Heritage Trails BIG Walk Walk distance and time: 11.5 miles or 18.5km 5 hours (approx) Start Point: Finish Point: Country Park

Facilities and accessibility: Toilets: National Glass Centre, Wetland Centre (entry fee applies) and Herrington Country Park Catering: National Glass Centre, Wetland Centre (entry fee applies) Tea Rooms and Herrington Country Park Accessibility: Some stretches not suitable for pushchairs and wheelchairs Heritage Trails Sunderland BIG Walk Heritage Trails Sunderland BIG Walk Walk directions

After leaving the National Glass Continue forward passing the lime Centre (NGC) turn right along the kilns on the right, follow the path up riverside and follow a path that will the bank then left through the black take you to the Washington gates following C2C blue sign onto Wetland Centre. the road. Take the first right up the bank then at the top turn left and This stretch of the remain on this path until reaching between the NGC and the a road. At the road turn right then university buildings was once home crossing the road at the crossing to J.L. Thompson’s shipyard. point continuing ahead on the C2C As you pass the university buildings path.The path will bring you back to on the right, look left to the south the main road. side of the river to see the quayside An excellent view is to be had here exchange building, recognisable by of Timber Beach, the Cretehawser the clock on the top of the building. and Claxheugh rock. This part of Further along the south side of the the river will soon be home to the river just before the Wearmouth new river wear bridge. Bridge is the Panns Bank area, Turn left along the footpath and site of some of Sunderland’s earliest take the first left down the path to industrial activity. the river. Follow this path passing Follow the riverside path behind the office buildings. underneath the After passing these buildings take and railway bridge and follow this the path to the left following blue along the riverside. Continue along C2C signs. To the left is the the length of the river passing prominent rock outcrop known Liebherr on the opposite bank, as as Claxheugh rock. the river curves to the left, look back to see the .

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Follow the path as it rises and at the Continue forward on a dirt track top of the bank next to the main passing underneath the Victoria road (opposite the petrol station), Viaduct, then forward onto a road. turn left and continue to follow the Continue along this road passing C2C path. You will then reach a Biddick Pumps on the right, once road at which point you turn left. the site of Girdle Cake Cottage. Keeping to the footpath turn again At the junction turn left and cross down the bank towards the river. the Wear over the Fatfield bridge. Turn right through the small car park just before the Shipwrights After crossing the bridge take the pub and head up the bank. immediate left and follow this along the length of the river, passing Pass through a tunnel underneath underneath the viaduct. After the the , take the first right viaduct take the path on the right along a gravel track marked with heading uphill and follow this blue C2C sign. This path runs through woodland. alongside the A19, looking left one can see the site of Woodhouse farm. At the top of this path turn right and Keep on this path until reaching an pass through the tunnel under the access track. At the track turn left. viaduct continuing forward passing Then take the second turning on the houses on the left before crossing right. Follow this path to the the bridge over the disused railway Wetlands Centre, taking the path on line. After crossing the bridge take the left through trees to the car park. the immediate left down the steps Cut through to the overflow car park onto the disused railway line. Stay and follow the signs for public to the right and follow the line along footpath down to the river. until the path opens up between the two low level black gates and a Refreshments can be bought at public footpath sign appears on the the Wetlands Centre and toilets right. Cross the road and take the are available however there is an path up the hillside towards entry fee. . At the top Continue on this riverside path until turn left and follow this track round it drops down, turn right then left to the front of Penshaw Monument. into a car park. At the car park turn At this point you can descend on right following the blue C2C sign. the public footpath to Herrington Follow this path and bear to the left Country Park or ascend the path on the path closest to the river, up to the monument then down passing through some black railings. to the park.

3 Heritage Trails Sunderland BIG Walk Route Map

A1290

Castletown A19

L

A1231 M O South N Hylton Barmston P A19

A195

A183

Penshaw Monument to Sunderland Park Lane Interchange: 2, 2A, 78 Q Fatfield T R S U 11.5 mile FINISH A19

Penshaw Herrington Country Park A183

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A183 Southwick A1231

J I START K H G A Deptford E B D C Millfield F

Sunderland Park Lane Interchange to A183 National Glass Centre: City Centre E1, E6, 700

