HARTLEPOOL NORTH SANDS. 28-02-16 BEACH No. 14 out of a Target of 52 for the year.

THIS WALK STARTED BACK NEAR MIDDLETON  AT HARTLEPOOL MARINA AS THE DAUGHTER AND HER FAMILY WANTED LUNCH.
LOTS OF FOOD OUTLETS AND BOATS TOO.
I HAD THE CAR TAILGATE OPEN TO SHOW THE DRIFTWOOD AND  SEA GLASS  HANGER .

BOATS.

MARINA FLATS AND FOOD OUTLETS.

WE THEN DROVE OVER TO THE NORTH SANDS ON THE HEADLAND. THE WHITE DOTS IN THE DISTANCE ARE THE CARAVAN PARK AT CRIMDON.

A COUPLE OF FISHERMEN AS THE TIDE GOES OUT.

RUINED FACTORY PIER.

THE PIER IS GOOD FOR PHOTOGRAPHS.

WEST.

EAST OUT TO SEA.

NORTH TOWARDS CRIMDON , HORDEN, SEAHAM AND SUNDERLAND.

WE CLIMBED UP THE BANK TOP TO THE SPION KOP CEMETERY. NEW HOUSES ARE BEING BUILT HERE.

MY GREAT GRANDFATHER IS BURIED UP HERE, AS ARE MANY OTHERS OF MY RELATIVES. WE FOUND HIS GRAVE AND A RELATIVE MADE THE MARKER.

BLURRY BEACH CLEAN, IT'S NOT A "FINDS" BEACH  WE GOT ONE POT SHARD AND FOUR SEAGRASS PIECES.
IT IS MORE OF  STROLL AND DOG BEACH.
BEST ENJOYED IF IT IS AN OUTGOING TIDE.

BEACH BUOY.

MIDDLETON BEACH 28 02 16

A PHOTOGRAPH FROM THE VERY EARLY 1900'S
SHOWING FERRY ROAD, MIDDLETON, HARTLEPOOL
THE FACTORY ON THE LEFT IS WHERE I SERVED MY APPRENTICESHIP BACK THE LATE 70'S EARLY 80'S.
THE BUILDING ON THE RIGHT IS THE WORKS OFFICES, THEY WERE STILL THERE DURING MY APPRENTICESHIP, BUT I NEVER WENT INTO THEM.
THE PICTURE IS POOR BUT... CAN YOU SPOT THE WASHING LINE ON THE BANK TOP?

HERE IS THE SCENE TODAY.

ODD THING IS, IF I TURN 180 DEGREES I SEE THE FACTORY WHERE I WORK NOW.

AS I STOOD TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS, A SEA COAL PICK UP TRUCK DROVE PAST ME. CAN YOU SEE IT VANISHING DOWN THE BANK TO THE BEACH?

THESE ARE THE  ONLY TWO SHEDS SURVIVING TODAY FROM THE MASSIVE FACTORY SITE. ONE OF MY FIRST JOBS AS AN APPRENTICE WAS TO MAKE THE METAL LADDER AND CAGE TO GO UP TO WHAT WAS AN EXTRACTION UNIT.
THEY ARE STILL THERE TODAY!

I PARKED NEAR THE LIFEBOAT STATION.

AGAIN IF I TURN 180 DEGREES, I CAN SEE THE LOCATIONS OF THE FISHERMEN'S CABIN THAT WERE MOVED FOR THE MARINA DEVELOPMENT.

LOTS OF RUBBLE FROM OLD BUT FAILED SEA DEFENCES. IT IS A GOOD AREA FOR FINDS WHEN THE RUBBLE IS EXPOSED BY THE SHIFTING SANDS.

WE HAVE SAND TOO.

IT WAS A BITTERLY COLD WIND AND THE CLOUDS GATHERED.

THESE ARE THE STONES USED TO MAKE THE NEW JETTY MENTIONED IN AN EARLIER POST.

ACROSS THE BAY TO SEATON CAREW.

HE LAID DOWN WHILST I WAS COLLECTING.

