HARTLEPOOL – The Unexpectedly NICE Coastal Town

I never had imagined that HARTLEPOOL on the North East coast of England would be so nice! Come with me as I take a walk round the town, the marina, and the coastline and see the wonders that Hartlepool has to offer.

I definitely recommend a visit to Hartlepool as it really is an unexpectedly nice coast town!
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Right, Let’s Go!
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hello and welcome In the background we have the marina All these wonderful boats and sailing craft here Am I in Monaco am I in Sanrope no I’m in Harleyool Let’s explore everything about Harley Right let’s go There are hundreds of boats There’s some speed boats leisure boats sailing boats big boats little boats and there’s also a lot of cafes and bars and entertainment areas here at the marina And we’re going to have a look around the town to see why you should come to Harley Now it’s not just the boats that are heading out to sea on this beautiful springtime morning Look at them going out through the marina and heading out But here we’ve got a little fell here I’d like to say hello to Hello Mr Monkey It’s a wishing well It says “Make a wish for the monkey.” And we’ll tell you more about the monkey later on but the bell’s going over here Why is the bell going because they’re heading out of the port onto the sea It’s very peaceful out there Bit of breeze Gentle wind you might say And off they head onto the open seas That’s good to see Pun totally intended I just love the sight of the sun shining off the water Such a beautiful thing to see So many boats here on this April Sunday morning There’s even a lifeboat there The orange and blue one Boats from all over the world There’s one there on the right from Denmark Cool A beautiful wateride here There’s a boat just heading out towards that section of the water over there And this amazing amazing old ship we’re going to explore next because I think there’s a fair bit of history there Let’s go and explore Behind me is the Museum of Heartley And next to that is the National Museum of the Royal Navy H Heartley So there’s lots going on here where you can find out more about the past of Heartleyool the fact it’s a naval port and the history of the Royal Navy here in Britain All at Heartleyool And here we have the HMS Trim Comely It’s a big old warship isn’t it from back in the day On this roundabout another opportunity for Hartley to celebrate its maritime and naval history I think this is an old anchor that looks like this acorn in the middle of the roundabout here It’s pretty amazing If you know what it is please leave your reply in the comments below because I’d like to know what it is Domino’s seems to think it’s a pizza but it’s definitely not a pizza What is this item in the middle is it an anchor or is it a pizza behind me is the Raglin Kite Club Now near me kite is what you put on when you’re cold Or is that just a Yorkshire thing i’m not sure But here is where they throw hoops around at the kite club And behind me is the Prestige Group Stadium home of Heartley United Let’s have a quick look around the outside of this ground here And there we can see the pitch here at Heartley United playing in the National League I do like looking around the outside of football grounds and how they decorate and attract people to their ground Here’s people playing football This one’s got seven balls on the pitch He’s cheating This here is Sir William Gray House home of Hartley Community Hubs and the local and family history center but that wasn’t what took my eye I saw the house over here across the road but to the left hand side of it is a big old statue Let’s have a look at that This statue is called Watchman for the Morning also known as the Watcher It’s a 1989 piece of work by artist John Atkin Where does the phrase watchman for the morning come from well it actually comes from the Bible in Psalms 130 Watchmen for the morning It is said that Atkins work has a mechanomorphic quality something natural which has mechanical features or qualities Either way here’s the head the watcher at Sir William Grey House Here in this old church building lives Hartley’s art gallery What a grand old building Let’s have a closer look I do love a good old round window I think you can I think you can thank Floella Benjamin and Play School for that Let’s go through the round window Here it is as part of Hartley Pool’s art gallery I’m liking this It’s good It’s a good old building This that’s a tall old spy that one And it’s a a slightly different design It’s not just one great big uh square section all the way up It’s got an an extra section on the side that goes up even higher on the main bit there I’m liking the design of this building Hartley Pool’s art gallery In this square you’ve got the Heartley Poolool Workers Memorial Remember the dead fight for the living And there’s some connections to different groups here And in front of the art gallery is this statue of this bloke sat down here It’s uh William Gray the first mayor of West Hartley 1887 to 1888 This brick building in the square is the old art college Cleveland College of Art and Design and it it sits nicely next to William Gray next to the college a few bars and shops and the art gallery here As I’m walking through Harley I’m seeing lots of different types of buildings lots of things to see lots of places to go There’s lots of good things here in Heartley Next to Heartley College of Further Education are all these flag poles I’ve counted 29 of them I’m not too sure on the relevance of why there’s 29 flag poles outside here They are an impressive site but none of them have any flags on If you know why let me know in the comments please cuz I’m confused Has your college got an airplane statue in the car park well why not heartley Pool has And it’s even a home for some birds living in it as well which is nice Harley College and it’s airplane You’ve got another community hub here the central one here in the start of the shopping area It’s a a nice quiet area Plenty