10.7 miles.

Explorer Maps 317, - Newcastle Upon Tyne

A great walk for any time of the year, though it helps to have good visibility and a sunny day.
There are splendid sea views to be had all the way along the Coastal Path from South Shields to Whitburn.
The old part of Whitburn is well worth looking around.
The return leg takes toy over farmland and a golf course, with easy to follow footpaths.
Navigation is very straightforward, and there are no gradients of any particular note.

For a Memory Map overlay of the walk described, please select the above link.
(Overlay made with Version 5 of Memory Map)

Some new mapping software is now availabe which you may want to try, - QUO mapping. You can download the software for free from the link below, complete with demonstration maps. Having installed QUO, you can import and export Memory Map overlays. Thus YOU DON'T NEED Memory Map to use any of the overlays provided on the Grey Panthers website, - just use QUO!!

The start of the walk can be from a "parking lane" beside the A183 on The Leas. If this is busy, there is a large car park (fee paying) at Trow Point.
Cross over The Leas to meet the Coastal Path which follows the cliff top all the way to Marsden Grotto and Souter Lighthouse. This path then continues to emerge at the South end of Whitburn by the A183.
Cross over the A183 and there is a footpath signposted into Whitburn, - by the church.
Turn left in Front Street, and almost opposite the War Memorial is a lane that takes you North.
At the end of this lane, turn right and then almost immediately turn left to continue North up a residential street.
Take the signposted Bridleway to Wellands Farm. Continue on the waymarked "St. Bede's Way" to Cleadon Hill. Continue past the windmill, and keep the Water Tower on your left.
You now cross a golf course where the footpath is clearly marked.
This footpath returns you to Marsden Grotto, via a small caravan park.
From the Grotto, return along the Coastal Path and The Leas to your starting point.