6 September 2023 - Seaham Glass Beach
Miles driven today = 68
Total Miles to date = 295
I love the fact that we have a proper full sized shower in our van these days, especially since I installed the new water pump earlier this year with its increased capacity. But we always need to be aware of how much water we are both heating and using so when we are on sites we generally tend to make use of the facilities so that we can luxuriate under the showers for more than a few seconds at a time, even if we do have to continually press an annoying button to do so. I sometimes get a few odd looks from the more genteel members of campsite community when I rock up at the shower block in my Sex Pistols PJs and leopard print Crocs and this morning was no exception, but that's just who I am and I ain't changing for nobody!
It was surprisingly misty when we hit the road this morning but as we rejoined the A171 heading towards Teeside the mist burnt away to reveal the moors once again in their purple splendour and we have had another day of pretty much unbroken sunshine ever since. We drove past the Riverside Stadium before joining the A19 as it passed over the Tees via the "Infinity Bridge" and for the first time on this trip I was able to flick on the cruise control as we sped northwards to Seaham.
We parked up free of charge at the Seaham Hall Beach car park and after a quick fortifying butty we made our way down to the famous "Glass Beach", where dozens of people were shuffling along while bent over looking at their feet. A stance which has apparently become known as the "Seaham stoop".
They were all looking for Sea Glass which can be found in abundance round these parts courtesy of the historical plethora of bottleworks in the area. We joined them and started to scan the sand and gravel around us. Initially I couldn't see anything but once we got our eye in glistening pieces of clear or green (and occasionally blue and orange) glass became apparent.
You could tell the real experts who came prepared with garden handforks, or even small rakes, but we achieved this haul (interspersed with a few colourful stones which Lisa took a shine to) in an hour or so of amateurish beachcombing.
We shuffled our way into Seaham itself, which I have to say wasn't massively impressive. There were a few semi-interesting looking buildings but not enough to hold our attention for any period of time.
There is a yacht marina in the inner harbour but I had to take this photo through some very unwelcoming looking steel railings so we didn't investigate further.
Red Acre Beach is the closest to the town centre and appears to be much more sheltered than the main beach further north.
So after a quick ice cream we retraced our steps back along the receding tideline to the car park.
A few interesting rockpools were revealed as the sea ebbed away and I'm always a sucker for those.
Unfortunately the car park had numerous signs banning overnighting and it seems that all the other car parks in and around Seaham are much the same, so we have backtracked a few miles for our first pub stopover of the trip at the Stapylton Arms in the charming village of Hawthorn.
The locals couldn't be more friendly, all interested in where we've come from and where we are heading, and giving lots of useful advice on places to see and stay. As is generally the case with pubs who allow you to squat for free in their car park for the night, the deal is that you pop in at some point for food and/or drink. So we did just that. Lisa had roast beef with all the trimmings while I went for the home made corn beef pie with chips and mushy peas. I know it's not the healthiest meal I'll ever eat but who can complain at getting that lot for £10:50!
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