I AM NOWHERE, I AM HERE

The Headland, also known as Old Hartlepool, is the historic epicentre of the town. Based on the peninsular of the northern end of the town, the Headland is home to the 12th century St Hilda’s church. This part of the town was also the defensive site during World War I and II which is now remembered by the Heugh Battery Museum.

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Certainly, driving up the Headland marks a shift in the air. The pastel rows of houses look unchanged from their erection and the lives of Old Hartlepudlians move at a different speed to their younger West Hartlepool counterparts. Old dark cirrus clouds swoon over this point as if carved by the colony of seagulls who are its ancient residents. You can never visit here without the presence of a sharp northerly gust, enough to bring tears to your eyes and not least because your packet of chips from Verrill’s has instantly chilled.

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Visits here would be infrequent for school trips, to see my friend at her family’s fishmongers, or to perform at the Hartlepool Borough Hall. I remember after a late-night school orchestra performance, when we would shuffle in penguin formation toward the car park. I would glance over at the lighthouse that was Verrill’s and see through the fogged glass and warm yellow light, the silhouettes of people like figures from a Lowry; huddled together and cradling their hand-warming fish and chips.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a warmer scene than Verrill’s on a Thursday night in November.