Seahouses
Encyclopedia
Seahouses is a large village
on the North Northumberland
coast in England
. It is about 20 km north of Alnwick
, within the Northumberland Coast
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Seahouses attracts many visitors, mainly from the north east area. However national and international tourists often come to Seahouses whilst visiting the Northumberland National Park, Northumberland Coast and the Farne Islands
. Seahouses also has a working fishing port, which also serves the tourist trade, being the embarkation point for visits to the Farne Islands
. From shops in the town and booths along the harbour, several boat companies operate, offering various packages which may include inter alia landing on at least one Farne, seeing seal
s and seabird
s, and hearing a commentary on the islands and the Grace Darling
story or scuba diving on the many Farnes Islands wrecks. Grace Darling's brother is buried in the cemetery at North Sunderland
. He died in 1903, aged 84. The current Seahouses lifeboat
bears the name Grace Darling.
The Seahouses Festival is an annual cultural event which began in 1999 as a small Sea Shanty festival. After a significant European Funding grant from the Leader+ programme, in 2005, it has grown into a more broadly based cultural celebration.
Between 1898 and 1951, Seahouses was the north-eastern terminus of the North Sunderland Railway
. Independent until its final closure, it formed a standard gauge
rail link between the village and Chathill Station
on the East Coast Main Line
(Wright, 1988). The site of Seahouses station
is now the town carpark and the trackbed between village and North Sunderland is a public footpath.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
on the North Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
coast in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is about 20 km north of Alnwick
Alnwick
Alnwick is a small market town in north Northumberland, England. The town's population was just over 8000 at the time of the 2001 census and Alnwick's district population was 31,029....
, within the Northumberland Coast
Northumberland Coast
The Northumberland Coast is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty covering 39 miles of coastline from Berwick-Upon-Tweed to the River Coquet estuary in the north-east of England...
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Seahouses attracts many visitors, mainly from the north east area. However national and international tourists often come to Seahouses whilst visiting the Northumberland National Park, Northumberland Coast and the Farne Islands
Farne Islands
The Farne Islands are a group of islands off the coast of Northumberland, England. There are between 15 and 20 or more islands depending on the state of the tide. They are scattered about 2.5–7.5 km distant from the mainland, divided into two groups, the Inner Group and the Outer Group...
. Seahouses also has a working fishing port, which also serves the tourist trade, being the embarkation point for visits to the Farne Islands
Farne Islands
The Farne Islands are a group of islands off the coast of Northumberland, England. There are between 15 and 20 or more islands depending on the state of the tide. They are scattered about 2.5–7.5 km distant from the mainland, divided into two groups, the Inner Group and the Outer Group...
. From shops in the town and booths along the harbour, several boat companies operate, offering various packages which may include inter alia landing on at least one Farne, seeing seal
Grey Seal
The grey seal is found on both shores of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is a large seal of the family Phocidae or "true seals". It is the only species classified in the genus Halichoerus...
s and seabird
Seabird
Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...
s, and hearing a commentary on the islands and the Grace Darling
Grace Darling
Grace Horsley Darling was an English Victorian heroine who in 1838, along with her father, saved 13 people from the wreck of the SS Forfarshire.-Biography:...
story or scuba diving on the many Farnes Islands wrecks. Grace Darling's brother is buried in the cemetery at North Sunderland
North Sunderland
North Sunderland is a fishing village on the coast of Northumberland, England, and adjacent to Seahouses.- Governance : North Sunderland is in the parliamentary constituency of Berwick-upon-Tweed.-External links:* ....
. He died in 1903, aged 84. The current Seahouses lifeboat
Royal National Lifeboat Institution
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, as well as on selected inland waterways....
bears the name Grace Darling.
The Seahouses Festival is an annual cultural event which began in 1999 as a small Sea Shanty festival. After a significant European Funding grant from the Leader+ programme, in 2005, it has grown into a more broadly based cultural celebration.
Between 1898 and 1951, Seahouses was the north-eastern terminus of the North Sunderland Railway
North Sunderland Railway
The North Sunderland Railway was a four mile single track branch railway line in Northumberland, England, that ran from on the East Coast Mainline to via the station of with a proposed extension to Bamburgh.-History:...
. Independent until its final closure, it formed a standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
rail link between the village and Chathill Station
Chathill railway station
Chathill railway station is a railway station that serves the village of Chathill in Northumberland, England, and the nearby villages of Seahouses, Embleton, Bamburgh and Belford....
on the East Coast Main Line
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
(Wright, 1988). The site of Seahouses station
Seahouses railway station
Seahouses railway station was the brick and wood built eastern terminus of the single track branch of the North Sunderland Railway, in north east England. The line connected village and port of Seahouses to the railway network via a junction at Chathill....
is now the town carpark and the trackbed between village and North Sunderland is a public footpath.
Sources
- Wright, A., (1988), The North Sunderland Railway, The Oakwood Press, Locomotion Papers No. 36, ISBN 0-85361-335-4
External links
- Community website
- Seahouses official website
- Visit Northumberland
- Northumberland Communities (Accessed: 7 November, 2008)
- Tide times for North Sunderland from the BBC.