30 Islands: Island #6 - St.Mary's Island

Island #6 – St.Mary’s Island

Here was another island I was not aware of until scoping out islands to visit.

St.Mary’s island is situated at the north end of Whitley Bay, and is tidal, connected to the main line by a causeway that is walkable only at low tide.

Happily, low tide coincided with Saturday morning, as so I was able to visit St.Mary’s after doing the Whitley Bay parkrun.

Upon arriving at Whitley Bay seafront by bus, the island was instantly visible to the north, as it is dominated by the whitewashed lighthouse, built in 1898, which last shone in 1984. However due to the wide promenade sweeping towards the lighthouse, it was not quite clear how far removed from the coastline the island was.

As I warmed up for the parkrun on a delightful morning under clear, crisp skies, it became clear to me it was achievable to run to the island as part of my warm down. Race over, I ran about a mile and half down the beach, already busy with dog walkers and keen children, ready to take advantage of the first true summer weekend of the year. As the coastline swung round to the east towards the tip and the start of the causeway, the beach became rocky and slippery, so it was necessary to take the sea wall to complete the journey to the causeway. As the full view of the island became apparent, I could see the causeway was about 150m long at most, across the rocky sands.

The island itself is very small, probably no bigger than a football pitch. Apart from the lighthouse and attached cottage, now serving as a visitor centre and refreshment room, there is also a stone cottage which appeared to be occupied. Unfortunately at this early stage on a Saturday, everything was closed.

Looking over the walls that skirt most of the island, you could certainly envisage the island being bigger in the past and having been eroded by the sea, such was the extent of the rocky foreshore, which strangely, had a trig point sited upon it to one side.

However, I did have the island to myself, and so took a slow stroll round the outbuildings, reading the couple of displays on show, one which explained the history of the island, the other about the islands geology.

The island was originally called Bates Island after the owning family, of whom Thomas Bates was Queen Elizabeth I’s chief surveyor for Northumberland. There was a medieval chapel, containing Katherine’s light, which was wrongly confused with St.Mary and so the island was given an erroneous name. (Not to be confused with St.Mary’s Island in the Isles of Scilly). The chapel, and adjacent burial ground, were swept away when the lighthouse was built. There was once a pub on the island, The Square and Compass, but sadly for me, this closed in 1895 after the pub was found to be opening on Sundays.

When it is open, it is possible to climb the lighthouse and its 137 steps. Round to the back of the island, there was a bird hide, and the vast panorama of the North Sea, with large ships making their way to and from the Ports of Blyth, and Tyne. The sun shimmered brightly from the calm surface making it difficult to pick out much detail on the southward coast, only vague buildings and lines could be identified, but it was a decent view all the same. Very peaceful, and certainly island like, despite the close proximity of the mainland, the fact I was alone with the sea in front of me and the sun overhead, made this a very pleasant moment.

Within 20 minutes I had seen all there was to see here, without the facilities being open, and it was time to run back to Whitley Bay Leisure Centre for a shower and breakfast. A very short visit, but a very rewarding one, there are much worse ways to spend your Saturday morning.