For the first time in his life, reporter James Campbell spent a night in Heysham before travelling back to the Isle of Man.

That meant taking a look round the village for the first time ever and he was pleasantly surprised.

Here he writes something of a love letter to the much-maligned place and why you should take time to look around if you have a chance.

Most of us will have passed through Heysham at some point and impressions of it will have no doubt been unfavourable.

For the vast majority of us, all we will have seen is the port and, let’s face it, not many industrial ports like Heysham are aesthetically pleasing.

Our time there will also have been clouded by the fact we are having to sit in a rather dreary (but much better than of old) terminal building or waiting in our cars to get on the Steam Packet ferry.

Quite often the weather is bleak and we may suffer delays which makes our experience even more negative.

When I Googled Heysham there was a link to a page on the Steam Packet website about attractions and things to do in Heysham. That consisted of ‘go to Blackpool’, ‘go to Morecambe’, ‘go to the Lake District’ or ‘go to Fleetwood’.

Earlier this year I returned to the Isle of Man permanently and my folks came over to help me take all my stuff back.

We decided, rather than rush, we would spend a night on the outskirts of Lancaster and ensure a drama-free return. That meant we had some time to kill on the way to the port.

Rather than head into Lancaster we decided on a leftfield decision to go to Heysham village itself.

We entered the village rather sceptically and found a huge empty car park. From there we headed down Main Street which was full of quaint cafes and lovely cottages and made our way to St Peter’s Church.

This is a lovely building with a stunning backdrop overlooking Morecambe Bay. I then headed up to take a look at the 8th century chapel St Patrick’s which was also fascinating with a Viking era doorway.

Next to it is a feature any metal fan will be familiar with. Hewn out of the rocks are ancient graves, early relics of Christianity dating from the 10th century.

They featured on the cover of Black Sabbath’s greatest hits album. They provide a really atmospheric edge to the lovely but exposed headland.

From here you can look north across the bay and see the outline of the majestic hills and mountains of the Lake District.

Walking back down I strolled through the lovely and peaceful Glebe Garden peppered with little trinkets and fairy paraphernalia.

We then headed to the busy little Curiosity Café for a warm drink before making our way back to the port.

I didn’t even have time to stroll along the beach, admire Anna Gillespie’s sculpture ‘Ship’ or take in the nature reserve right next to the port.

So maybe next time, if you have a little spare time whether heading to or from the port, you can head into the village and realise there is more to Heysham than the grim port we all know and, well, not much care for.