Teessiders will be familiar with the legendary Black Path, a walking route from Middlesbrough to the mouth of the River Tees. A 15 km/9 mile journey through industrial and post-industrial Teesside. I walked the entire route this week. It’s something of a challenge.
Marketing
Some people also call the Black Path the Sailor’s Trod, with tales of an ancient walkway linking ships moored along the river bank. But I think that the truth is more prosaic than that. The path’s history can be traced back to 1846, when the Stockton and Darlington Railway was extended from Middlesbrough to Redcar. The route was built on an embankment on the south bank of the river Tees, only veering away from the river towards Redcar in the last mile. A footpath developed next to the railway, used by workmen to visit the numerous iron and steel works along the route, and it became known as the Black Path. More recently it’s been marketed as the final section of the Teesdale Way, a long distance footpath from Dufton in the Eden Valley of Cumbria. It also forms part of the pompously named King Charles III England Coast Path.
Wilf and George
I started my walk outside Middlesbrough FC’s Riverside Stadium, next to the statues of Wilf Mannion and George Camsell.
crossed over to the south of the stadium and followed the sign to the Navigation pub.
Next to the ‘Navvy is Ormesby Beck, formerly known by locals as the ‘Tarry Beck’ due to pollution from Sadler’s Tar Works on the opposite side of the river Tees. Up until the early 1970s, gobs of the black stuff could be found in the bed of the stream, and the stench was overpowering. We’ve come a long way. The beck has the appearance of a canal, but these are actually concrete retaining walls, built as a flood prevention measure in the 1920s.
The start of the Black Path
The Black Path begins on the other side of Ormesby Beck. Prior to the industrial revolution, the river Tees expanded into vast tidal wetlands here. Then came the railway, and the discovery of Cleveland ironstone. Within 20 years, most of the wetland had been ‘reclaimed’, and the entire length of the Black Path was occupied by iron and steel works on both sides. Here at Cargo Fleet, Cochranes on the left, and the South Durham Iron and Steel Company on the right. I now encountered the first section of the path that is suffering from a severe lack of maintenance. The path becomes overgrown and waterlogged, so much that a reed bed now occupies part of it. You can avoid the worst parts by diverting on to some grassland, but this isn’t possible later on.
South Bank
The Black Path now approaches South Bank railway station, the only one between Middlesbrough and Redcar that is still in use. The signposts are works or art, and there are impressive murals here too.
A few hundred metres past the station, a giant behemoth emerges on the other side of the railway track. This will become the SeAH monopile factory, a monument to gigantism and hubris. It’s got more superlatives than the Titanic, and there are rumours that it may actually make stuff at some time in the distant future.
The factory is on the site of the Dorman Long Tower, a reminder of when Teesside actually did make stuff. Steel, for example. Five years ago, Paul Smith, the lead singer of the band Maxïmo Park, walked the Black Path and waxed lyrical about the Dorman Long Tower, Redcar Blast Furnace and other reminders of Teesside’s industrial might. But Paul’s piece now reads like an elegy, because almost all of this has since been swept away by the people who closed the steelworks in 2015, and don’t want to be reminded of their handy work.
Always dress for the occasion
Heading towards Grangetown, the path becomes very overgrown, with brambles and nettles towering over your head, and tumbling in front of your feet. Thistles and gorse add to the mix. It’s impossible not to get scratched and stung, the ground is uneven but you can’t see your feet, and progress is slow. If you are thinking of taking this path, wear your scruffs, because your clothing will get torn. Shorts are a no-no. On the other hand, the blackberries are sweet and juicy. I reached the site of the former Grangetown railway station. There are 12 former railway stations on the line between Middlesbrough and Redcar, but this is the best preserved, having closed as recently as 1990. The path dips down to where a subway linked the station platforms to the public road.
