South Tyneside Unitary Authority

Walk Details:
Date: 8/7/2006
Total ascent: 20m/ 66ft
Total distance walked: 0.59 miles
Walk difficulty: 2/10
Enjoyment rating: 2/10
Best bits: Easier to access than expected
Worst bits: Grass seeds in my shoes and up my trousers, fear of the car (or us) being torched by local hoodlums.
Walkers: Anth, Jim
Car Parking: We parked on the wide, low-edged pavement beside the northbound carriageway of Hylton Road at NZ 353 599

Top details:
Name: Bolden Hills
County top number: 135 of 205
Grid reference: NZ 35029 60194
Height above sea level: 90m/ 295ft
How nice was the top? 2/10
Views: 4/10
Description/Notes: The highest point in the South Tyneside unitary authority is an indeterminate point in the northern half of a field.

The Walk:

The highest point in South Tyneside was a couple of fields away from the nearest road and looked awkward to reach. On the map I’d spied a thin gap between two enclosures to the west of Hylton Lane, and wondered if we could cut through it to reach the top. Unfortunately the gap turned out to be a well-secured drive leading to a square-topped water tower with odd bulbous faces.

Instead we would try to reach the top from a path that ran through the field to the south. We parked at the northern end of the Downhills estate where hirsute gangs of raucous teenagers prowled menacingly outside dilapidated blocks of flats. Not to be put off, we marched up Hylton Lane and turned left along a wide footpath. The scant remains of one of the most comprehensively burnt-out cars I’ve ever seen littered the edge of the path. A huge fire in the woods to our left suggested that the local denizens were dealing with their next automotive victim. I was glad we’d bought Jim’s car and not mine (although I refrained from saying this to him!).

Fortunately we didn’t need to go left – instead we were seeking a way through to the field ahead on the right. As soon as the strong fence of the radio mast compound came to end, we found it – a well-worn unofficial path squeezing between the end of the fence and a thorny bush. It emerged into a field of wheat. We walked around the left-hand edge of the wheat, squeezing through the non-existent gap between the wheat and the deep grass of the unbounded set-aside field next door. It was jolly hard work, but fortunately after a few dozen metres I spotted a path through the set-aside to our right. This quickly took us up to the top half of the field; although it was fairly flat we decided that the highest point was by a small sapling in the middle of the field. We could see the odd bulbous water tower again from here, with a glimpse of the North Sea too.