Seaton Carew

infobox UK place
country = England
official_name = Seaton Carew
latitude = 54.662774
longitude= -1.188819
population = 6,018 (2001)
unitary_england = Hartlepool
lieutenancy_england = County Durham
region = North East England
constituency_westminster = Hartlepool
post_town = HARTLEPOOL
postcode_district =
postcode_area =
dial_code = 01429
os_grid_reference =
static_

static_image_caption = Houses around The Green at the seaside resort of Seaton Carew
london_distance =

Seaton Carew is a small seaside resort within the Borough of Hartlepool, in County Durham, . The town is named after a Norman French family called Carou who owned lands in the area and settled there,cite web |url=http://www.northeastengland.talktalk.net/Hartlepool.htm#SEATON%20CAREW |title=Hartlepool History |accessdate=2008-08-03 |author= David A Simpson |publisher=The North East England History Pages] cite web |url=http://www.theclarion.co.uk/the_north_east/history/echomemories/teesside/107/070207.html |title=North East History: Scottish doctor's remedy was to create a 14-hole golf course |accessdate=2008-08-08 |author= Keith Proud |publisher=The Northern Echo] while Seaton means farmstead or settlement by the sea.

History

Seaton Carew was a popular bathing place for the Darlington Quakers. Its heyday was the early 19th century, when rows of pretty little stucco houses were built along the seafront and around The Green, a modestly handsome turfed square facing the sea. The museum of Hartlepool mentions that a small riot involving Irish labourers took place in the late Victorian era, when townsfolk mistook them for Fenian agitators.

The 20th century added little in the way of amenities and the place was once considered to possess a faded charm. Recent regeneration work however, has done much to change this. A promenade allows visitors to walk from Hartlepool Marina to Seaton Carew, giving spectacular unrestricted views of the North Sea. Opposite The Green was the crumbling (and dangerous) North Shelter housing the former lifeguard station and public toilets. This has now been demolished while the South Shelter behind the bus station was demolished several years before.

Tourism

Warm summer days continue to attract many visitors to the resort's spotless beach, arcades, and fish and chip restaurants. Every November a fireworks display and carnival attracts thousands of visitors from across the region to celebrate Bonfire Night. There is live music and fairground rides on the Saturday which falls closest to Bonfire Night, November 5th.

Recent events

The town hit worldwide headlines in December 2007 when John Darwin, believed dead since an apparent canoeing accident off Seaton Beach in 2002, walked into a London police station and gave himself up as a missing person, sparking a major fraud investigation by Cleveland Police. Following the events of this, someone had put up a new road sign near the railway station on Seaton Lane saying "Welcome to Seaton Canoe twinned with Panama", it has now been taken down.cite web |url=http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2007/12/13/pranksters-twin-darwin-town-with-panama-89520-20242669/ |title=Pranksters twin Darwin town with Panama |accessdate=2008-06-29 |date=2007-12-13 |author= |publisher=Mirror News ]

Landmarks

.

Notable people

* The science fiction writer Mark Adlard was born at Seaton Carewcite web |url=http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?Mark_Adlard |title=Mark Adlard - Summary Biography |accessdate=2008-06-22 |author=Al von Ruff |publisher=ISFDB] and for a time he lived on The Green.
* The leading railway poster artist Frank Henry Mason was born at Seaton Carew in 1876 and briefly worked in a Hartlepool shipyard.cite web |url=http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/local-teesside-news/middlesbrough-herald-and-post/2006/09/27/vintage-trips-on-the-wall-84229-17835673/ |title=Vintage trips on the wall |accessdate=2008-05-30 |date=2006-09-27 |publisher=Herald and Post]
* Clara Share - Lady Dorman (1853-1933) was born at Seaton Carew. In 1893 she married Arthur Dorman co-founder of Dorman Long and Co Ltd.cite web |url=http://www2.middlesbrough.gov.uk/it/webdevt/council/LIBSARCH.NSF/678feb1611045b0c8025674d004a2b74/b85862f8cb1d763f80256cd40050f08d?OpenDocument |title=Middlesbrough 150 Celebrity Gallery |accessdate=2008-08-03 |date= |author= |publisher=Middlesbrough Council ]
* Jeff Stelling - 1956 to present. Un-fallible and popular sports presenter. Famous for presenting Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports and with his witty 'one liners' keeping the audience amused and putting high profile Ex-Footballers firmly in their place with a light hearted, yet accurate football programme. Although he lived in Hartlepool, Stelling spent much time in Seaton Carew as a youngster still visits the town regularly where is often seen jogging along the beach whilst staying at the popular Staincliffe Hotel.

Transport

Seaton Carew is served by the A178 road and by Seaton Carew railway station.
Stagecoach Hartlepool provide regular bus services to Seaton Carew from Hartlepool Town Centre, services 1, 1A, 12 and 15, as well as service 1 to/from Middlesbrough and Port Clarence. The train station is also served with hourly Northern Rail services, from Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Newcastle and Hexham. The nearby station of Hartlepool also offers a direct London Service operated by Grand Central.

ports

Seaton Carew has the following sporting facilities located at the junction of Elizabeth Way and Tees Road:
* Golf Club
* Rugby Club
* Cricket Club.

Cultural references

Seaton Carew features in science fiction writer Mark Adlard's 'T-city' trilogy and the bus station features in several scenes in the Mike Leigh film Career Girls. HMS Seaton Carew is a (ficticious) space vessel that appeared in an episode the BBC 2 TV series Hyperdrive.cite web |url=http://glazy.blogspot.com/2006/02/hyperdrive-hms-seaton-carew.html |title=Hyperdrive - HMS Seaton Carew |accessdate=2008-06-25 |author=Andrew Glazebrook |publisher= ]

ee also

* Hartlepool
* Hartlepool borough
* Seaton Carew railway station
* Seaton Carew Wreck
* Seaton Dunes and Common
* Tees and Hartlepool Foreshore and Wetlands SSSI

References