When the going gets tough
After Grangetown, the walk becomes even more difficult. Lots more problems with overgrowth, but the main problem is flooding, which gets progressively worse until you reach a 500 metre length that is flooded to a depth of about 15 cm. The route guide suggests that you can divert past this section by accessing a nearby road, but no such access exists. You either brave the flooding, or return via the jungle to South Bank, then take a laborious diversion via Grangetown, the Trunk Road and Lackenby, to pick up the path at the Lord McGowan Bridge in Redcar. I removed my shoes and socks and waded through barefoot. An uncomfortable walk, but you have to suffer for your art sometimes.
The river wide
Prior to human intervention, including river deepening, widening, straightening and land reclamation, the river Tees reached its widest point here. It’s 6 km to Graythorpe across Bran Sands and Seal Sands, and 200 years ago it was possible to wade between these two points at low tide, barefoot or not. The river naturally narrows after this point, due to the incursion of sand dunes from both sides of the river. The North and South Gare breakwaters were built across the dunes at the end of the 19th Century, following an 1861 storm that wrecked 50 ships here. The river now narrows to 500 metres at its mouth, just wide enough for two ships to pass each other.
Diversion
The Black Path continued towards the South Gare here, but the land was compulsorily purchased by British Steel in the mid 1970s to build their new Redcar steelworks. The Teesdale way is abruptly switched to the east on to the Trunk Road. The Teesdale Way is a misnomer at this stage – we are a long way from the river. Steps lead up to the Lord McGowan Bridge, and the path follows the Trunk Road for several hundred metres.
Park and Ride
The diversion took me past the entrance to Teesworks, where a large LED display is mounted on the former ‘Hot Metal Bridge’, which carried molten iron from Redcar Blast Furnace, followed by Steel House, the redundant former regional headquarters of British Steel.
I should now have crossed Coatham Marsh SSSI, but there is another long diversion in place, this time a temporary one. South Tees Development Corporation (STDC) have inexplicably been given planning permission to build a new 1,500 space Park and Ride facility on part of Coatham Marsh SSSI, and the Black Path will remain closed for several years until it has been completed. STDC have never proved the case for this ludicrous boondoggle, especially as there is already a 500-space car park right next door at Steel House, which has remained out of use for ten years.
Warrenby
And so, instead of the delights of the open mosaic habitat of Coatham Marsh, the thundering traffic of the Trunk Road, Kirkleatham Lane and Tod Point Road, and an extra 2 km walk as I circumnavigated the nature reserve.
Tod Point Road took me through the dystopian wilderness of Warrenby, a world of chop shops, used car salesrooms and recycling centres. But at the end of the road, an unexpected sight – Marsh House Farm, an 18th Century Grade II listed building.
Redcar Blast Furnace
I now crossed on to the South Gare road. This is private land, belonging to the Tees and Hartlepool Port Authority, now known as PD Ports, but the public are permitted to use it. The road skirts the site of the former Redcar steelworks. The land is being remediated in preparation for Net Zero Teesside, a science fiction gas-fuelled power station and blue hydrogen plant. Despite the ceaseless enthusiasm of the STDC for a project that will maintain our dependence on fossil fuels for the next 30 years, no contracts have actually been signed yet. And the land remediation isn’t complete yet either, despite the ceaseless boosting about this too. Redcar Blast Furnace, or the remains of it, are still here. Those who would wish to eradicate the history of steelmaking here haven’t quite succeeded yet.
The South Gare
Having passed the steelworks site, I moved on to the South Gare breakwater itself. To the left, on the river Tees, a lone windsurfer was making the most of the blustery conditions while avoiding the rougher water on the North Sea on the other side of the gare. Paddy’s Hole is next, a small cove where the fishermen also shelter from the cruel sea.
The gare has become incredibly popular with motorhome users in the past few years. There are about 100 of them parked up now.
Journey’s end
The public aren’t allowed to visit the tip of the gare. The South Gare Marine Club marks the end of the journey, but the roof of the club advertises a cafe that has long since closed. If you take the trouble to repeat this walk from the Riverside Stadium, you can congratulate yourself on completing an epic journey. Then you’ll realize that you are in the middle of nowhere, with no shelter or sustenance for miles. You’ll find these in Redcar town centre, and that’s another 80-minute schlepp away. As I said at the start, this is a challenging walk.
