Seaham

Seaham on the Durham coast is always worth a visit for the delights of the Lickety Split ice cream parlour with its American 1950’s diner décor and exquisite ice cream sundaes (my choice being the lemon meringue pie featuring lemon flavoured mini jelly babies among the more obvious ingredients) and now there is an added attraction with Ray Lonsdale’s impressive Eleven ‘O’ One statue, known locally as Tommy, that graces the sea front gardens; the oversize WW1 soldier sits hunched on his ammo box holding his rifle, head bowed deep in thought, of what – home, fallen comrades, his next meal – we don’t know but we feel for him and his generation.