Winter break

A few days away took us to the North East coast to Sunderland.

En route, we stopped off at various places; the market town of Thirsk in North Yorkshire, then on the Fish Quay in Hartlepool and Seaham in County Durham.

The trail along Fish Quay is called the Monkey Trail. We looked up the reason for the name and then realised that the house outside which we parked paid tribute to the legend of the Monkey Hanger with its many ornaments. The link for the interesting details of the legend is here

We also stopped at Seaham where there is an oversized statue of “Tommy”, a First World War soldier by artist Ray Lonsdale. We had a drink at the Armoury Cafe whose walls were adorned with murals of various wars.

Arrived at our hotel The Seaburn Inn on the sea front at Sunderland, in Tyne and Wear, where dogs are welcomed with treats and a sausage for breakfast. The hotel is part of the Inn Collection and often offer off season breaks at excellent rates.

A pleasant walk along the front brought us to Roker Park

The Winter Gardens and Museums look interesting but travelling with a dog means that we do miss out on certain things.  So here we are at Barnes Park which was laid out in the late 19th and early 20^th centuries and is the largest urban park in Sunderland.

Far too soon, it was time to make our way homewards and stopped of in Yarm, originally a Roman fort situated on the River Tees. A walk along the river was too muddy an option so we spent some time in the picturesque High Street which has retained its Georgian architecture. Most of the shops and eating places had signs saying dog friendly.

We would certainly return to the area.