The Blast

[Davyred]

I didn't know whether to post this here or in the 'all our yesterdays' section, so feel free to move it mods.

Seeing the parking at the blast thread got me wondering as to what the place looks like now compared to the last time I was there. I googled it and came up with these images...











The change in the Hopes Nose area is unbelievable. I can remember fishing in between the two tips there as it was sheltered from the wind, but the beach is practically unrecognisable, especially the North end of it.

I never really had much success with codling there, mainly because in favourable conditions, I'd be found at marks around Sunderland, but had some fantastic Whiting sessions. Me and Mick Brown fished the south end one night and lost count of the number of quality whiting we caught - by quality, I mean fish over 1.5lb - it was fantastic fishing. We noted the spot and the time of the tide etc and regularly returned to get some good catches, but never as good as that first time.

Other memories are scouring the beach for coal and wood to build fires, placing a biggish flat stone on top of our anchor lamps to heat up our pasties, and getting bogged down in the slurry at the north end of the beach.

Really loved the place at the time, and had some great times there.

[eddie t]

Me and my dad fished there all the time lol my dad used to park the car in the pit car park lol the good old days.

Great pics take's ya back a bit looking at them.

Cheers mate.

[seanyrooroo]

The biggest change I've noticed is how much the water line has come up the beach. I remember not long after the pit closed I was fishing the beach in front of noses. Now on big tides the tide comes within 50yds of the base of the cliffs at Nanny goats path. The Green wall has changed a lot too, on certain tides you could fish the sand at the low tide line. The chems and its huge heap that could be fished on a huge sea as you were up above the sea, even above the stack at one point. How times change!!

[eddie t]

One of the biggest changes is the watercolor and there's a lot more snags
there as well.

[Stewart 1971]

The biggest change I've noticed is how much the water line has come up the beach. I remember not long after the pit closed I was fishing the beach in front of noses. Now on big tides the tide comes within 50yds of the base of the cliffs at Nanny goats path. The Green wall has changed a lot too, on certain tides you could fish the sand at the low tide line. The chems and its huge heap that could be fished on a huge sea as you were up above the sea, even above the stack at one point. How times change!!

Might be going back a bit further than you Sean but when I fished the Green Wall in the late 1980's there was nearly always a beach in front apart from an hour or two around high water. There was a roadway made out of compacted spoil down from Noses Point onto the Chemical beach then around the front of the point to the Blast. Just north of Noses was a good low water shot between the point and the stack that was there then - I remember fishing the old Seaham club nighthawk matches that were 10pm to 7am starting there at LT then moving along to fish the Blast as the flood kicked in.

A mate of mine back then (lost touch unfortunately) called Steve caught a 14lb cod off the Chems in winter 1989 in a daylight comp - I remember I drew a good peg on the South Pier so didn't fish with him and ended up blanking...

Loads of memories and things have certainly changed over the years.

[john/r]

great pics m8 thanks nice to see them times again used to fish there 40 yr ago.

[Deans]

great pics there dave.

even I can see in recent years (last decade) how the tide line is creeping further towards the cliffs.
look at the flat rock ( or should we call it the 'no' rock now)