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The Blast Beach

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This beach, to the south of Seaham, is known locally as 'The Blast'. The name is thought to come from blast furnaces which were once located nearby.

In more recent times, it was overlooked by Dawdon Colliery and became a very convenient dumping ground for colliery waste. Over the years of waste-tipping, the level of the beach was raised significantly. In the years since Dawdon Colliery closed, the thick shelf of compacted mine waste has been slowly eroding away, but it will be many years before it begins to look anything like the beaches on the north side of the town.

Such was the amount of waste tipping carried out at Dawdon, Easington, Horden and Blackhall, that there is continuous pollution running the entire length of the Durham coast from Seaham all the way south to Blackhall. Only when you reach Crimdon are you finally greeted by sandy beaches.

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the portal to the chemical beach can be seen

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