Hartlepool’s biggest party

The Tall Ships left Kristiansand in Norway on Sunday 1st August 2010 for the 376-nautical-mile final leg to Hartlepool after Antwerp in Belgium and Aalborg in Denmark.

I had already seen the Tall Ships once in 1986 when my ship-modelling brother visited from France. We parked our car on the South Shields side of the Tyne and watched a few of the vessels coming in from the North Sea. We only stayed a couple of hours as I had to get back to my stove for a busy Saturday night shift. 

This time in August 2010, I found myself right in the middle of the whole event. Being a member of Visit Tees Valley board, I could have attended a few of the corporate events, but as usual, the running of the restaurants came first, and I was, either racing between all three or selling beverages outside Casa del Mar. 

I missed out on seeing music acts such as Echo and The Bunnymen, Ocean Colour Scene, Dave Moseley, one of my favourite local singers, the famous White Negroes and many more.

The big plus for me was standing outside our tapas bar, watching thousands of visitors jam-pack the marina. I chatted with just about every single person who bought a hot drink or a glass of Sangria, finding out where they had come from. If they were from out of town, I asked what they thought of Hartlepool. 99.9% were pleasantly surprised by the town, the marina, the friendly welcome. One or two people rightly moaned about the ground around the harbour being uneven and a challenge for older or disabled visitors. 

I met people from all over England, Wales and Scotland, France, Portugal and Spain and many other foreign countries. An old Greek couple, on their way up to Edinburgh, made an impromptu stopover in Hartlepool and dined at Casa del Mar. From the recesses of my memory, I brought out the Greek I had learnt while working on ships during my student days and had a lively conversation with them. They were delighted to have booked a night stop at the Premier Inn right in the centre of the festivities.   

Every evening, as the sun went down and the coaches departed, most of those who remained were locals. They walked around the marina, chests bursting with pride and the knowledge that they lived in a lovely part of the world, often unfairly given a bad name by the media. Familiar faces stopped at my Sangria station for a glass and a chat. Their beaming smiles said everything. They were very proud of their town. They told tales of visitors who were astounded at the beauty of Hartlepool and the friendliness of its people. 

Before the event, Mayor Stuart Drummond said the event will be the town’s “biggest ever party”, and it definitely was.

Hartlepool’s Tall Ships Race won best tourism event of the year at the national Visit England Awards for Excellence.