Teesside

As I was leaving Redcar, a chap I'd been talking to in a bike shop said 'don't stop till you're out of Cleveland - it's a bit rough'.  I think NCN 1 may have helped by avoiding the rough bits.  Most of the way to the bridge was on quiet cycle tracks and I felt quite safe.  These led to the centre of Middlesbrough and the bridge, a Victorian lifting contraption.

The north side was also on cycle tracks, but next to busy roads and past giant industrial buildings for a while.  I reached Seaton Carew on the north coast of the estuary, opposite Redcar but very different.  Redcar was quite down at heel with a small scrubby, uninviting beach.  Seaton Carew is a thriving village with a nice sandy beach, south facing, and loads of guest houses. I went on to Hartlepool for a meal but in the end found a room back in Seaton Carew.

Hartlepool has clearly received loads of investment around the waterfront but it seems a struggling town somehow.  One benefit though - beer at  £1.55 a pint!