Stranton All Saints Church Office

The graveyard at Stranton All Saints sits on a windswept ridge just outside Hartlepool, and it's the sort of place that rewards a quiet wander even if you've got no particular interest in church architecture. The church itself is Victorian - solid, unremarkable brick - but what makes it worth stopping for is the view across the coast and the genuinely affecting gravestones that scatter the churchyard.

You'll spend maybe twenty minutes here unless you're the type to read every inscription. Walkers heading down this way should time it right for the light. Early morning or late afternoon transforms the whole place - proper atmospheric on a grey day, which is most days in County Durham.

Who gets the most from it? Anyone with an interest in local history or memorial stones, really. It's not somewhere to drag reluctant teenagers, but if you're staying at Parkdean Resorts Crimdon Dene Holiday Park - about four miles away - and the weather turns iffy, it's a decent short detour. The graveyard gives you a genuine sense of Hartlepool's working past without requiring much effort or planning.

It's free, obviously, and there are no opening hours because you're simply accessing a churchyard. Go when you feel like it. The church office itself keeps standard hours if you need to ask questions, but the real story is outside in the stones.