Redcar, Coatham

                                                                              A walk by the steelworks at Redcar may not sound very promising but there is plenty to see and the path is actually very attractive. Either park alongside the steelworks fence for a shorter walk or park in the pay and display carpark by the beach. If you choose the beach, be warned that the walk back along the beach can seem a long way! There are more pillboxes to see here but these were the easiest to spot on a circular walk. This walk need to be done at low tide.

At the roundabout just up from the main carpark, turn into York Road and keep driving up here until you are alongside the steelworks and can see places to park on the right. On the way, just by the old railway bridge are a row of anti-tank blocks at NZ 58572 25050.
Leave the road and walk into the dunes keeping the road fairly nearby on your left. The dunes are very attractive and full of wildflowers. The first pillbox is easily spotted ahead at NZ 56597 26194. It's constructed of concrete and brick and has a large concrete block on the floor inside. There are two entrances and outside are another two concrete gun mounting blocks.

Now head straight towards the sea along a fairly distinct path up and down over the dunes. The pillbox is at NZ 25671 26324 and is slowly sinking into the sand. It is a large concrete rectangle with a big, square opening at one end for anti aircraft guns. Leading off this is a room with two windows and the pillbox seems to have been a two storey construction, but sand has now filled it up. Nearby is a broken down brick construction

Walk north across the dunes following some of the many tracks. Head towards the lighthouse at South Gare, eventually you should reach the road just down from the marina, and then walk up towards the buildings. There is one building that has the word 'Cafe' painted on the roof and just past here is a path leading down to the boats.

The large pillbox has a commanding view over Tees Mouth and is protected by a long stretch of loopholed wall. It is a big, conrete, rectangular construction with a gun mounting block at NZ 55514 27367. The loopholed wall is very impressive.

Return to the road and a little way further along on the left are anti aircraft mounts on a grassy hill. Just by the metal gate to the lighthouse is the remains of a coastal battery at NZ 556987 28005. It has a big anti-aircraft gun mounting block and is surrounded by magazine bays. South Gare was part of a submarine mining establishment.

As long as the tide is out you can now walk back along the beautiful stretch of sand which leads to Redcar. Only visible at low tide is the next pillbox at NZ 56243 27090. It's still quite noticeable at the moment but will soon be swallowed up by the sand. The construction is the same as the second box - large, concrete, rectangle with open end for anti-aircraft guns.

Now either make your way back across the dunes to the car, or if you have parked further down, just carry walking along the beach.

2. A circular walk along Cayton Beach - steep climb on the way back. Only reachable at low tide!

Cayton Beach is reached from the A 165, south of Scarborough. This is a new road and you need to turn off at the roundabout onto the old road and then left to the signposted parking area. The parking is by the Surf Shop and should cost about £2. There is a very steep path down to the beach.

Turn right once on the beach and the first pillbox is there on the sands at TA 07079 84325. It has two entrances and massively thick walls with extra re-inforcement under the windows. A little further along at TA 07188 84288 is another box of the same design that has turned upside down and now rests on its roof. Both these pillboxes would  have been built on the cliff and are surprisingly intact considering how far they've fallen.

Walk a little way further along the beach and on the right are the remains of a very large pillbox, some of which is still on the clifftop. Now turn back and walk towards Osgodby Point.

The beach becomes strewn with large rocks and amongst the rocks is a pillbox at TA 06499 84729. A little further on is a pair of pillboxes at TA 06319 85120. There're all in amazingly good condition as they must have fallen from the cliff.

If you would like to continue scambling over the rocks, there are two more pillboxes at the other side of Osgodby Point. If not, retrace your steps a little way and you'll see a path climbing up into the woods. The steps have been washed away for the first couple of metres but it is fairly easy to climb up to the ones that are in place. Keep climbing up until a crossroads with the Cleveland Way is reached. Here turn left onto the Cleveland Way and follow it back to the carpark. This is a very pleasant path, but at one point we came across a herd of longhorn cattle which gave us a bit of a shock. Fortunately they ignored us!

3. Reighton

Not so much a walk as a stroll along the beach, but plenty to see of 2nd World War archaeology. Reighton is signposted off the A 165 between Filey and Bridlington and the carpark is by Reighton Holiday Village, facing the sea. Once parked, at TA 13992 76311, head down the concrete path to the beach. As with all beach walks, you need to be here at low tide. Before the beach, on the cliff, are scattered ruins which include gun emplacements and probably remains of pillboxes. There are remains of a Ruck machine gun post which is extremely rare, however this one has all but disappeared. it was constructed like a Stanton air raid shelter with a curved roof. A jumble of concrete lies on the beach - anti tank traps and pillboxes.

                                             

Walk to the right along the beach - keep looking up to the cliffs to see the pillboxes there - and there's a selection of large, eared pillboxes in various states of condition.
The ones on the cliff can be reached if you walk through the caravan park, but it's tricky and probably better to look at them from the beach. This could once have been a circular walk coming back past the clifftop pillboxes, but heavy rains have recently washed away the path to the cliff and it's now very dangerous.

These are just a few of the pillboxes along this stretch of coastline which was heavily defended. On the beach and only visible at low tide, at TA 15215 75769, is an enormous structure which was very puzzling at first. It's said to be the remains of a boiler from a shipwreck.