Silksworth To Doxford

A walk through the conservation area of Ashbrooke in Sunderland including many fine buildings, Mowbray Park, Backhouse Park and finishing at Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens.

The East End of Sunderland has undergone a lot of redevelopment, however there are a large number of historic buildings, many of them listed. This walk starts and ends at Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens in the town centre and first drops down to follow the south bank of the River Wear before circling Old Sunderland.

This England Coast Path section starts in Sunderland City Centre and picks up the route in Hendon following a mostly urban route for the first half of the walk which then turns down to the cliff tops for the remainder of the walk to Ryhope. On this route you will see many new developments, including the A1018 which the route follows

This section of the English Coast Path starts by crossing the Northern Spire Bridge and then follows the northern bank of the River Wear passing the Queen Alexandra Bridge, Stadium of Light and Wearmouth Bridge where it rejoins the original Weardale Way path around the marina to the end of the walk at Roker. This walk passes remnants of the ship building industry along the Wear and new developments such as the Northern Spire Bridge and Sunderland university Campus.

This urban section of the English Coast Path passes through Pallion and Deptford, the center of shipbuilding on the Wear. There is plenty of evidence left of this industry, The route slightly deviates from the original Weardale Way route to follow the new A1231 route passing the recently reinstated Doxford Shipyard Gate.

This is the 5th section of the Way of Learning. From the busy housing estates of South Hylton, the route passes under the A19 and into open countryside and small villages. The route climbs Penshaw Hill to Penshaw Monument for spectacular views of the surrounding area before descending to Herrington Country Park finishing in the village of New Herrington.

This 4th stretch of the Way of Learning follows the north bank of the River Wear taking in the industrial and commercial areas of Sunderland. The highlight of the walk are the 3 impressive bridges across the River Wear. The walk starts at the Wearmouth Bridge, passes the Queen Alexandra Bridge and then crosses the new Northern Spire Bridge. Along the way, look out for remnants of Sunderland's mining and shipbuilding past.

This 6th section of Way of Learning begins in the village of New Herrington and crosses farmland to reach the village of Newbottle. Continuing through the village, the route then crosses more fields before arriving at the top of Houghton Cut, from Houghton Hill there are views across Houghton-le-Spring and beyond. The route then drops down to Houghton-le-Spring where the walk ends in the town centre at St Michael's Church.