C2C Day 4 – The journey to Roker

This was our final day of cycling the C2C. After leaving Hownsgill Bunkhouse we began the day by continuing as we had finished the previous day. So that meant another downhill stretch through Consett to finish off the Waskerley Way.

  

The route then took us onto the Consett & Sunderland Railway Path as it crossed the Annfield Plain and past Stanley.

We stopped off at the Washington Wetland Centre for tea and cakes.

Then we made our way to the finish of the C2C at Roker in Sunderland.

We had cycled 27 miles to finish off the C2C route.

You can view our C2C Day 4 route below:

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C2C Day 4 – The journey to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne

We hadn’t finished cycling however for we still needed to get over to Newcastle for that was where we were staying for the night. So after some lunch we set off along the coast following NCN route 1.

We passed Souter Lighthouse,  a National Trust property. We decided to have a look around.

Souter Lighthouse was the first of its kind specifically designed and built to be powered by the newly emerging form of energy (for 1891), electricity.

  

A bonus for us was that they were offering cyclists a free cup of tea. Too good an offer to miss!

Back on the road after passing through South Shields we picked up Keelman’s Way again, a route we had recently used on our Hadrian’s Cycleway tour.

Finally we finished by cycling through Gateshead and into Newcastle where we were staying at Newcastle Central Travelodge.

We had cycled a further 19 miles to reach Newcastle.

You can view our C2C Day 4 route back to Newcastle below:

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C2C Evening Celebratory Meal

In the evening we enjoyed a wonderful celebratory meal at Akbar’s Indian restaurant. The food was really tasty …

… and the naan bread was huge!

Then we went to the The Redhouse before finishing with a short walk along the Tyne.

That was our Sea-to-Sea (C2C) tour over. It is a deceptively tough little cycle coast-to-coast route, certainly not one best suited for Coast-to-Coast newbies. Yet it is the most popular one?! Perhaps people get lulled by the short distance ignoring the topography when the longer but easier Hadrian’s Cycleway might be a better choice. That said it is a great cycle tour passing through some lovely scenery and well worth tackling for anyone with a sense of adventure.

C2C tour – the day after

Having a morning to spare we took the opportunity to have a short walk around the centre of Newcastle.

  

We found the Olive & Bean a lovely little place that served gluten-free cakes!

On our way back we passed National Trust’s Holy Jesus Hospital a place that has over seven centuries served a multitude of purposes. We were always pushed for time so sadly our visit had to be cut short …oh well, next time.