Coal may have shaped the region's culture and identity, but it also transformed the physical landscape of the North-East. In the latest part of The Northern Echo's special series looking at the legacy of the pits. Frances Griss and John Dean see how the polluted beaches, poisoned streams and towering pit heaps of a decade ago are being transformed.

IF the Durham coalfield died in 1992, its shoreline provided the black border of its funeral notice. After a century of abuse by the coal industry, the once golden beaches of east Durham were by then a black ribbon to fringe a county in mourning.

For decades, waste from countless collieries had been dumped over the cliffs - turning a coastline which should have teemed with life into a barren wasteland capable of supporting only the sea-coalers.

But the cloud of job losses proved to have a golden lining for east Durham as the end of industry became a turning point for the environment.

As soon as the dumping stopped, the sea began its task of clearing away the black and restoring first the yellow sands and then the wildlife which thrived on them.

As the tide moved the spoil ever southwards along the shore, it was pushed out to sea by the action of the River Tees. Already, the beaches are unrecognizable and the entire natural process should be completed within another 12 years.

In some places, Nature was not up to the task of mending itself and needed help. To this end, the Turning the Tide project was started to help people and countryside alike find a new way forward.

The pithead sites were landscaped and a large area of coast turned to more recreational uses, including the creation of 47km of cycle paths.

Safeguarding the area was important from a conservation point of view because it includes 92 per cent of the world's stock of the habitat known as para-maritime magnesian limestone grassland. The remaining eight per cent is up the coast in South Tyneside. Among other species, the habitat supports the Durham argus butterfly, unique to County Durham.

Turning the Tide, a partnership between organisations including Durham County Council, Easington District Council, English Nature and the National Trust, included arts projects, school involvement and many other ways to try to change the way people thought of the coast - persuading them to cherish rather than abuse its natural resources.

Although the area still suffers from fly-tipping and vandalism, the process of renewal is well under way, according to the man who headed Turning the Tide.

Niall Benson, who works for Durham County Council's environment department, said: "The colliery waste scoured life from the rocks. On rocky shores, we will start to see mussels and seaweed coming back. That is what people will actually see happening."

Earlier this year, Turning the Tide came to an end, but East Durham is now a Heritage Coast and Mr Benson is continuing his work to improve all aspects of life by making it more attractive to inward investors, such as small companies and housebuilders.

Central to this is a plan to re-open rail halts along the coast, which should bring day trippers as well as allowing commuters to reach their work on Teesside or Wearside.

He said: "The social side is the tremendously important side. We can prove the benefits of the environment as an economic driver if we can make people come there. The move from exploitation to sustainability is the message.