Phil's photos with the keyword: Coast

Part of the harbour at Seahouses on the North-East coast of England. HFF everybody :-) Photographed with an Olympus SP55OUZ bridge camera and processed with Nikon Capture NX2 and Pixlr Editor.

The Marsden Grotto, locally known as "The Grotto", is a public house located on the coast at Marsden in South Shields, Tyne & Wear, England. The pub is one of the few 'cave bars' in Europe..... other 'cave bars' include the Caves of Xoroi in Menorca. The Grotto is now a pub/restaurant serving mainly seafood. The Grotto is partly dug into the cliff face and fronted with a more conventional building opening onto the beach. Currently The Grotto includes a large bar, the inside cave with another bar and pool room, a bistro, a heated terrace on the beach and a full restaurant upstairs. Access is either by lift from the car park or by a zigzag staircase on the cliff at the side of the building. The lift is housed in a brick shaft rising from the front of the building. A lead miner from Allendale, Jack Bates and his wife Jessie moved to the area in 1782. It is alleged he moved into a small cave at Marsden Rock either after refusing to pay rent on his house in Allendale or simply having nowhere to live. Using explosives from a local quarry, he blasted the small cave into a much larger one, earning his nickname "Jack the Blaster" in the process and creating a rent-free and landlord-free home. The dwelling was accessed by zig-zagging stairs down the cliff, thought to be built by Jack. The unusual and eccentric choice of dwelling attracted visitors, which the couple supplied with refreshments at a cost. It is suggested that he became involved in smuggling activities - offering refreshment to smugglers and using caves of the coastline to hide contraband cargo. (Wikipedia).