View all photography for this entry
This is the first time in many years I’ve walked around Seaham. I grew up in nearby Murton, and to us this was the seaside, and I have many happy memories of summer visits here in the 70s/80s.
First off was the fantastic Londonderry Institute of 1853 by Thomas Oliver. This and the former Londonderry Offices give a good idea of what Seaham could have looked like has John Dobson et al carried out their vision.
On the seafront is the fantastic Tommy by Ray Lonsdale. We have seen his work before in Fiddlers Green in our hometown of South Shields and we came across him again at the harbour.
The former Londonderry Offices are now fancy apartments, but in my childhood this was the police station. There is a fine statue here of Charles Stewart Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 6th Marquess of Londonderry.
The docs and ‘marina’ are much changed since I was a child. My grandfather used to be an electrician here back in the day. We found another Lonsdale statue her, “The Coxswain”.
A walk along the beaches I used to know so well was a pleasant end to the afternoon.