Fun, friends and four-legged folk...

As I mentioned, we were recently invited to spend a weekend in Norfolk with some pals. They had booked a holiday cottage up there and suggested we might like to join them for a few days - as the North Norfolk Coast is one of our very favourite areas, we jumped at the chance!

Travel was easily sorted - I wanted to be in Lincolnshire at Scampton during the day on the Friday, so we booked MrEH a cheap train ticket from London to Kings Lynn for after he finished work, and I collected him from there mid evening. We arrived at the village we were staying in just before 10pm, and weren't in the least surprised to find no signs of life at the cottage! A short walk to the pub found N, A and the two dogs - @UrbanGundog and @RuralGundog - it's not in the least unusual to find them in a pub! Once the chaos caused by two excitable Labradors and our arrival has abated, we settled to beer and chat before heading back to the cottage - and very sweet it was too! A traditionally built flint faced terrace,  beautifully kitted out and finished to a really good standard - we were all extremely impressed.

The following morning we jumped in to the car and drove the short distance around the coast to Blakeney - we'd intended to walk out to the point but somehow managed to park in the wrong car park so had to settle for walking a section of coast path - and the damage caused by the winter storms was very apparent...

...rather more clambering and detouring was required than the last time MrEH and I walked along this section - in places the water had come within a few feet of the top of the embankment with the path on it and it wasn't surprising that the structure had simply failed under the impact. They've begun making repairs but you get the impression that it's going to be quite a long job.

This is the view across to Cley Next The Sea - you may remember it was in the news a while back when a USAF helicopter crashed there during a night-flying exercise. No sign of such traumatic events now thankfully, just a rather lovely sleepy Norfolk Village. You can see further signs of the damaged path in that shot too. After returning to Blakeney and enjoying ice creams, we drove back round the coast to find a pub with local beer (well it would be rude not, to, surely?) and then back to the cottage for a while, before heading out in the evening for dinner. Another pub was selected - one in the Village this time, the Lifeboat Inn. Owned by Marco Pierre White, we were slightly unsure what to expect - although as N said "If they want £25 for fish & chips, we're going elsewhere!" - sensible sentiments indeed! On arriving though not only was the pub without question dog-friendly (our two furry hosts were welcomed and able to curl up next to the table) the prices were also extremely reasonable - four plates of fish & chips were duly ordered, and arrived a while later looking like this...

MrEH immediately jettisoned his mushy peas, but I decided to give mine a try and was glad I did - far from the usual image of them as so beloved of those from north of the Watford Gap, these were fresh peas, roughly pureed, and were delicious! Home made tartare sauce, and fabulously crispy chunky chips, along with a huge piece of haddock which must have been swimming about just a few hours before, it was so fresh. We've earmarked this as a definite place to visit again in the future when we're camping up in that area.

Sunday dawned so gorgeously sunny and astonishingly warm that there was only one thing for it - to head to the beach of course! Wells Next the Sea was the chosen location...

...a gorgeous expanse of sand and dunes - we walked a good two miles each way along, stopping to let the dogs paddle, and to watch birds, and a friendly inquisitive seal who seemed absolutely fascinated by all the dogs in and out of the water! We'd all elected to leave our coats in the car thankfully, and MrEH and I were wearing walking boots with wool-based socks so our feet were cool and comfy enough - N & A were both wearing wellies though (perfectly sensible beach-wear for March) and by the time we returned to the car they were both suffering rather!

Time for lunch then - more delicious food (we did feel that we'd spent the entire weekend either walking, eating or drinking, but equally we weren't complaining about this!) this time at the Wells beach cafe which serves up fare from the Holkham Estate of which the beach forms part. Tasty filled rolls and cake went down very well, and for good measure we had ice-cream at Holkham Hall itself later on!

A lovely weekend indeed then - and a huge thanks to N, A, Urbs and Rural (pictured above, looking thoughtful) for being kind enough to invite us!

Robyn

ps - once again these pictures were all taken with the startlingly good Canon 50mm f1.8 lens. (Apart from the fish & chips - that was with the iPhone!)

