The Coal Coast 1: St Mary's Island to Seaton Sluice

Monday 7^th October, 10:00am to 1:00pm. This walk is run as an extension to The Northumberland Coast National Landscape geodiversity walks. 

Walk summary: Seaton or Hartley Haven as it used to be kown was a small harbour until the Deleval family worked on it. First making a pier and sluice (from which Seaton Sluice got its name) and then later blasting through the headland's sandstone to make a straight passageway to the sea known as a cut. Salt and coal were the driving forces behind this work, a theme which is common along this coastline. 

This walk will explore the sequence of sedimentary rocks within which the coal was taken, giving an insight into a hot steamy past some 315 million years ago in the Carboniferous Period. This was a period of time of great change as the land surface became populated by a range of plants which allowed for coal formation and the emergence and diversification of four legged animals (tetrapods) including amphibians and reptiles, the precursors of dinosuars. It was also a time when both plants and amimals became very large, and we will be able to see the evidence for one of these creatures as we head to St Mary's Island. 

We will also see some igenous rock from a later period of geologic time, the Palaeogene some 60 million years ago. Surprisingly these frozen remains of magma injected into vertical cracks in the Carboniferous sedimentary rocks trace their source to the Isle of Mull volcano and the time when the Atlanic ocean started ot open.

Do I need to book? This event has to be booked in advance. The walk costs £15 for each adult (children free). The walk will be limted to 20 people. To book a place on this walk please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your name and telephone number and I will send you bank details for Northumbrian Earth. Once you have made the payment I will confrm your place. If you aren't able to come on the walk for whatever reason please let me know, send me your bank details and I will refund the cost of the walk. Refunds will only be given if you get in touch prior to the walk.

Where do we meet? By the seats opposite the King's Arms in Seaton Sluice. Grid reference NZ337767. What3Words: ///crunch.worked.clay

How long is the walk? This walk will be approximately 6 km and will involve some scrambling across rocks on the foreshore. Strong boots are recommended and some may find walking poles helpful.

What else do I need to know? Full details will be sent out on email to everyone who books.