THE sea town belonging to the French Carou, or Carrowe, family who came over with William the Conqueror was just a small fishing village until the 18th Century, when the wealthy Quakers of Darlington are said to have begun frequenting it for its bracing, revitalising sea airs.
The first regular coach service between Seaton Carew and Darlington opened in 1783; the Seaton Hotel opened in 1792, and when the Stockton to Hartlepool railway arrived in 1841, the place became a fashionable summer watering hole.
Seaton Carew from the sky in the 1940s with the curve of the 1930s bus station grabbing attention along with the figure-of-eight rollercoaster just below it
The most revealing picture in The Northern Echo’s Seaton Carew archive is the early 1940s aerial shot taken by Darlington photographer Jimmy Blumer (above).
It shows the original fishing village, where the roof says “Cafe Royal”, clustered around the access to the beach and sea.
READ MORE: TAKE A TOUR OF OUR WONDERFUL COAST IN VINTAGE RAILWAY POSTERS
READ MORE: OUR WONDERFUL COAST IN ALL ITS WIDE-EYED GLORY
To the south of that is the elegant curve of the bus station, which was an architectural marvel when it opened on June 29, 1938 – it was one of the first buildings anywhere in the world, apparently, to be built using curved concrete.
The 1938 art deco bus shelter and clocktower is a listed building. Picture: SARAH CALDECOTT
Nikolaus Pevsner's guide to the buildings of County Durham says that it is a "beautifully simple art deco shelter, a crescent of rendered brick and reinforced concrete, with central clocktower rising from a toilet block, flanked by staircases". It was designed by the borough surveyor, Alfred Golding, and the clocktower is now Seaton Carew’s most recognisable landmark.
Echo Quest was a hugely popular motorised treasure hunt run by The Northern Echo on several occasions in the 1980s. Here the 1985 quest comes to an end at Seaton Carew's bus station
Slightly to the south of it on the prom is a line of 11 wooden beach huts looking out to sea.
Still moving south we come to the clubhouse of Seaton Carew’s Golf Club. Originally called the Durham and Yorkshire Golf Club, it was formed in 1874 with 14 holes and was the first in County Durham. It is also believed to be the oldest in the North-East still playing on its original course. Edward VIII, then Prince of Wales, played a round at Seaton Carew in 1930, as did the cricketing legend WG Grace, who paid 2s 6d for his round of 18 holes in 1907.
READ MORE: MEET MISS CRIMDON, THE QUEEN OF THE DURHAM COALFIELD
At the bottom of the aerial picture is a wooden, figure-of-eight rollercoaster, which was built just after the Second World War by a German company, Schippers & Van der Ville on the site of the town’s first rollercoaster which had opened in 1926.
The figure-of-eight was replaced in 1965 by a Scottish-made rollercoaster called Mad Mouse. It remained until 1976 when it was moved to a park at Felixstowe in Suffolk.
No trip to the beach is complete without a ride on the dodgems, here in the Fairworld park at Seaton in 1985
The Fairworld pleasure beach then took over the site and although it didn’t have a rollercoaster, it did have a ghost train, a flying squid, dodgems and an Astroglide giant slide. It closed in 1991 and today its site is occupied by nothing more adrenalin-inducing than a car park.
SEE MORE: THE SEASIDE GLORIES OF SUNDERLAND'S TWIN RESORTS
On the beach at Seaton Carew on July 13, 1962 - it was the height of summer but everyone is in jumpers, hats and coats. There is some great detail in this picture, including the square changing tents that most people have hired for the day, and the lost children shed at the bottom
Occasionally, the tides conspire to reveal a 7,000-year-old peat bed which is the remains of a forest from the days when Hartlepool was connected to the mainland of Europe. The reveal in 1974 attracted a large crowd to Seaton Carew
One of the benefits of living on the coast is the bounty the sea can bring. Here the people of Hartlepool collect wreckage from the unfortunate Otra in 1912
An 18th Century wreck of an oak collier brig emerged from beneath the beach at Seaton Carew at Christmas 2017. The ship is believed to have been deliberately beached
A 1962 message from the council
RIDE MORE: WISH YOU WERE HOLIDAYING IN A CARAVAN ON DURHAM'S EAST COAST?
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel