Now a down-at-heel suburb of Redcar, the houses in Dormanstown were originally built in 1920, to house hundreds of workers employed by the Dorman Long Iron and Steel works – the company responsible for the building of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. No vestiges of this past glory can be seen as we set off in the grey mist towards the A1085.

However, as we walk along the busy road, ghostly signs of heavy industry emerge out of the mist.

Walking head down we nearly miss the turnoff to the Teesdale Way which takes us down besides the pipelines and alongside a railway track.

At one point we are directed across a walkway under a steel bridge, which wobbles alarmingly half way across – I stare straight ahead.

Shortly afterwards we are faced with the first challenge of the walk – flooding. With a high concrete wall on one side and a wire fence on the other, there is no way out but through. Treading carefully, keeping to the slightly higher side of the path, I squelch through the mud expecting a cold trickle of water to find its way into my boots at any moment. We manage it but we are not out of the woods yet. This time the water is even deeper, so Damian has a brainwave and fishes out two plastic dustbin liners out of his bag and ties them on to his feet. I am not so lucky – I only have one plastic bag, but I engineer my waterproof trousers under the heel of my other boot and hope for the best. It works – we have dry feet! Unfortunately I am so traumatised by the whole experience I forget to take a photo.

Soon after we reach higher ground, following some pipelines alongside what can be seen of the steelworks.

Close up to the pipelines I notice they are labelled Oxygen and Argon (no idea). Later research tells me that Argon is one of the “noble” gases which do not react with other chemical substances. it is non toxic and is found naturally in air. Argon has hundreds of different uses in various industries but the one I will remember is its application as a preservative. The American Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are kept in Argon filled cases to inhibit degradation.

Incongruous as it may be, this sculpture lifts the spirits.

A little later we arrive at South Bank station, where only westbound trains stop due to a faulty footbridge.

It takes us a while to notice the continuation of the path behind the footbridge, through some metal gates, marking, among other things, the importance of a local primary school which closed in 2005.

The gates are also marked by a beautifully polished lump of granite….or is it concrete?

We then discover that we are walking the last leg of the Teasdale Way, known as the Black Path – to our left the wall has become a space for community photographs and artwork celebrating the area’s industrial past.

Eventually the path leads us out on to a minor road – for a second I am taken in by this sculpture before I realise these boots are not made for walking.

Further down the path they appear again………………..so convincing at first glance.

By now we are both hungry and I have a hot spot on my toe to attend to……………there seems to be nowhere suitable to stop so we have to make do with a log. It looks like someone else has chosen this spot to rest – there are the remains of a fire and the place is strewn with litter. I dig out the blister plasters and stuff down an egg sandwich as quickly as possible so we can move on.

Turning off right besides the football stadium, we finally reach the river. On the side wall is this inscription, and for the uninitiated a “Parmo” is a local delicacy consisting of a breaded cutlet of chicken or pork topped with a white bechamel sauce and cheese, usually cheddar. I didn’t really fancy it.

As we approach Middlesbrough dock, a huge, what looks like a butterfly net, comes into view.

The sculptor is the internationally renowned Anish Kapoor and is entitled Temenos, the ancient Greek name for a piece of land dedicated to a god and assigned as a sanctuary. It is difficult to photograph the whole piece from where we are standing so here is one end ………….

and here is the other………………

Just as compelling is the extraordinary Tees Transporter Bridge which spans the river from Middlesbrough to Stockton-on-Tees. Opened in 1911 the bridge was used to provide a ferry service for both pedestrians and vehicles. The crossing took 90 seconds. It is currently closed due to safety concerns and now awaits its fate. The Wiki page has a cute Gif showing how it works but access to this is barred (despite spending 20 minutes trying to share it). That just leaves the Newport Transporter in South Wales as the only operational bridge of this kind in the UK.

We’ll make do with screenshots………………

In front of the bridge a beautifully constructed brick wall with viewing portals still stands……..

Reaching the riverbank we find a bench for coffee and biscuits – I feel a sense of foreboding as I stare at the opposite bank – that’s where we’re going tomorrow.

From here it’s an easy walk along the riverbank and the sun is shining. In the distance is our destination – Newport Bridge. Built by Dorman Long, our local hero, it was designed as a vertical lift bridge to allow for ships to pass underneath but with the decline of industry in the area this was deemed unnecessary, so it now functions as a road and pedestrian bridge.

We turn left at the bridge and walk back to our Travelodge – this has been yet another unusual twist in the history of our “coastal” walk.

Distance: 10 miles