A bit of an early start as we had a Parkrun to do. Unfortunately not at Jubilee park as planned as it has been cancelled, but at nearby Hackworth.  Dave came in an amazing 7th place and I plodded in at 52nd and still outside that elusive 30min mark. Luckily this one was nearer to the hotel so we just made it back for a full English 5 mins before breakfast service closed.

A quick shower and we were off for our first stop of the day, a National Trust property called Washington Old Hall in Washington Village. It was the ancestral home of George Washington (USA’s first president) and gave him his surname as well as the stars and stripes of the american flag. 

After a quick pint in the local pub we continued to The Penshaw Monument also owned by National Trust. This 70ft structure was built as a memorial to the Earl of Durham and is based on The Temple of Hephaestus in Athens. It was an uphill walk and then Dave decided as the walk wasn’t long enough that we needed to walk back down and go into the country park to see the lake. 

It was then onto the coast, where we went in Souter Lighthouse another National Trust property. This lighthouse was the first in the UK to be purpose built to run off electricity in 1871! We were very lucky with the weather as it had been in fog all morning but by the time we were up the top of it, the sun had appeared.  

We had a final stop at Seaburn beach, where we enjoyed a walk along the front. It was then back to a local pub for dinner before having some drinks back at The County whilst checking the plans for tomorrow.