My sister was visiting earlier this week, so we took the opportunity to visit Hartlepool’s Royal Navy Museum, she has some interest in that area of British history.

I know Hartlepool primarily through the cheery-sounding but actually terribly grim Boothby Graffoe son, but have been meaning to visit anyway for a while. It’s an easy train ride from Newcastle, and I quite liked the similarly themed attractions in Portsmouth.

The one in Hartlepool is essentially a small quay preseved and recreated as it would have looked (more or less) in the 18th century, with little shop fronts full of mannequins, goods, notices, and so on, plus some audio for atmosphere. This all surrounds the anchored frigate HMS Triconmalee, which you can also board and have a poke around.

An exhibit on the HMS Invincible, some Horrible Histories stuff for kids round out what was a nice time for us, but must be a rally excellent day out for kids. We got lucky with the weather, blue skies and almost warm, and no crowds at all, just a few couples, so we took our time but didn’t manage to see it all.

The town itself, at least near the train station, wasn’t expecially welcoming-looking, but on the other hand we missed out on the nearby Hartlepool Art Gallery, being Sunday, and there’s the Museum of Hartlepool, plus St. Hilda’s, so it may warrant another visit to explore further.