BEACH CLEAN.

SAE GLASS, SEA POTTERY, SOME COPPER AND A BRASS DOOR KNOB.

BEACH BUOY.

SEATON SANDS , HARTLEPOOL, 27 FEB. 2016.

AN AFTERNOON WALK.

DAUGHTER'S DOG.

LOTS OF GRAVEL PATCHES ON THE WAY TO THE NORTH GARE.

THE OLDER DOG JUST CHILLING OUT.

SEA GLASS FROM SEATON CAREW.

SEA POTTERY.

BEACH CLEAN ..


BEACH BUOY.

WHEN SOMEONE TAKES YOUR PICTURE......

I OFTEN GO ON ABOUT DAYS GONE BY

ABOUT MEMORIES

ABOUT MIDDLETON.

I WENT ON TO MIDDLETON BEACH MOST SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS WITH MY DAD AND DOG.

SOMEONE TOOK THE PICTURE BELOW WITHOUT US KNOWING AND GAVE IT TO MY FATHER LATER .

SO I ENDED UP WITH A SNAPSHOT OF HAPPY DAYS.

TO THE LEFT OF THE PHOTOGRAPH IS OUR BLACK DOG CALLED DUKE; NAMED AFTER JOHN WAYNE BY MY OLDER BROTHER.

TO THE RIGHT OF THE DUKE IS MY FATHER WALKING TOWARDS THE DOG.

HE HAD A STICK TO WALK WITH ON THE BEACH; IT WAS A BEACH FIND...AN OLD SECTION OF A CHIMNEY SWEEPS POLE WITH BRASS THREADS AT EACH END SO THAT IT COULD BE EXTENDED.

I AM TO THE RIGHT  WITH HANDS BEHIND MY BACK IN A PONDERING STANCE. 

A MOMENT IN TIME CAPTURED.

NOWADAYS THE SCENE HAS CHANGED.

IT WAS DECIDED TO WIDEN THE HARBOUR ENTRANCE SO THE JETTY TO THE RIGHT IS NO LONGER THERE. IT WAS KNOWN LOCALLY AS THE BANJO ; DUE TO IT'S SHAPE.

SO THIS SECTION OF BEACH NO LONGER EXISTS AS ONCE THE HARBOUR WAS WIDENED, IT WAS ALSO DREDGED.

THEY PLACED A NEW JETTY TO THE RIGHT BUT POINTING OUT TOWARDS SEATON CAREW RATHER THAN  HARTLEPOOL HEADLAND ACROSS THE HARBOUR.

I SAY JETTY... IT IS MADE UP OF A COLLECTION OF INTERLOCKING MAN MADE SHAPES. 

BEACH BUOY.

A MIDDLETON CABIN.

Here is a photograph of my Father and I sat outside our Cabin at Middleton in Hartlepool.
Not long after this photograph was taken, a lot of the Cabins were broken into, so Dad put wooden  shutters on the windows.
He made the seat that the children are sat on at the side of the Cabin so people could sit and look at the Sea.
The Cabin was divided into two parts with a workshop area near the door with a workbench and a vice which I still have and use. Dad would stand looking at the Sea making model Coble boats.  The rear of the Cabin had a seated area and an old cooker which used Calor Gas. We had bought the cooker from an old lady up in a nearby Pit Village. This rear section also had a secret compartment for Dad to hide his tools.
For one night only my friends and I; with my dog for protection were allowed to sleep over in the cabin on one summers night. We woke around 
5 a.m. and went and played football down on the beach.
This area is now The Marina Flats Car Park.
Long before the Cabins were built, this was the area in which my Father's family lived in Sea Terrace, so it must have been very special for him to have a Cabin there?
The Cabin community still exist, but they have been moved North to make way for the Marina development.
My Father sold the Cabin and could never understand why. He must have had a good reason.
Many happy memories of Middleton and the Cabins.... and Dad.
Beach Buoy.

SEATON SANDS. 21 FEB 2016.

BEACH CLEAN.

GLASS.

SEA POTTERY.

BEACH BUOY.