Accessing the Sea

Making it easier for people to reach and feel part of the seascape by breaking down barriers and supporting local communities to make full use of the seascape’s coastal and marine assets. SeaScapes will ensure everyone will benefit from a nature rich coastal environment by contributing to heathy seas, improving the health and well-being of people who live there, and enhancing the experience of visitors and residents using the England Coast Path.

Access to Beach 

Project Lead: SeaScapes Delivery Team

This project will improve 6 routes to the beach from the England Coast Path (ECP), including surfaces and signposting to formalise safe access and egress to the shore at strategic heritage sites.

Marsden Bay: Accessing our Heritage 

Project Lead: South Tyneside Council 

The demolition and replacement of Redwell Steps leading to Marsden Bay. This new access option – timber steps – would represent the most ‘natural’ solution for access onto the foreshore. The preferred option is to construct timber steps from beach level up to the cliff top. With this chosen option there would be the uncovering of intertidal habitat following the removal of the existing infrastructure on the foreshore. It is also predicted to reinstate natural processes due to the removal of solid infrastructure at the coastal margin.

Brus to Headland Circular Cycle Route 

Project Lead: Hartlepool Borough Council 

Providing a circular cycle route that connects the coastal communities to the coast at Hartlepool Headland.

Coast to Clavering Circular Walk 

Project Lead: Hartlepool Borough Council

This project will create a new guided circular walk that links the local communities of Clavering and Hart to new community woodland and to the new development of Marine Point and promotes the opportunities for quiet recreation as a means of exploring the area, the heritage of the close-by historic headland including its huge seascape and the Heugh Gun Battery.

SeaScapes Stations 

Project Lead: SeaScapes Delivery Team 

This project will enhance connections between people and place, from the picturesque artist tradition of using the word “stations” for viewing large landscapes. This project will focus on 7 key interpretation points linked by the England Coast path, from simple signage and interpretation, to access improvements and seating at key locations. The viewpoints will have limited interpretation, appropriate to the location, and will seek to minimise the intrusion of traditional graphic panels. We will incorporate audio soundscapes in some of the viewpoints and seating where it is appropriate.

BlueScapes 

Project Lead: National Trust 

BlueScapes will provide a programme of immersive activity in, on or near the sea, providing on water and on shore sessions to facilitate and enhance the enjoyment, understanding and appreciation of the public by improving and extending opportunities for recreational, educational and tourist activities, including sport.

This will enhance appreciation and understanding of the value of the marine and coastal environment and its heritage assets providing opportunities for cross-skilling. Connecting with people’s sense of place, whilst generating support for preserving the richness and beauty of our coast.

England Coast Path Identity 

Project Lead: SeaScapes Delivery Team 

project will develop of common “brand” for the England Coast Path for the SeaScapes area and provide common signage detailing destination and distance.

The England Coast Path locally provides the principal access to the whole of the SeaScapes coast. It forms part of the wider Natural England initiative to provide a path around the whole of the English coast by 2020; becoming the longest managed coastal trail in the world.

Whitburn Coastal Centre 

Project Lead: National Trust 

The aim is to build a new centre within the Whitburn Coastal Park, creating a local gateway to the coast which will showcase the area’s cultural and natural heritage. It has a strong focus on marine life and seeks to facilitate wildlife conservation, community engagement with the coast and support learning activities about the significance of this coastal location.

ALL PROJECTS