I would have loved to walk further down this side of the river with its hidden heritage. Time was not in my favour, I had to turn back when I reached the Durham bandstand with its unique weathervane.

Mr C was patiently waiting for me, we had a date with Hartlepool…

We arrived at breakfast to find that we had missed the rush and as a bonus we were seated in a quiet area well away from the buffet table.

Our destination for the day was Hartlepool, but before setting off we took a stroll along the river starting from a point next to our hotel. I found that the pathway is part of the Hidden Heritage Trail which passed by the Durham Cow Sculpture to represent the legend of a roaming cow leading monks to the final resting place of St Cuthbert, Durham Cathedral. Retracing my steps back towards Durham, I was treated to lovely views of Durham landmarks.

Our first port of call at Hartlepool was the Heugh Battery Museum, the site of the only First World War Battlefield in Britain. Before visiting the museum we took a stroll to the seafront and found a plaque marking the place where the first shell from a German Battle cruiser landed in December 1914 and also commemorating the first soldier killed on British soil by enemy action during the Great War 1914-18.

The museum (although currently not fully open)  tells the story of the Bombardment of the Hartlepools, which took place on Wednesday 16th December 1914, when the guns of the battery were engaged in ship-to-shore combat with the German navy.

After our visit to the museum, we followed the Hartlepool Headland Trail from a leaflet that I had picked up at the museum. The walk was interesting and engaging but some areas along the trail are a little grim. We had hoped to visit St Hilda’s Church but our morning adventures had taken up a lot of time so we missed it out and drove to our planned major destination for the day; The National Museum of the Royal Navy, Hartlepool where HMS Trincomalee is showcased within a recreated Historic Dockyard.

We had lunch, in my case Apple Shortcake, and took a tour around the Historic Dockyard before embarking on HMS Trincomalee.

Back at the hotel, after a detour through the village of Hart, we chilled out before dining in the Marco Pierre White restaurant in the hotel across the road from the one we were staying in.