Hawthorn Hive and Dene

Continuing our exploration of the coast south of Seaham we walked down to Hawthorn Dene this morning, my first visit for 60 years, despite living only a few miles away.  The highlight of the walk was seeing the colourful rock and stone artwork laid down on the beach during the lockdowns earlier in the year.  Some of it is beautiful and cleverly thought out.  We climbed down a million steep steps to reach but there are views from the cliffs above.  

The NE coast was notorious for shipwrecks and Hawthorn has had more that its fair share.  Offshore from Hawthorn Hive on November 5th 1824 nearly fifty vessels perished here in severe storms along with their crews. Local newspapers have recorded many tales of shipwrecks and storms along this coast...


During the Great Storm of November 1901, a Swedish ship, the Sirius, was lost off Hawthorn Hive . Four local coastguards not only managed to rescue the crew of the Sirius, but also that of the Miss Thomas, an English schooner. Both vessels wrecked on the same day, Tuesday 12 November.

There was a coastguard station then (now a ruin) at Hawthorn Hive and rocket posts at Hawthorn Dene and the station was manned by the Seaham Harbour Life Brigade.  The Sirius struck rocks and stranded half a mile south of the beach. After the crew got ashore, all eight of them being in an exhausted condition from exposure, they had to be assisted by the coastguards over the sharp ragged rocks and shingle, a distance over a mile, and frequently had to wade chest deep in the freezing, raging surf. They also ran the danger of being trapped by the rising tide. The lacerated hands of the coastguards, caused by falling on the jagged rocks, were striking evidence of the heroism and fortitude displayed in the work of rescue. The distance the coastguards helped the men, was  over a mile and their bravery was rewarded by the Swedish Government.


Another pic, in the extras shows more of the beach at Hawthorn.


A little surprise for us today was the sighting of a 12 inch Slow Worm so he gets his pic in the extra section too.