A Stroll With Stu: walk around Redcar showcases beach, beacon, park - and Pacitto's!
Remember that foggy, drizzly weekend a few weeks ago?
That’s when I planned to get out for my next walk prior to flying off to Corfu to see if summer is still alive in the Med.
My photos would have looked like I’d left the lens cap on.
Hastily then, I did this little walk around Redcar, seeking out some green bits, showcasing our lovely beach and having a look at the much maligned Redcar Beacon.
Start on the coast road, where Redcar’s houses start, after the X4 from Whitby has chuffed its way along from Marske.
Head inland along Green Lane, straight over the roundabout and onwards towards Redcar Rugby Club on your right.
The road soon turns into a newly smoothed path, with ground level lights being installed when I was there.
It should look pretty in the winter months.
After less than a mile, Green Lane reaches a crossing over the railway line.
Turn quickly right onto a narrower path through bushes, with the railway now on your right.
You are now on the outskirts of the sprawling Ings Estate, where I live.
Hundreds and hundreds of houses tucked into winding cul-de-sacs where balaclava clad youths roam in the early hours trying car doors, dodging CCTV cameras, and exploring garden sheds. (Sorry – I had my garage trashed last year and just wanted to mention it, but perhaps I should get back to the walk).
Always taking the right-hand option where you get a choice, the narrowing path eventually curls left to emerge on The Strand, at the end of which a path goes right onto Kenilworth Way.
Soon, go right along Castle Road stopping to admire a vintage ambulance that has been in someone’s front garden awaiting restoration for at least 20 years.
Follow Castle Road around an S-bend, then take a footpath on your right that goes under the railway line. Go right past the community library – hanging on by the skin of its teeth – then it is second left down Winchester Road and very soon left again on a path in a green stripe between the houses.
Stay on the path till the end (at Oak Road) and cross over to the Lily Park.
Originally (in 1918), there was a slow running stream here hosting Water Lillies, and hundreds of trees were planted for the locals to enjoy a green haven away from the beach.
In 2005 all the trees were grubbed up by Northumbrian Water, who also flattened the whole place and added some tarmac presumably giving a bonus to their community environment manager who had to sell this as an enhanced amenity for the good folk of Redcar East.
The ‘Friends of the Lily Park’ were formed and they have done some great work getting grants to plant trees and shrubberies, and once again this a lovely little haven to enjoy on a nice summery day.
Exit the far side, cross the busy road, and turn left.
One hundred yards later take a right to access the wide, paved coastal path above the beach.
The beach looks lovely here, with great views back to the towering cliffs at Saltburn.
Soon, on your left, is the popular Stray café should you require a hot drink or a fatty snack.
You could take your goodies down to one of the many benches on this path and enjoy them while staring at the busy North Sea, the numerous dog walkers, the kite fliers, and the wide variety of birdlife scratching around in the seaweed looking for lunch.
The beach here has regular wooden groynes, built donkeys years ago to protect the coastline.
Always puzzles me though that if they are really effective, why don’t they get repaired?
They are kind of attractive in their own way, and must have cost a small fortune to build in the middle of the last century.
Carry on into town – on the beach if you fancy – passing small fishing boats on the prom, until you reach the Redcar Beacon.
Love it or hate it (there are no recorded cases of indifference), it is worth climbing the stairs or taking the lift to the top.
Building started in 2011 at a cost of almost £2million, and it came third in the Carbuncle cup, awarded to the worst new building in the UK.
A strange, purple helter-skelter design, it certainly is different and many people love it.
It is just 8ft tall (we were expecting Blackpool Tower), but this still allows for stupendous views in all directions.
When the wind has parted your hair, pop back down and enjoy refreshments in Rita’s Pantry micropub across the road, but save some space for that essential treat on any visit to Redcar – a Lemon Top ice cream from Pacitto’s just down the road.