Welcome to North Sea Nexus!

We Brits tend to think of France as our closest neighbour.* But, of course, it depends where you’re looking from. While Paris is only 213 miles from London, it feels much further if you’re starting from Newcastle, Aberdeen or Lerwick.

Growing up in North East England, I was always aware of our neighbours across the water, not least due to childhood memories of ferry crossings to Rotterdam, Esbjerg and Bergen from the Northern English seaboard, and not always on a calm night. But despite these places feeling much more familiar than France, Spain or Italy, they weren’t considered top destinations and we rarely heard about them on TV or radio.

This substack is dedicated to documenting our connections with these places across the North Sea, past and present.

Join me as we journey through Scotland, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Flanders and England, exploring our shared stories, culture and heritage.

*Ireland is another good candidate, of course, but sadly it does not border the North Sea. So that needs another substack from someone else.