'Puffin Way' defended after coastal path name derided as 'dumbed down'

Puffin Way, the coastal path between Seahouses and Bamburgh. | JPIMedia Resell

The name of a newly-created coastal footpath linking Seahouses and Bamburgh has been criticised.

The three-mile long Puffin Way, named by local schoolchildren, is already being well used by many walkers and cyclists.

However, David Donaldson of North Sunderland Parish Council, said: “We should have been consulted. I think it’s an infantile name to have called it when we’re an area steeped in history and heritage.

“We have St Aidan’s shrine at Bamburgh. Would Pilgrims Way not have been better or something connected with St Cuthbert or St Oswald? It’s been dumbed down.”

Chairman Geoffrey Stewart, who asked pupils at Seahouses Primary School to come up with a name, defended the decision.

“They were happy to get involved and came up with the Puffin Way after thinking about the islands round about,” he said.

The path was officially opened last month by 88-year-old local resident Dennis Robertson.