Nine of us left the coach on a very clear but frosty morning near Little Thorpe roundabout, about 400 m north of where I intended, but at least this omitted a potentially icy or muddy field.   Heading east through Little Thorpe along a minor road, this soon became a track and then we turned onto  a footpath heading towards the Thorpe Burn.  This path required someone with a pair of shears to remove offending shrubs, but eventually we arrived at the second footbridge which carried us over the burn and towards a metalled road which brought us S to Horden Hall.  I must confess that I then took the pavement on the A1086  rather than the track immediately in front of the hall.  Heading E along the pavement we arrived at a roundabout and we then joined the B1283 for a few yards before turning E onto a narrow metalled road leading to a waste disposal site.  This road was frosted and sloping slightly downhill and after about 50 yds, my feet slipped forwards and I landed rather heavily on my left hip and upper arm.  My immediate reaction was, “have I damaged my replacement hip”.  After some of the group helped me to my feet, I decided that although sore, the hip did not seem damaged.  Continuing E on what had now become a path, we passed under the railway line and made our way down to the “beach”.  Someone has since described it as a lunar landscape and that is a fair description.  Anyhow we took the opportunity to sit in some dunes and enjoyed our morning coffee stop.

On our way again, we headed S down the “beach”  While, as I have mentioned, the landscape is nothing to write home about, the seascape was attractive with the sun shining off the top of the waves which were being blown back by the wind even though there was not much evidence of the forecasted wind where we were walking.  After just under 2 Km we reached Hartlepool point where the Castle Eden Dene reaches the sea.  We then joined a fairly narrow footpath heading SSW below the cliffs.  After turning to  a WNW direction, we were able to see the viaduct carrying the railway line high above the Dene.  Making our way under the viaduct, we then started a long gradual climb which brought us back to the A 1086 road.  Crossing the road, we re-entered the dene taking great care on a frosty downhill path.  At least the paths were decent apart from the frost.  After Scotchman’s Gill we had to cross to the south bank of the dene due to a landslip which occurred at least three years ago, if not more.  Unfortunately this path is rather narrow and not so good although walkable.  On our way, we passed Peter Craig’s group having their lunch.  Crossing back to the north bank at the next footbridge, we continued on the good wide footpath before crossing the Garden of Eden footbridge back onto the south bank.  By this time, we were looking for a lunch spot but there was nothing obvious so we carried on past the two paths down to Castle Bridge and began climbing again until we reached a junction in the paths.  Some rocks, felled trees and tree stumps seemed to be our best offer for a stop so we had our lunch there. 

After lunch, taking the left fork, we continued high above the burn until the path descended to Gunner’s Pool Bridge.  Rather than crossing the bridge we took a sharp right turn and continued along the north bank.  This was an interesting section as the ground fell away almost vertically on the LHS and the drop to the burn was about 100 ft.  However everyone kept to the RHS of the path and we soon passed this section without any losses.  After crossing the burn twice via footbridges, we came to the tunnel under the A19.  A short walk S on a minor road and then we turned right onto a narrow RoW, climbed a bank and found a high meshed fence surrounding a caravan site.  Finding a door in the fence we went through and into the site.  The map showed the RoW  heading SSW but no sign of a caravan site.  However, having looked at Google Earth I was aware of the presence of the site.  The problem was getting out of the south fence.  The only door was locked and although a lady from the site offered to get a key, I decided to head back to the minor road.  Going south on the road brought us to the A181 and after a hazardous crossing of this busy road we headed W on a minor road until we came to a path leading down to a disused railway line which I had hoped to join near the caravan site.  The railway line provided a fairly good firm surface albeit with several icy patches and we made good time as we headed SE before the track turned E.  After passing under the A19 we arrived at an old stone bridge.  Climbing up a path on the right we arrived in Castle Eden.  100 m to our right stood the coaches, with the pub opposite.  

So ended an interesting day with the footpath problems at the caravan site and four people falling (5 in another group).