Many of you reading this and living outside of the north east of England will never have heard of ‘Paddy’s Hole’, and perhaps even those who know the north east and in particular Teesside may not have heard of it either. I have been there a few times now, and it’s a fantastic place to visit. Drive past some derelict buildings, on past the scrapyard full of old cars, round the back of the steelworks and the road takes you to the breakwater and South Gare lighthouse at the mouth of the River Tees. Just before you get to the end, opposite the fishermen’s huts nestling in the dunes and grasses, is Paddy’s Hole. Named after the Irish navvies who helped build the breakwater at the mouth of the River Tees it is an inlet of the river and a safe haven for small boats and fishing craft which are left high and dry in the mud at low tide.
However, the surrounding area is such a mix of contrasts. Teesport, oil refineries and chemical plants on the near horizon, sweeping views south across the sands to Redcar and the North Yorkshire coast and cliffs or north to Hartlepool and the Headland, the open sea, the river, sand dunes and mud flats, ships, small boats, fishermen’s huts, a lifeboat station, wildlife, birds and fauna and Eston’s ironstone hills on the far horizon.
See you soon at Paddy’s Hole!!
Here are a few photographs (click on images for a larger picture)
South to Redcar and the cliffs of North Yorkshire
Teesport and the refineries
Paddy's Hole
Stranded at low tide
Ship at the mouth of the Tees
Fishermen's huts, Steelworks and Eston hills
Small boats on the shore
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The refurbishment of the promenade at Redcar is complete, and very nice it all looks too. As part of the works 23 wrought iron panels have been commissioned and set into the sea wall. The artwork is based on the theme ‘seaside postcards’ and they certainly brighten up the sea front.
A Shimmering of Northern Light 