of trees down the side roads signpost to the indoor market and the shopping center and tourist information I do like it when I see a large clock on the side of a building And it’s my little reminder to you in this video It’s time to click subscribe to Richaw Travels It’s time to click like It’s time to add a comment down below Hope you’re enjoying the video Let’s go and find more things to see here in Harleyool Now as I walk down this road in front of me I see the name of a bar called Three Brass Monkeys Now I’ve mentioned monkeys before in this video I think we need to we need to explore why Heartley has this fixation with monkeys Three brass monkeys In front of me we’ve got H Heartley Civic Center It’s a very much a a similar design and style to many other civic centers around the country brick based council buildings But behind there across the road we’ve got the war memorial this war memorial 1914 to 1919 and 1939 to 1945 in grateful remembrance the men of this town who at their country’s call left all that was dear to them to hazard their lives that others might live in freedom their name liveth forever more war memorial and in this little square area where you’ve got the war memorial you’ve got middleton grain shopping center behind and a few stores But we’re going to head back towards the wateride and explore a bit further there This amazing looking building dates back to 1899 It’s the Grand Hotel here in Hartley Not the Grand Budapest Hotel the Grand Heartley Hotel It’s even got an Indian restaurant Mumbai restaurant underneath it as well What a great looking building 126 years old Great stuff I’m liking this old Wesley and Chapel from 1872 here It’s being repurposed at the moment and soon it’s going to become a boutique venue with 36 bedrooms a bar a restaurant and commercial units They’re creating a new heart for Hartley Pool The old Wesleyan Chapel 150 years old Awesome Look at them columns Grand buildings back then Every main town has a Weather Spoons This one here is called the Ward Jackson Now what is the Ward Jackson it’s named after Ralph Ward Jackson who was the founder of West Hartley He was also the first member of parliament for the Hartleys He was also the head of the West Hartley Harbor and Railway Company and he invested a lot of money into colories in County Durham And now he’s got a weather spoons named after him Well done Ralph We may be further up the coast than Scarra but here is Scarra Street And across the road you’ve got station approach over there And here is station approach As we approach the station who knew that wasn’t just New York that has yellow taxis but also Heartleyool as well There’s a connection I didn’t think before today Heartleyool and New York here on station approach It’s not just blue plaques we love on this channel It’s also red ones There’s one here Let’s have a look what it says This is from the Transport Trust The North Eastern Railway ran the world’s first petrol electric auto car The pioneer of modern passenger trains at Hartley in 1904 Wow that’s a good thing to claim Great stuff But this station just hasn’t got one plaque He’s got another one here Spoil for choice around here Let’s have a look at this one West Hartley station opened in 1880 and on the 16th of December 1914 One of three northeastern railway stations to suffer from World War I enemy naval bombardment This here is the old doc’s office I think it’s businesses and apartments now here next to the marina where we’re going to walk back towards now this little enclosed area here at Navigation Light On the left hand side there’s a couple of kayakers and this dude flying around on his jet ski He’s having some fun in the sunshine today Some runners and cyclists going around the outside He’s having fun He thinks he’s James Bond Heartley Pool’s own James Bond So from this little inset of water here I want to take you up these steps and show you what’s on the other side of the wall here at Heartley Pool This is the North Sea You got a wind farm out there You got a beautiful sunshine shining on the water Got the water crashing up against the rocks What a beautiful day Got a factory in the works down there in the distance The wind farm doing its business creating energy for us And there’s boats in the distance Let’s go and take a closer look further round this walkway and see more of Heartley Poolool Just listen to the gentle ripple of the waves here There’s something very therapeutic about coastal waters and a jet ski flying along too Ying and yang It’s quite a view from here isn’t it we’ll explore that end of the headland shortly But here’s the view back to the marina over the waters This is quite magnificent This is not what I’d imagined Heartage Pool to be like I am very very pleasantly surprised It’s nice But what this what is this we have incoming the boat coming in Here comes the craft coming in into the gates Through it comes what’s it called it’s called Oceanic Take me away as a reference to a music song [Music] there Here comes Oceanic into Heartley Which way is it going is it turning where’s it about to go into there In it goes In goes oceanic I’m now at the headland side of Heartley And look at the sea behind It’s got a bit more lively a bit more exciting than the marina side Let’s have a closer look at the sea Isn’t it just amazing there’s waves coming in How powerful and amazing and majestic the water is Ah it’s just it’s just something uncomparable to anything else you can see The beauty of a British coastline is so special It’s so amazing You got people walking their dogs You got the ships on the foreground And you’ve got that pier over there which we’ll try and have a look at shortly as well But just look at that water Wow Here we have the only World War I battlefield in Great Britain the artillery and trench exhibition that’s worth exploring surely I’m reliably informed that that word beginning with H is pronounced Yuff Y u FF It’s a local pronunciation and it means crevice because this bit sticks out into the uh into the sea area and that’s why it’s called Yuff Battery Museum here