The Ultimate Guide to Noses Point Seaham + 3.4 Mile Walk

Nose’s Point is located on the beautiful North East coastline. It’s close to the centre of Seaham and is a true hidden gem. It boasts stunning scenery and historical and scientific interest. The site was once the location of Dawdon Colliery, one of the biggest and most productive coal mines in Europe. However, it is known these days for the unique landscape. In addition to the wildlife that inhabit the cliffs, coves and water below.

The point looks out onto the stunning Durham Coastline and is a place to explore, discover and learn about Durham’s rich mining culture and history. On the clifftop there are many wooden benches to rest and take in the view. Additionally there are numerous information boards telling the tale of the area’s well-known industrial history as well as intriguing pieces of art and poetry to inspire you.

A key sight to look out for is Dawdon’s Fossil tree. This a fossilised tree trunk that dates back to the Carboniferous Period over 320million years ago. The trunk was discovered underground, beneath the old site of Dawdon Colliery. The trunk has been installed upon the clifftop and is certainly an interesting piece of history.

The Beach

Looking out from the point, you can see Blast Beach sitting underneath the clifftop. After a steep walk down the cliff, you are met by an alien beach covered in magnesian limestone and ironised blood-red pools of water. Walking along the beach, it’s likely that you may spot fossils, pieces of pottery, Londonderry bricks and a mass of stunning sea glass. You may be wondering how this beach got its name and how it came to be one of the worst polluted beaches in the country.

Blast Beach was originally the home of Seaham Iron Works which included blast furnaces. Slag from these furnaces regularly ended up on the beaches below. However, once Dawdon Colliery began operating in the area from the early 20^th Century, the beach was used for decades as a dumping ground for colliery waste by the local mines at Nose’s Point, Easington, Horden and Blackall.

Waste from the colliery was dumped directly onto the beach. Estimates suggest that the beach was buried under two and a half million tonnes of colliery waste each year. This included vehicles, containers, metal and a range of other colliery spoil. This had a devastating impact on the vegetation and wildlife in the area and has taken many years to revive.

The Clean-Up

Thanks to a huge clean-up operation taking place in the late 90s/early 2000s, the beach is now thriving once again and has seen the return of an abundance of sea life, birds and plant life. The clifftop stretching from Nose’s Point to Hawthorn Hive is now a wildlife conservation area. It’s home to wildflowers and a wide range of rare insects such as the Durham Brown Argus butterfly. The beautiful variety of plants and flowers are best seen during spring and summer. However, the breath-taking views can be enjoyed all year round. During nesting season, dogs must be kept on a lead due to the existence of ground-nesting birds like skylarks.

Access

Nose’s Point is easily accessible by car. There are two free car parks located on the clifftop and they are both well signposted off the main road (A182). The grid reference for the car parking at Nose’s Point is NZ436478. The nearest postcode for satnav is SR7 7PS.

Nose’s Point is roughly 1.5miles from the town centre of Seaham where there are an abundance of free car parking facilities and a train station with direct links to Sunderland, Newcastle and Middlesbrough.

The main walkway along the clifftop is tarmacked so is wheelchair accessible, however, due to the steep nature of the path, the route down to Blast Beach is not wheelchair accessible.

There are no toilets at the site, but there are public toilets located in the centre of Seaham (approximately 1km away). We’ve included a link below to the Seaham council website for any extra details.

Nature Reserve Walk

Nose’s Point to Hawthorn Hive

There is a stunning coastal walk along the cliff top from the impressive views at Nose’s Point to the secluded beach at Hawthorn Hive. The 3.4miles circular walk follows the coastal path for the most part, but also takes you through the beautiful Hawthorn Dene Woodland. Your walk can be extended here by taking a variety of different paths through the Dene.

Circular walk distance: 3.4 miles
Walk time: 1.5 hours (approx.)
Walk Difficulty: Easy/Moderate (Some steep steps).