Seaside Wanderings...

On Sunday morning having packed up our tent and sleeping bags, wandered the campsite to collect a bag full of the proliferation of field mushrooms, and wandered down to Sheringham for an ice cream, we decided to head along the coast road to Hunstanton. I'd not been for years, and had long since forgotten what it was like - or perhaps it has changed, who knows? Either way, what we found wasn't to our tastes at all - I love tacky seaside places but this was beyond tacky - all chips, donuts, noise and concrete. Even the "Beach huts" are white UPVC with an acre of baking hot concrete between them and the concrete wall of the "Prom" - and looking more like tiny industrial units than anywhere you might want to spend a sunny afternoon! We wandered for a bit, feeling less than inspired. We sat and ate our lunch looking out to sea, and MrEH treated us to a cup of tea each and a bag of donuts. Looking in that direction, you could see the charm of the place - the sun glinting off the wet sand...

...and a fishing boat leaning drunkenly over waiting for the tide to come and get it.

Gulls everywhere - mostly Black Headed Gulls but with the occasional Common Gull thrown in as well. Far better mannered that the stereotypical seaside Herring Gull these - happy to grab anything that was thrown for them by passers-by but not diving in and stealing chips from the wrapping.

It didn't get any better. So we turned tail and walked back towards the car - and then we spotted it - the beach beyond the Prom...

...naturally we couldn't resist going to explore! The cliffs here are fascinating - three layers, or white chalk, red chalk, and sandstone.  This stretch of coast suffers badly from erosion, and looking at the make-up of the cliffs it's hardly surprising

We were also intrigued by the rock formations on the shore - look:

Odd, eh? We think it might be some sort of "Wave cut platform" following a bit of internet based research, but would be interested to  hear any more  theories. Either way it cuts quite an odd sight as you walk along.

On the whole we both agreed that there are beachy places in Norfolk that we would rather visit, but it was lovely to get one final beach walk in this summer - and yes, it did feel like summer again! Lovely!

Robyn

Back in time...

Just back from another weekend away - our final one for some time you'll be relieved to say! Once again our tent was our "Bed & Breakfast" for the weekend, and we stayed on one of our favourite campsites, Breck Farm at Weybourne, which allows campfires. The reason for the trip was to take in the annual "1940's weekend" at the North Norfolk Railway - always great fun to see a whole load of Army, RAF & Navy types wandering round your campsite, and some of the most fantastic vintage vehicles pulling on and off the site too!

The effort that people go to with their costumes is just incredible - some of these guys go all over the country visiting these re-enactment events, others just turn out for this one as it's local to them. Either way though, it's a fantastic sight...

The steam trains add a nice authentic touch to things, the ticket to the event lets you ride up and down the line as much as you like so we got on at Weybourne (walking distance from the site) and travelled up the line to Holt - where there was a big display of military vehicles and vintage cars, before travelling back along to Sheringham where the bulk of the action takes place. There are trains coming and going all day giving a good opportunity for photos...

...Sheringham also has live music on throughout the day - and a beer tent!

Shame about the plastic glasses but I guess authenticity can only go so far!  Each station has it's "NAAFI" selling sandwiches (Spam, corned beef, or cheese!), cakes likes carrot cake and bread pudding, and teas, although we walked into the town at Sheringham and had fish & chips on the seafront - still authentic as these would have been available in wartime although we would probably have had to queue for a lot longer for our fish!

Nice to see some of the younger people in the town getting into the spirit of things too - this effort was definitely being taken in the spirit in which it was intended...

Robyn

Serious Business...

We've just spent the weekend in Norwich at the Campaign for Real Ale's annual Members Weekend and AGM. We're what's known as "Active members" of the Campaign - volunteering at the National Beer festival each year (now relocated back "home" to Olympia) and also in advance of the festival at working weekends. There are plenty more active than us mind - many folk out there travel around the country doing festival after festival through the year - and taking part in things at local Branch level too - our local branch stuff is tricky to get involved with due to the times of the meetings being difficult for us, but we are looking to see if there is anything we can do about that. All staff at CAMRA beer festivals and within local branches are volunteers - and the campaign has an astonishing breadth of knowledge and experience within its membership to enable this.

