next to the ferry terminal and as I sit here there are numerous Dutch cyclists heading past and out, for what I guess is their idea of a holiday. 😆

Heading on the path goes through a nice park, before joining up with a dual carriageway - which I now unfortunately have to follow to East Howden.

From there the River Tyne Trail heads back towards the river, but the route doesn't look amazing, so instead I continue to follow the cycle route over the A19 and then over scrubland to Willington Quay, and I think I make the right choice coming this way.

Here I return to some road walking as I rejoin the River Tyne Trail, heading round industrial parks on my way to Wallsend.

The industrial parks are not rough industry, and there is no smog or fumes or anything of that sort, but as these sites need security you do get a little tired of being surrounded by fences that are very much designed to keep people out and away.

But after this slightly forgettable section, I do find myself arriving at Segedunum Roman Fort and the beginning of the Hadrian's Wall Path.

This is the site of the most easterly fort along Hadrian's Wall - and in fact this was an extension of the wall, built five years after the main section was completed. 

A model of the fort in Roman times

There is a second fort across the river at South Shields, and these two forts were designed to be sat in view of each other, at the exposed seaward end of the wall. 

In general there isn't that much to see today - mostly because the Victorians built over the top of the original fort, and so mostly what remains is the layout (which can be seen from the raised tower).

The one section that has been reconstructed is a replica Roman bath house, which you can see from the main path as you head by.

The replica Roman bath house

I'm curious as to what foreign visitors make of Hadrian's Wall if they arrive off the ferry from Amsterdam and then directly head off to walk the wall. There is no polite way to say it - this section of the wall is hugely disappointing and the whole Newcastle section of Hadrian's Wall is particularly half arsed. 

Generally I try to be positive on these write ups, and I believe Hadrian's Wall in the main to be some of the best walking in the country which I come back to walk regularly - but with this walk done I will be finishing all my walks at Heddon-on-the-Wall from now on, as the Newcastle section just isn't that nice. 

However - what I would recommend for people doing the walk (in either direction) is to either extend the Hadrian's Wall Path route out to North Shields Ferry (same route as followed here) or (as recommended) get on the metro to North Shields - and then walk to the ferry. From there you can take the Shields Ferry across to South Shields, and walk round to the twin Arbeia Fort - which is a better preserved site and which includes a rebuilt west gate (see below) :

The twin Arbeia Fort at South Shields reconstructed west gate

With this having a more substantial remains of the Roman activity, this feels like a more fitting start or end to a walk along Hadrian's Wall - and you can see more information about the fort in the middle of the walk writeup at the end of this link.

But, sticking with the walk today, and seeking to slightly soften the negativity, on this walk I did stop at a bench slightly further up, and was joined by a lady out collecting blackberries with her husband - who talked me through the changes in the area over the years, and who got me caught up on all the plans to potentially move the Shields Ferry further up towards the sea. So a magical walking experience it might not be, but the people are at least very friendly.

Continuing on, the path continues along a cycle route, and crosses over a minor road, where you can see a large sculpture of a roman coin.

A roman coin

And then it is back to following the cycle trail, which does start to smarten itself up a bit as we head into St Anthony's.

Here the Hadrian's Wall Path peels off from the main cycle route (although if I'm honest I'm not sure that the cycle route isn't the better route), and drops down to the edge of the River Tyne at Walkers Riverside Park.

Down by the River Tyne

It is a very quiet section to walk along here - and there really aren't very many people about. In this section you can see a lot of the old industry along the river, but the river is not particularly well connected up to the houses to the north.

Walkers Riverside Park was built in the 1980s and is getting a bit rough around the edges, but at the same time, the few people I do see out and about are friendly - including two young lads who stop me to ask if some wood in the river is a shipwreck; and it is indeed the remains of a ship that has long ago been left to rot on the rivers edge.

I looked this section of park up online and overall this section has some mixed reviews, which tend towards a slightly favorable 3.8 star rating. Some of the reviews are very positive and focus on the prettiness of the flora, while others recommend it as a good site for taking drugs and a place to get hunted down by troublemakers on bikes - so swings and roundabouts really. 

It is undoubtedly neglected and in need of a bit of love to turn it back into a popular and well visited site, but before too long, St Peter's heads into view further along in the distance.

St Peter's ahead on the right

By now we are getting very close to the centre of Newcastle - and the posh developments are starting to pop up again. In particular the area around St Peter's marina is looking particularly up market today.

St Peter's Marina

Here I stop for a bit at a bench, but have to give it up to an old lady who is walking with a zimmerframe - I think for me to remain on the bench would have been a touch unkind - and once again, I cut slightly inland in order to follow some quiet roads round past St Lawrence.

Here the path crosses over a bridge, and all of a sudden the sparkly and well presented centre of Newcastle begins.

Here I head along the river front towards the many bridges of Newcastle - catching up with a friend who happens to be out for a lunch time walk here as I pass by.

The bridges in the distance

The bridges closer up

At the Swing Bridge I have reached the same spot I reached when I was arriving at Newcastle from the other direction, on my way from Hexham along Hadrian's Wall - and the writeup for that walk can be found at the end of this link.

For now though, it is time to turn to the right and take on the big climb up to the station on the higher ground above - and head home.

For the next section of coast path from Newcastle to Sunderland click here.

Enjoyment Rating : ⭐⭐ ★ ★ ★ / 5

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 88 OS Landranger map - while there is also a Northumberland Coast Path guidebook that covers Berwick-upon-Tweed down to Newcastle centre or a Hadrian's Wall guidebook that covers the section from Segedunum which both include OS mapping (links redirect to Amazon). The route is in general well way-marked.