Seahouses & The Farne Islands
July 17, 2021
HM 144. Lying just three miles south of famous Bamburgh Castle, we anchored overnight at The Farne Islands before arriving at "Seahouses".
When I asked Philip Hanvey how long he had been Harbour Master of "North Sunderland Harbour" (the harbour's correct name) he replied "Too long!" But that belied the friendly welcome he gave us. "Seahouses" is actually a nickname for the harbour of the nearby village of North Sunderland, but a nickname that is now more established than the real village name. (Can you think of any other place where this has happened?)
Phil explained that he should never have been HM. After a career at sea in the RN and latterly 30 years running his own tour boat out to the nearby Farne Islands, he took a part time retirement job as "handyman" at the harbour. After a couple of staff departures, he found himself as HM and judging from the long queue in his office, he is rather busier than he bargained for! He still had time to take me and my crew upstairs in his office to tell us the history of the harbour.
Built to export coal, lime and stone in the 1700s the harbour, like so many on the east coast boomed as a fishing harbour in the 1800s, with the current layout completed in 1890. Fishing has more recently turned to tourism and the harbour has seen several recent improvements including the best harbour wall ladders in the country (photo 5). Good ladders are very important for crew morale - believe me! (Think heavy ropes, kit bags and shopping.)
Have you ever heard of the Farne Islands? I hadn't. This cluster of islands which lies off Seahouses was declared by Sir David Attenborough as his favourite place to see nature in the UK and we can see why. 23 different varieties of birds can be spotted here and we were lucky enough to have the islands to ourselves for an overnight anchorage.
Thank you Philip and I hope you get to retire soon and get back to running your FB Seahouses & Local Area Hstory Group with 4,000 members!
When I asked Philip Hanvey how long he had been Harbour Master of "North Sunderland Harbour" (the harbour's correct name) he replied "Too long!" But that belied the friendly welcome he gave us. "Seahouses" is actually a nickname for the harbour of the nearby village of North Sunderland, but a nickname that is now more established than the real village name. (Can you think of any other place where this has happened?)
Phil explained that he should never have been HM. After a career at sea in the RN and latterly 30 years running his own tour boat out to the nearby Farne Islands, he took a part time retirement job as "handyman" at the harbour. After a couple of staff departures, he found himself as HM and judging from the long queue in his office, he is rather busier than he bargained for! He still had time to take me and my crew upstairs in his office to tell us the history of the harbour.
Built to export coal, lime and stone in the 1700s the harbour, like so many on the east coast boomed as a fishing harbour in the 1800s, with the current layout completed in 1890. Fishing has more recently turned to tourism and the harbour has seen several recent improvements including the best harbour wall ladders in the country (photo 5). Good ladders are very important for crew morale - believe me! (Think heavy ropes, kit bags and shopping.)
Have you ever heard of the Farne Islands? I hadn't. This cluster of islands which lies off Seahouses was declared by Sir David Attenborough as his favourite place to see nature in the UK and we can see why. 23 different varieties of birds can be spotted here and we were lucky enough to have the islands to ourselves for an overnight anchorage.
Thank you Philip and I hope you get to retire soon and get back to running your FB Seahouses & Local Area Hstory Group with 4,000 members!