Seaham, County Durham
August 2, 2021
HM 148. Seaham - the harbour with some old and new secrets.
County Durham's only harbour comprises a small marina and a surprisingly busy commercial port. We opted to anchor alone in the outer harbour to allow me to "nab" the very busy HM for an interview as soon as we saw him in the morning. A plan which worked.
Going back 200 years, it was a ruthless Lord Londonderry, married to a Durham coal mine owning heiress, who built Seaham Harbour to export his coal - having been charged too much by nearby Sunderland! I say ruthless as he is infamous for supporting the employment of small boys as young as eight to work the thin Durham coal seams, inaccessible to grown men. His harbour was all about exporting coal, today it is all about unusual imports.
I managed to catch Tom Pattison for a 5 minute interview early the next day. Tom has worked at Seaham Port for the whole of his 43 year career. First as an agent sorting out crew & cargo papers as well as repairs to ships. Now he runs all the logistics as HM. My 5 minutes quickly turned into much more, with a fascinating tour of 7.5 acres of warehouse full of a variety of industrial imports. To name just a few:
- Perlite, the raw material of lightweight office ceiling tiles. Photo 4
- Rolls of steel, each worth £20k heading to nearby Nissan. Photo 5
- Urea used to make the adhesive in chipboard as well as "Adblue" for diesel cars.
- MDF from Russia which sailed close by Good Dog at 1am. Photo 6.
The port is operated by a very canny company, Victoria Ports. Clearly highly profitable but a little PR shy! Alongside his commercial duties Tom is a big supporter of the Seafarers Centre in the port (photo 7) as well as hosting groups of railway enthusiasts who come to photograph his rare "coal staithes" (photo 8) where the Durham coal used to be loaded directly onto ships. They are, apparently, a highlight for train spotters!
Tom, thank you for hosting this equally enthusiastic "Harbour Spotter"!
County Durham's only harbour comprises a small marina and a surprisingly busy commercial port. We opted to anchor alone in the outer harbour to allow me to "nab" the very busy HM for an interview as soon as we saw him in the morning. A plan which worked.
Going back 200 years, it was a ruthless Lord Londonderry, married to a Durham coal mine owning heiress, who built Seaham Harbour to export his coal - having been charged too much by nearby Sunderland! I say ruthless as he is infamous for supporting the employment of small boys as young as eight to work the thin Durham coal seams, inaccessible to grown men. His harbour was all about exporting coal, today it is all about unusual imports.
I managed to catch Tom Pattison for a 5 minute interview early the next day. Tom has worked at Seaham Port for the whole of his 43 year career. First as an agent sorting out crew & cargo papers as well as repairs to ships. Now he runs all the logistics as HM. My 5 minutes quickly turned into much more, with a fascinating tour of 7.5 acres of warehouse full of a variety of industrial imports. To name just a few:
- Perlite, the raw material of lightweight office ceiling tiles. Photo 4
- Rolls of steel, each worth £20k heading to nearby Nissan. Photo 5
- Urea used to make the adhesive in chipboard as well as "Adblue" for diesel cars.
- MDF from Russia which sailed close by Good Dog at 1am. Photo 6.
The port is operated by a very canny company, Victoria Ports. Clearly highly profitable but a little PR shy! Alongside his commercial duties Tom is a big supporter of the Seafarers Centre in the port (photo 7) as well as hosting groups of railway enthusiasts who come to photograph his rare "coal staithes" (photo 8) where the Durham coal used to be loaded directly onto ships. They are, apparently, a highlight for train spotters!
Tom, thank you for hosting this equally enthusiastic "Harbour Spotter"!