Situated midway between Sunderland and Hartlepool on the Durham Heritage Coast, Easington Beach beach is popular with walkers and dog owners, as well as fossil hunters and anglers who visit to catch cod, coalfish, dab, flounder, eels, and whiting.
There are the remains of a shoreline battery, including a pill box and anti-tank blocks, built to defend the Humber Estuary from Nazi invasion in the Second World War, on the beach. The large concrete structures have been deposited there due to the eroding shoreline, and are gradually moving further out to sea.
At the back of the beach is Easington Beach Nature Reserve, which has a network of footpaths running across the former colliery site. From here, there are wonderful views of the surrounding countryside from the commemorative Pit Cage installation at the top of the reserve. An abundance of grasses and wildflowers attract insects, butterflies, birds, and small mammals. In spring, look out for skylarks that come to nest at the site.
Next to the reserve and the England Coast Path is the Pay Note Café, located in the Old Pay Office, the last remaining building from Easington Beach Pit, and the headquarters of the Easington Beach Colliery Brass Band. Enjoy a cooked breakfast, a light lunch, or a cup of tea and a slice of cake.
On Seaside Road, just behind the beach is Easington Beach Beach Holiday Park. It has static caravans and lodges in which to stay with on-site facilities including a swimming pool, games rooms, tennis courts, children’s play area, and bars and restaurants.
There are no facilities on the beach but the nearby town of Easington Beach Colliery, a former mining town, has some shops, a pub, and a small supermarket. It was the site of a major mining disaster in 1951, when an explosion killed 83 men working in the mine shaft.
The film Billy Elliot, set in the fictious village of Everington, was filmed mainly in Easington Beach Colliery using 400 locals as extras. Due to the town‚Äôs pit closure in 1993, the film’s mining scenes were shot further north at Ellington and Lynemouth Colliery in Northumberland.
And the album cover for The Who’s Who’s Next was photographed at Easington Beach Colliery. It depicts the band members having just urinated on a large concrete piling protruding from a slag heap.
There is a car park with space for 30 cars. From here, you can access the beach via a narrow road followed by a muddy slope. Take care, as coastal erosion means access cannot always be guaranteed.
