Still a good sized port, Hartlepool once played a far greater role in shipping and fishing. Some of the old docks have been put to good use as a marina, bringing new life to them, with the restored 1817 frigate HMS Trincomalee another attraction as part of the Hartlepool Maritime Experience. Remnants of the old town walls, including the Sandwell Gate which gives onto sands, are another impressive and perhaps unexpected aspect of the town, as is the mini-resort of Seaton Carew now much revitalised. The painter LS Lowry loved the area, and painted pictures of the promenade and the front.