Old Hartley and Blyth

This is night No.35/2019 living in my caravan and it's my second night at the Old Hartley C&MC Site near Whitley Bay.

I'm glad I'm moving on tomorrow. Apart from the weather, this is definitely not one of the better sites on the club network. The ground doesn't drain well, and like all around here, the mud is a black greasy substance which isn't easy to clean up, especially with 2 dogs. It reminds me of the bedding on  old railway tracks?

It really is a gritty, post industrial area. There's really nothing for me in this area and this site is located on the outskirts of a quite run down village. And what really cheesed me off was that a group of neds were wandering around the site last night. That was the last straw for me, this is not a site for my idea of touring!

It really was grim last night.

As well as the atrociously wet weather, it was also blowing a full gale. It was a case of a bottle of cider, the radio, and the roof pulled down to ride it out.

It was a slight improvement this morning, but when I went for a walk with the dogs, the skies opened up again, and we were completely soaked.

This is the lighthouse just offshore. There's a causeway making the small island accessible at low tide. Incredibly, I noticed a car with it's headlights on, actually on the island!

After lunch, took the dogs a walk down along what is known as Holywell Dene. A very nice, if muddy, walk. The stream was in full spate.

Nice day to see waterfalls. This one drops about 10 feet.

We went for a short drive to Blyth. A mix of lovely traditional brick built houses, port buildings, and a dismal town centre! Nice beach though.

This was looking back at where I'm staying and the lighthouse.

Nice sandy beach for walking the dogs.

I met a bloke with 2 brown spaniels, just like mine, who couldn't believe it wasn't winter, it was so blustery and cold!

It cleared later in the evening, so I took the opportunity to take the coastal trail to Seaton Sluice.

Looking back at St Marys Island.

This was quite interesting; a plaque unveiled in 1984 commemorated the completion of the sea defences on one of the bays. Quite an impressive structure.

At Seaton Sluice. The further away building is on Rock Island, an island created by the digging of a channel to improve entry to the harbour.

This is what was known as 'Sandy Island'. It's formed from the ballast deposited by ships before loading up with coal and salt.

The cut which forms Rock Island.

Glad to be moving on, and I'm heading up the coast to a Farm CL near Berwick Upon Tweed.

Spooky old thing, I recognised the wardens who were on duty here when I arrived. They must rotate every so often. Thankfully, she didn't recognise me. She was the warden on the only site I've ever left a negative review about on the C&MC Website!