Homeward Bound :: At the Seaside 🌊

Hi there everyone 😀

A trip to the seaside was very much NOT on the agenda for our journey home from Durham.

The plan was to call in at Mount Grace Priory, the National Trust property that we would have visited on the way up … had it not been quite so hot.

On the day we were heading home we just happened to be up and ready for the off pretty early. In fact … had we driven straight to the priory we would have arrived an hour before it opened.

It was a very easy decision to call in at Seaham on the way … it barely took us out of our way at all … and I’ve long wanted to see the ‘Tommy’ sculpture on the seafront.

Driving in along the coast it was this view that made us decide we wanted to stay awhile, rather than just have a fleeting visit …

I just had to walk along that promenade … so that’s exactly what we did. We put a couple of hours on the car park and headed for the prom, with this the view looking back up the coast …

… and this looking back up to the car park. I mean … how often do you see a car park wall as beautiful as that …

It was another glorious day … not too hot … and the views out to sea were fabulous. It was so lovely to be beside the sea on such a lovely day …

We could see the lighthouse in the distance and wondered if we would have the time and the energy to walk that far … we both do love a lighthouse …

Towards the end of the promenade we headed up and away from the beach … stopping to take in the view through the wildflowers and across the bay …

We stopped to admire the Howitzer …

… before stumbling across ‘Tommy’ … or Eleven ‘O’ one, to give him his proper title …

Having wanted to see the sculpture for so long, I was not disappointed …

It was lovely and quiet, the weather was perfect, so it was a great opportunity to take plenty of photos …

The memorial fence was pretty poignant too … covered with hundreds of personalised memorial plaques, poppies, and tributes to commemorate Seaham's fallen servicemen and women …

It was a really lovely spot, with fabulous views out to sea and of the lighthouse … which still seemed a fair way off …

As time was getting on, and we were conscious that we had a good walk back, we decided that we would walk down to the harbour, but leave the lighthouse for another visit …

Down at the harbour we found another fabulous sculpture … The Coxwain …

It serves as a dedicated tribute to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and specifically remembers the George Elmy lifeboat disaster of 17 November 1962. On that day, the lifeboat capsized just yards from the harbour entrance, claiming the lives of five volunteer crew members, three rescued fishermen, and a nine-year-old boy.

We also found a very nice spot for breakfast … The Lookout … and managed to find the perfect spot to sit for a while …

There was plenty of colourful yarn bombing to be seen …

… as well as the lifeboat station and a few little shops which were good for a mooch.

It was soon time to head back to the car … we didn’t want to end up with a parking ticket. We opted to walk back along the road, rather than going back down to the promenade.

We got a totally different perspective of ‘Tommy’ …

There were certainly plenty of lovely looking benches for a bit of a sit down along the way …

… and more interesting art to stop and look at …

Just before we were back at the car park, on the opposite side of the road, we spotted some more steel sculptures and we couldn’t resist having a closer look. These were the Jewels of the Sea sculptures … 34 pieces of enlarged micro marine life made from weathered Corten steel and you can read all about them here …

We would have loved to have had time to look at them all but our time was running out so we only saw the few that were close to the road.

We just made it back to the wiggly wall of the car park in time …

We were sat in the car with about 10 minutes to spare … as the parking warden wandered past 😅

We both absolutely loved Seaham and will definitely go back. We love outdoor sculpture and Seaham certainly had an abundance to see in such a small area … and it is just an absolutely beautiful spot. I’m so glad we got to call in 😀

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Durham in a Heatwave :: Day 3

Hi there everyone 😀

It was the last full day of our annual get together with friends … exploring the very lovely city of Durham … and the plan was to explore the cathedral, which really is the city’s jewel in the crown.

Whilst we had seen some rain early morning … by the time we were meeting up it was another glorious day.

We decided to drive in again and, this time, it was us that had a tricky journey. We headed for the same car park as the previous day … but the traffic was horrendous and there were huge queues for the car park. We did find out later that it was a university open day and it made such a difference to both the traffic and the number of people around.

We ended up having to find another car park, which was a bit of a trek and, this time, it was our turn to be late 🙈

The city was considerably busier than it had been the previous day, with lots of young people milling about. We made a mental note to avoid university open days should we decide to visit again. It had been so much nicer on the previous day … when we had almost felt like we had the city to ourselves 😜

Once we had finally all met up we headed up to the cathedral … which, along with the castle, is actually a UNESCO World Heritage site …

We were greeted by the pretty impressive door knocker on the main entrance door to the cathedral. It is known as the Sanctuary Knocker and played an important part in the Cathedral’s history. Those who ‘had committed a great offence,’ such as murder in self-defence or breaking out of prison, could rap the knocker, and would be given 37 days of sanctuary within which they could try to reconcile with their enemies or plan their escape …

Though none of us had completed any such crime … the sanctuary of the coolness within the cathedral was very welcome.

I’m not very good at capturing photos inside in low light but I can say that cathedral was absolutely stunning. It was huge and there were so many interesting and beautiful things to see. Whilst you don’t have to pay to visit … a donation is welcomed and there are plenty of cathedral staff around to guide and provide any information you may need. We all just generally meandered around at our own pace … taking it all in.

Here are a few of the photos that I did take that look ok …

Once we’d all finished looking round inside we headed out into the cloisters … 

… where it was nice and cool with plenty more to see …

… and maybe the odd bit of messing about …

… and more selfies …

Once we’d finished in the cathedral we had hoped to have a bit of look round the castle …

It was not to be … the place was swarming with students and there was no public entry because of the open day. We did try … but they were having none of it.

We had to make do with photos from outside …

We headed back to The Shakespeare for a quick one before finding a spot for an ice cream. We then decided we needed to find someone to sit and chill outside by the river for a while and The Swan with Two Cygnets fit the bill perfectly …

After a well needed sit in the shade it was time for Martin and I to head back to The Mayoress for a bit of downtime before meeting up again for the evening. This time it was our turn to be hosted and we had another lovely evening of chat and good food … before heading back to The Mayoress for one last time.

We’d had another really lovely few days together and the following day it was time to head for home … with a few stops along the way 😀

We will all be back together again next year … this time in Ambleside in The Lake District. Hopefully we will see you there 😀

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