Clomping happily along the vast shingle and sand beach at Seaham, hearts invigorated by great gulps of bracing, coastal air and eyes in search of elusive glints of emerald-blue sea-glass treasures for which this coastal stretch is renowned, we realise one of the greatest pleasures of travelling north – sheer space and restful room to roam.
While some staycation spots in the south of England can throng heavy with visitors in the summer months, Durham’s Heritage Coast and its environs are blissfully peaceful. A few minutes’ walk from the shore, Seaham Hall, a beautifully restored Georgian country house hotel, is set in 37 rolling acres atop the cliffs.
BYRON COUNTRY
Our first lodgings for this staycayion, the strikingly handsome Hall was originally built by Sir Ralph Milkbanke, 6th Baronet of Halnaby, in 1791. Completed in 1972, the building's history is writ large in every era. Most notably, flamboyant poet and leading figure in the 18th-century Romantic Movement, Lord Byron, wed Milbanke's only daughter, Anna Isabella Milbanke (known as Annabella) in the drawing room of the grand house in 1815.
While the marriage was neither long nor very happy, the couple’s daughter, Ada Lovelace, is celebrated as the first computer programmer and remembered for her pioneering work on Charles
