Leg 6, Day 9; Cullercoats to Redcar

RNLI TOUR OF BRITAIN. LEG 6: DAY 9 from Rad Hart-George on Vimeo.

The last day of our 2015 tour started rather earlier than planned.... We found out last night that the pedestrian tunnel under the Tyne estuary was closed for repairs and that the pedestrian ferry didn't start until 10am on Sunday... This therefore involved a 25 km detour inland up the Tyne and into Newcastle to cross the river and head south again!

Given the deadline of a train from Darlington at 2pm, we set the alarm for 6am and were on the road by 6.30am...

Our first Station of the day, just down the road, was Tynemouth where we took a quick photo outside before cracking on.

The roads were clear at  this time of day on a Sunday which was fantastic, however progress was slowed somewhat by numerous wrong turns as we ploughed our way west through the Tynemouth and then Newcastle suburbs, directed by an American woman's voice on Rad's iPhone, giving instructions in feet!

The centre of Newcastle was fantastic, with some amazing architecture along the river. We crossed over on the Millennium bridge which we both thought was epic -  Well worth the extra effort.

From there we headed south east, back towards the coast, to our second station of the day- Sunderland. The crew were out on exercise as we arrived, but we had a brief chat with a couple of the chaps at the station and were soon on our way again.

Heading south, we ploughed along minor A roads and B roads, with wonderful sunshine and a light tail wind. Near perfect conditions to end a generally amazing week of weather.

As we slogged up a hill, about 10km south of Sunderland, disaster struck again as my chain broke for the second time. Noticing upon closer inspection that it was the same link which Rad showed me how to 'fix' only yesterday, there were question marks over whether sabotage was involved! Thankfully Rad had picked up some rubber gloves to deal with the oily chain, so there was far less mess than yesterday, and we were soon back on the road.

Having lost some time with this mishap, we got our heads down and powered our way further south (on somewhat tired legs...) Our next station was Hartlepool- set in a very industrial part of the country. The crew were extremely welcoming and filled out water bottles with juice, before sending us on our way.

 

We raced on southward, eventually finishing in Redcar ahead of schedule at 12 noon, having covered 115km... Pretty knackered but glad to have made it in time, we picked up a few presents for our children from the RNLI shop and grabbed a quick shower at the station, before catching a taxi to Darlington for our return journey home. 

 

 

A fantastic week, with great weather and meeting with yet more incredible, selfless and wonderful RNLI crew along the way.

Over and out until our final trip, in the summer of 2016.



Leg 6, Day 8; Greymare to Cullercoats

RNLI TOUR OF BRITAIN. LEG 6- DAY 8 from Rad Hart-George on Vimeo.

We woke this morning at Greymere Farm, having had the first good nights' sleep in a week, thanks to the fact that we were in wonderfully comfortable beds, rather than the floor of another RNLI station!

 

Georgie and Chris Leyland had laundered and dried our kit and clothes (which were now no longer offensively smelly, having been washed first time this week!), produced a fantastic breakfast for us, and gave us an incredibly generous donation, before sending us on our way south. We are both hugely grateful to them both for a fantastic stay and for all their generosity. It was wonderful catching up.

The forecast for the day was good, which was a huge relief following the previous day's soaking. We immediately made good progress through the beautiful rolling Northumberland countryside as we headed south.

 

Our first stop of the day was Seahouses- the station was perched on the edge of the town's harbour, busy with tourists heading on boat trips to the beautiful Farne Islands, or along the coast to see the seals. A quick photo and we were back on the road.

On we ploughed, through the rolling countryside, until we reached the small and very beautiful fishing village of Craster. As there were no crew were about, we took a quick photo and headed on.... 

Just as we were leaving Craster, disaster struck as my chain snapped. Thankfully, Rad had all the equipment required to fix it, and at last had the opportunity  to use it! Quarter of an hour later, and with a lot of muck and oil all over us, we were back on the road heading further south (in very cool shades!)

The third station of the day was the busy seasie town of Amble. We were welcomed by the RNLI shop staff who gave us tea, filled our bottles and gave us oil for our chains. A brief picnic lunch (kindly provided by Georgie Leyland) in the sun, while watching the fishing bats and some children swimming in the harbour, and we were underway again.

Gone are the days of two days' cycling between lifeboat stations, as was the case in parts of the North West of Scotland, with regular RNLI stations to visit again now each day. Not far down the coast we reached Biggin, where we were welcomed by the mechanic who was undertaking some important repairs to the boat. We had a good yarn with him while he worked away and understood that this was the oldest Lifeboat Station Building in Britain, having been established in 1851. Just outside were a fleet of old timber fishing boats, which were still active, focussing on Lobster Pots and Salmon Drift Nets.