So let’s have a look and see what we can see around here at Y This tablet marks the place where the first shell from the leading German battle cruiser struck at 8:10 a.m on the 16th of December 1914 and also records the place where during the bombardment the first soldier was killed on British soil by enemy action in the Great War 1914 to 1918 Rest in peace And you can see here on the grassy hillside some of the cannons and the the fire capability of the artillery here as it looks out onto the sea You can imagine ships on the coastline there aiming in at Heartleyool You’ve even got the lighthouse here as well And here’s a map of the area which details the movements of the German high seas fleet prior to the bombardment of the Heartleys on Wednesday 16th of December 1914 And that’s where we are here Lighthouse battery Y battery Heartley [Music] Bay The keen eyed amongst you might say that that cannon doesn’t look very British And there’s a reason for that And there’s a plaque here explaining the story This is a trophy from Sebastapole This cannon was captured from the Russian army at the battle of Sebastapole during the Crimean War 1854 to 56 and after a year’s delay arrived at Heartley in September 1858 And here it is What’s this rich this here is St Hilda’s Church It’s the Parish Church of Heartley It’s recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated grade one listed building and it’s one heck of a building if you ask me But let’s see what someone else has to hear about it Alex Clifton Taylor one uh famous historian included in his list of best English parish churches and described it as a glory of early English architecture in its earliest and purest phase and as an architectural gem Wow that’s pretty cool Let’s have a look a bit closer to see whether he’s right I can’t work out which is the best angle of this church It’s got so many good sides to it I do like the expanded structures on the lower quarters of it protecting the old tower above it Now from what I gather the bells in there are so powerful and the building itself in the tower so not so strong that they’re not allowed to ring the bells They are unbringable because the tower might not be able to cope with the sound and the power that comes from it On such a sunny day it’s always nice to see a nice English church in the splendor with the daffodils in the graveyard And here you can see down the sundrenched side of the church What a lovely church here St Hilders in Heartley So as I look at the the nicely colored houses on the front there got the marinas and the docks and the port over there Got the the lighthouse Got the works and the water You’ve got the Mary Roundtree Cafe and Restaurant here And in this little garden area we have a statue of Andy Cap the cartoon character from the Daily Mirror created by cartoonist Red Sm Do you remember Andy Cap workingass man and his wife Flo well Red Smley These seaw walls are are stylish but here you can see through the gateway down to the beach down to the sea That’s pretty good Rich you’ve been talking about monkeys all day When are you going to tell us the story well here we are We have a sign that tells us why monkeys are associated with Heartley Paul Let’s read what it says Monkey It’s monkey on top This is the Headland Story Trail This is number 10 Fish Sands and the Monkey The fishermen built cobbles on the beach and sold their catch on the fish sands until the modern fish key was built in 1880 There’s a little dittery here Fish Annie sells fish Three ape dish Don’t buy it Don’t buy it It stinks when you fry it And there’s a picture of people on the beach there Right Tell us more Tell us more Rich That’s why we’re here In 1853 Ned Conraan the Victorian ballad wrote and performed the popular song The Fisherman Hung the Monkey O The song is set during the Napoleonic Wars where propaganda and nationalist fervor gripped the country fueled by the threat of the French invasion in 1805 At this time the bedraggled monkey complete with a red cap was supposedly washed onto the fish sands It was seized questioned and tried by the town’s folk as a French spy The story is now part of Heartley’s cultural consciousness and Hartley Pudlians are known across the world as monkey hangers There’s different variations of the tail though Some say that the monkey dressed up in a Frenchman’s outfit uh was the lone alive survivor on a boat that washed up on the shore here All the other people were dead and that’s why they decided that there was something wrong with this monkey Not sure about that There’s the other story that he was dressed in a red cap and he’d escaped from a boat and he was somehow going to spy on Hartley And there’s other stories with different variations of it But at the end of the day there’s a monkey here in some kind of different clothing that you expect a monkey People locally hadn’t expected a monkey wearing clothes to turn up here And the next thing you know he’s being tried as a French spy And Hartley Paul has a reputation then of being known as the monkey hangers Oh well Rest in peace Mr Monkey Now you know I’m now just a couple of miles away on the outskirts of Harley here at Satan Karu One of the nicest beaches in the area and it’s a lovely lovely sandy beach Bit windy but uh it is the east coast after all [Music] Sat and Karu is a much more familyfriendly area of Heartley They say it’s uh very much open for entertainment for all ages here at Satin Karu The sand the beach there’s more of a seaside resort than the actual old town of Heartley And there’s a lot more for everyone to do here amusements there’s food there’s takeaways there’s lemon top ice creams there’s all this going on here in Satan Karu on the outskirts of Harley Even ke for ice creams and fish and chips along here as well That just about wraps up my tour of Harley and also seat Karu here It’s a lovely lovely place here You need to come along and come and visit Harley see all the history they’ve got going on there Come to see a karu and have a big ice cream as well Definitely recommended Right see you soon Bye-bye for now