A690

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Points of interest D) Panns Bank In the late 16th century sea salt was A) NGC produced here, hence the name Pann Lane which refers to big iron National Glass Centre (NGC) is one pans in which saltwater was boiled. of Sunderland’s premier cultural In 1644 during the Civil War a large attractions. This iconic building is a Scottish Army occupied Sunderland centre of national excellence and encamped here. encouraging an enjoyment, interest and understanding of contemporary E) Wearmouth Bridge glass making. It also tells the story The first Wearmouth Bridge opened of Sunderland’s long history of on 9 August 1796. It was built in glass making, dating back to Anglo response to Sunderland’s growth as Saxon times. an important industrial centre. Prior to B) Shipyards the construction of the bridge, the River Wear could only be crossed by Sunderland is a place synonymous ferry or at the nearest bridge at with ship building. Ships have been Chester-le-Street. built on the Wear since at least 1346, when Thomas Menvil had a yard at F) Railway Bridge Hendon. The export trade played a This opened on 3 August 1879. central role in the development of Designed by Thomas Elliot Harrison, shipbuilding. In the mid nineteenth it provided the first direct rail link century the local paper, the Sunderland between Sunderland and Newcastle. Herald proclaimed the town to be “the When first built it was the largest hog greatest ship building port in the back iron rail bridge in the world. world”. This stretch of the river was home to J.L Thompson’s shipyard. G) Wearmouth Colliery/ Stadium of Light C) Quayside Exchange First sunk in 1826 and called the Throughout the 18th and early 19th Pemberton Main, after one of the centuries Britain was in a near founders, the colliery opened in June constant state of war with France. 1835. It was the largest colliery in This provided a boost to Sunderland and one of the most Sunderland’s economy and as a important in the Durham Coalfield. result the Exchange Building was built At 264 fathoms (1,584 feet) it was (1812-14). The Exchange was also, at the time, the deepest pit in believed to be essential to the town’s and the deepest below sea future prosperity. Designed by John level in the world. Stokoe of Newcastle, it was built by In all, four shafts were sunk (A, B, C George Cameron, grandfather of and D) and the seams extended over noted Sunderland inventor Joseph two miles below the . Wilson Swan.

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It was the last pit in the Durham March 1919, the Cretehawser was Coalfield to close, with the last shift towed up river and gutted in 1935 for leaving on 10th December 1993. use as an emergency breakwater Sunderland AFC’s Stadium of Light and beached at in and the Sunderland Aquatic Centre 1942. It is now an important nesting now occupy the colliery site. site for sea birds. H) Leibherr Crane L) Claxheugh Rock Liebherr Sunderland Works Ltd is the This is a prominent rocky outcrop last remaining heavy engineering site above the River Wear, formed over in Sunderland. It is a manufacturer of 200 million years ago in the late ship cranes and offshore cranes and Permian period. As a result of its occupies the site of Sunderland’s magnesium limestone content, it is oldest shipyard: Laing Shipbuilding. now a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), home to herb-rich I) Lime Kilns magnesium limestone communities Sunderland was the only exporter of such as blue moor-grass, crested lime between the Humber and the hair-grass and meadow oat-grass. Forth. Whilst the industry can be Old disused lime kilns can still be dated back to the 17th century, these seen at the foot of Claxheugh Rock. kilns date from the late 18th and M) Shipwrights early/mid 19th centuries. Locally quarried magnesium limestone would The very name of this pub is be burned, usually using the poor a reminder of this areas ship quality ‘dross’ coal from local mines building past. and the resulting lime was used in A ferry operated between here and construction and agriculture. The lime South Hylton, and the original ferry kilns are now Grade II listed buildings. steps can still be seen just to the J) Timber Beach west of the pub. The area owes its name to the time N) Hylton A19 Bridge when large quantities of timber for This bridge was built between 1970 shipbuilding was stored there. It now and 1974. The opening of the bridge forms one of the largest remaining was delayed by several months as a stretches of salt marsh in the result of concerns about the north-east. structural safety of a similar bridge K) Cretehauser in Australia. The Cretehauser was one of twelve O) Woodhouse Farm concrete tug boats built on the Wear From the mid to late 19th century a in 1919. Concrete was used due to a quarry operated from the site of scarcity of steel caused by the First Woodhouse Farm. Sandstone from World War. Launched at Southwick in the quarry was taken to barges on

7 Heritage Trails Sunderland BIG Walk the river to be transported to T) Penshaw Monument Sunderland and the river mouth for Penshaw Monument was built in building purposes. honour of John Lambton, the 1st Earl P) Wetlands Centre of Durham. It’s foundation stone was Washington Wetland Centre lies on laid on 28 August 1844. The the banks of the River Wear and monument is based on the design of provides an inspirational example of the Theseion, the Temple of how sound conservation Hephaestus in Athens. It was built management allows wildlife to thrive using £6,000 raised by public in the midst of a largely urban subscription and is one of ’s landscape. Here members of the most iconic landmarks. public can get close to nature and U) Herrington Country Park learn more about wetland habitats Herrington Country Park is one of the and the wildlife they support. largest parks in Sunderland. The park Q) opened in 2002 and occupies the This bridge is one of the most site of what was once Herrington impressive stone viaducts in Britain. Colliery. Named after Queen Victoria, the final The colliery itself operated from 1874 stone of this bridge was laid on her to 1985 employing at its peak 1800 Coronation Day on 28th June 1838. It men and boys from the local is said that it’s design was inspired by community. a 2nd century Roman bridge in Spain. Many of the art and sculpture pieces R) Girdle Cake Cottage within the park represent the link to the parks mining origins. This artwork The Biddick Pumping Station stands forms part of a 4km sculpture trail, on the site of Girdle Cake Cottage. which offers an excellent opportunity This quaintly named dwelling was to get active and explore the park. reputedly the refuge of the Earl of Perth, James Drummond. The Earl is said to have taken sanctuary here after the Jacobite Army was defeated by the Duke of Cumberland’s Government forces at the Battle of Culloden in 1746. S) Fatfield Bridge Designed by D. Balfour of Houghton- le-Spring, this bridge was built in 1889 at a cost of £8,000. It was officially opened on 29 January 1890 by the 3rd Earl of Durham.

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