As we cycled on through the countryside (much of which being 'off road' with yet more dubious route planning by Rad) we passed a small aircraft meet, and decided to stop off for lunch. There was an amazing collection of light aircraft on display, with people having travelled from right across the country in their planes. A burger from the bbq, and we were soon chatting with a few of the enthusiasts, who surprised us by the fact that these small (2-6 seater) planes could be bought for £5k - £60k - not much more than the cars that you see on the road. With a range of some 800 miles for many of them and speed of up to250mph, it was certainly very appealing, and gave us plenty to chat about as we cycled on...

 

The next RNLI station was Blyth- quite an interesting industrial town centre, which had embraced renewables, with turbines along the waterfront. No crew in site, so a quick photo and we were off again...

 

The final stop of the day was Cullercoats, where we were staying for the night. We were welcomed at the station by an RNLI beach lifeguard who was manning the rather busy beach outside the station, and gave us a cuppa. 

A short while later, Frank and his wife dropped in to show us around the station and settle us in for the night.  Rad also took it upon himself to do a spot of lifeguard duties....

Following a shower, blog writing and general sorting and washing of kit we headed down the road to an Italian for supper of Caneloni and Salad before bed.

 

 

Leg 6, Day 7; Dunbar to Greymare Farm

RNLI TOUR OF BRITAIN LEG 6- DAY 7 from Rad Hart-George on Vimeo.

We woke at Dunbar after a rather broken night's sleep on the floor, having found that I had another puncture in my roll at meaning that I needed to get up to inflate it every 2-3 hours!! 

Sadly, the Met Office forecasters were spot on...

Whatever plans we made, we were going to get soaked, however with the wind turning from a cross head direction to cross tail during the course of the morning we opted for a slightly leisurely start, including breakfast (bought the night before) at Dunbar RNLI Station. 

The good news was that we each had a waterproof jacket this year, having learnt our lesson the hard way last year (8/9 days of heavy rain and strong wind, wearing bin bags...!)

Not only was the weather shocking, but again we were up against some rather dubious route planning by Rad, in additon to some reasonable hills.

As we climbed higher, not only was the rain getting heavier and the wind stronger, but we soon entered the cloud and visibility was down to c. 50m...

In the belting rain we passed a couple heading the other way (down hill) at speed. As we passed them they shouted to ask if we had a bike pump, as they had a slow puncture. We immediately pulled up, and Rad dug out the pump and gave them a helping hand. Having told them what we were doing, we were soon in our way again. Later, once we had returned to London we were sent a very generous donation by the couple towards our RNLI fundraising efforts. Just one of many heart warming moments from the tour.

A brief stop at St Abbs RNLI Station which sadly was due for closure later in the year due to rationalisation, and the small population of the town. 

As we climbed out of St Abbs, Rob Martin (an old friend of ours from Rowing at Canford, who is living in the Borders) joined us for a stint of the ride. Our first tag along so far on the tour.... It was great to see Rob and catch up a bit as we cycled through the rain. A short while later we pulled up at Eyemouth RNLI. Absolutely soaked and a little chilled, we had a quick chat with the crew who were doing repairs to the boat, took a photo, and we're off again.

Further south, we pulled into Berwick Upon Tweed for a bite to eat with Rob. A pub had been recommended to us, which (following something of a mishap with a powercut and being unable to cook!) managed to somehow produce a few drinks and some Macaroni to fill us up (a big thanks to Rob for covering this) before we parted from Rob and headed on, in the rain...

Berwick RNLI was just across the estuary, and seemed to be a favourite spot with the local fishermen (presumably as it has deep water / trying to get away from their wives), as despite the weather there were quite a few!

Rad's planned route ahead, was again somewhat dubious... But we made good progress through what on any ordinary day would have been beautiful countryside!

Soon, a rather momentous but somewhat underwhelming moment as we crossed the border from Scotland, back into England... Had you been heading north you certainly could not have missed the fact that you were entering Scotland with all the signs, flags and wot not. Heading south however and we were unable to even find a sign or flag saying Welcome to England which we could take a photo by!

We ploughed on through more dubious off road routes by Rad including s couple of boggy cow fields (I am not joking!)

We arrived at Greymare Farm, where we receied a warm welcome from my godmother Georgie, and her husband Chris. a wonderful shower, cuppa tea, cake and bundling all our wet kit into the washing machine and we felt like different people.

Before dinner, Georgie took Rad and I up to see their wood chipping business, followed by a trip up the hill to their amazing cabbin, perched on the side of their lake. 

On return, we helped Georgie pick a few veg from their incredible veg patch, before a very well received drink, delicious dinner and catch up. All of this, before falling into wonderfully comfortable beds... we thought we might be in heaven!