Marsden Grotto, pub and restaurant on the beach a little north of Seaburn.
The history of the Grotto goes back to the 1780s when a miner "Jack the Blaster" cut stairs in the rock face and turned one of the caves into a make-shift house from which he sold refreshments to curious visitors. Later a publican Peter Allen extended the caves and access and after a legal struggle obtained a license acquired by Vaux in 1898. On this photo the railings of the tortuous steps down the cliff face can be seen behind the chimneys.
The development to the present premises with an electric lift was not started until the 1940s.
Information from Len Charlton.
