Hartlepool

Hubby and I have missed our short breaks away, we have always been travellers and often took our children away for a few days especially for their birthdays and between Christmas and New Year.

The last 18 months has been unbelievable for everyone, it is impossible to put it into words and does feel so surreal. For us taking  short breaks is our way of bringing life back - with caution.

We are very impressed with Premier Inn - a basic hotel chain that offers good clean comfy rooms. We know what to expect and are very confident with their policy of not housekeeping the room unless your stay is over 6 days (in which case you get a clean room and your room is deep cleaned). If we need anything such as clean towels or new rubbish bags we ask at Reception. 

That said we do take our own pillows, I use antibacterial on the chairs and headboard and we wipe every surface with antibacterial wipes - it may sound OTT but it gives me confidence to be away from home. 

So mid August we took had a short break in .... Hartlepool. I had seen their Premier Inn was on the harbour side so as everyone rushed south we drove north.

What a super location, boats in every view. We were right at the end of the corridor on the first floor, a long walk with the cases but an amazing view outside our window.

The National Museum of the Royal Navy has a base in Hartlepool with the stunning HMS Trincomalee it's feature ship. The dockside around the ship is full of buildings recreating the shops needed to support sailors and life in an 18th century seaport.

We had a super visit including a tour on board. It was very tight in places with low ceilings and narrow passageways. I'm very glad not to have been born in that era and thankful neither my Hubby or son worked on such a ship, I cannot imagine the noise, smell and danger when the cannons were fired.

Our hotel faced the museum and at night HMS Trincomalee looked magnificent against the setting sky. It would have looked very formidable at sea.

As well as visiting the museum we drove a few miles north for a stroll along the cliff tops. A glorious day with still waters. The beaches below looked similar to those at Berwick-upon-Tweed where we stayed in April, it's just under a 100 miles north from Hartlepool.

We also drove a little south to Middlesborough, a large industrial port that has one of the only two transporter bridges in the UK. Sadly it is not in use but we wanted to see it as it's an amazing structure.

We also visited the Tees Barrage used to control the tidal river. There's a foot and road bridge across and alongside is the Tees Barrage International White Water Centre although no-one was rafting when we were there. 

I was amazed at the Archimedes Screw that generates power and the fish ladder for the salmon needing to get upstream, along with spikes to stop the seals sitting on the wall stealing the fish.

Hartlepool is not known for being a holiday destination, it has very few shops in the High Street (but if there you must go to Sambuca for dinner, lovely food, good prices and a lively atmosphere). There a large shopping centre with the usual big stores and Camerons Brewery is nearby as well as a good selection of bars and restaurants along the harbourside.

We had a lovely couple of days seeing new things in quiet surrounds, thanknyou Hartlepool.