Seaham

 


I thought I'd take you over to the east coast this week, to the delightful little seaside town of Seaham in County Durham. Lord Byron lived, and was married here in the 19th century, and his daughter, the mathematician Ada Lovelace, was born here. Seaham was a less attractive place in those days, as Byron wrote in a letter to a friend: "Upon this dreary coast we have nothing but county meetings and shipwrecks; and I have this day dined upon fish, which probably dined upon the crews of several colliers lost in the late gales. But I saw the sea once more in all the glories of surf and foam."


Let's head down to the beach. I'm looking for these things, called variously; hag stones, worm stones, or holey stones. The holes are made by marine organisms and they make ideal, natural fishing weights. The beach is also famous for sea glass. There was a large bottleworks in the town at the end of the 19th century and waste glass was dumped into the sea. Over the years, the shards have become smooth and are used in costume jewellery.


There are also a number of these curious looking things on the sand. These are Pleurobrachia pileus, a species of comb jelly, commonly known as a sea gooseberry. In the winter, these animals live on the sea floor, but in the other seasons they spend their nights in the upper waters before dropping down to deeper waters during the day, feeding as they go.


Talking of marine organisms, I think it's time for a spot of lunch. Usually, I like to try different places, but on our last visit to Seaham, we discovered The Lamp Room , and their Seaham Chowder would have Rick Stein salivating like one of Pavlov's dogs. A must to return to.


By way of a diversion, a Garden Bumblebee, Bombus hortorum, has wandered into the restaurant. A member of staff has kindly ejected it with a drop of honeyed water in a paper cup. You can't beat the service here! The Garden Bumblebee is one of 24 species of bumblebee in the UK.


It's nice to see the insects beginning to make an appearance. This Seven-spot Ladybird, Coccinella septempuncta, was prowling about in the gardens too. Getting to know the complex world of our smaller cohabitants of the planet can be confusing at first. Beetles and butterflies; spiders and scorpions; woodlice and worms. How do you tell them all apart? To say nothing of crane flies, dragonflies, bee flies and yet more butterflies. Are they all flies? If not, why call them so? If you're fascinated but confused by the beautiful world of the very small then may I recommend my Quick Guide to Creepy-Crawlies , £14.99 from Amazon.

Best regards,

Steve Daniels

This page is sponsored by SVCwithEtsy 


 

Location: Seaham, UK

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