So, Norwich - we travelled on the train on Friday afternoon, tickets booked in advance as ever to get them as cheaply as possible. We'd also booked a nice central Travelodge on a cheap rate nice and early on too, although for the first time ever we nearly fell foul of their habit of overbooking, as we got an email from them that morning asking whether we were definitely turning up. We fired off a response saying that we most certainly were and all was well when we checked in - friends though arrived later in the evening to find that their booking had had to be transferred elsewhere.

The AGM was being held in the beautiful St Andrews & Blackfriars Halls - the same location for the city's annual beer festival so it was a venue we knew. The weekend runs from Friday to Sunday, although the official AGM business is taken care of through the day on Saturday and on Sunday morning - Friday evening was all about catching up with many many great friends and sampling the excellent range of beers in the members bar - effectively a beer festival held just for those members attending, there is no public admission at all to this one. People come from far and wide to attend - we knew people there from Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man and the South Coast, and all points in between, but members even travel from the continent too, and there have frequently been attendees from the USA and other countries.

We spent most of the day on Saturday in the hall listening to the various debates and presentations on all aspects of Campaign business - some very interesting, some rather less so - but that is the way of such things! A speech from Community Pubs Minister Brandon Lewis MP was interesting to hear, and he also took a question an answer session afterwards. Once "business" was declared closed for the day we took the chance to pop out for a bit to get some air, and some sunshine (and some cake!) and sat with a cup of tea on the stone "terrace" overlooking the market for a while - lovely and colourful! A return to the Members bar and a bit more catching up with folks followed before we headed off with a group of pals to visit some of the local pubs.

Sunday is a much less formal day - our "National Executive" (Board of Directors, effectively) had all ditched their suits and ties and were dressed casually up on the platform - with many a loud shirt and pair of shorts to be seen on the chaps - and the atmosphere in the hall is far more relaxed and jolly too - having had a slow start on hearing the Motions to be put to conference on Saturday morning, they fairly rattled through them yesterday, and everything that was programmed was heard. Once the final Motion was voted on Chairman Colin wasted no time in declaring the business of the weekend closed and releasing us all for some final chat ahead of goodbyes as we all scattered...Norwich Station looked like a giant CAMRA meeting for much of the afternoon!

 We'd not attended an AGM for a fair few years for various reasons but with this years being held in our "home patch" of East Anglia it encouraged us to return. As we rather expected it was a thoroughly enjoyable weekend - always nice to meet up with people anyway, and as we would sometimes only see some of these folk once or twice a year it was great to have the chance to spend some proper time chatting and catching up. Next years will be held in Scarborough and we've already pencilled the dates into our diaries!

Are you a member of any large organisations that do this sort of thing, or are you involved in volunteering for anything on a local or National level?

Robyn

National Treasures...

Ickworth, Suffolk

 When we were planning our Farne Islands trip (which we are having "take 2" at shortly) our research reminded us that the Islands are owned by the National Trust, and as a result you pay landing fees to the trust on each island on arrival. We're talked before about joining the Trust, but never got around to it - now though, with fees totalling over £24 for that one trip alone, and joint membership available for £66, it seemed as good a time as any to join up. Since then we have been on a mission to get our moneys worth, visiting Wimpole Estate in Cambridgeshire, Ickworth (Suffolk) and most recently Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk.

Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk

 The membership was a lot of money to spend out in one go, for us, but by the time we discounted the landing fees for the Farne Islands (which we would have been spending anyway) and then bought through Cashback site TopCashBack (of course!) for a further £6.70 in cashback. Net cost to us £34.87 - which is pretty darned good! The Trust has over 500 properties across the country, ranging from stretches of coastline to the big houses and estates like those pictured above. The trust themselves reckon that for a couple joining up, you only have to visit an average of 4 chargeable properties to get your money's worth.

  As well as the houses to look around, a lot of these places have fantastic gardens to look at as well - the planting at Oxburgh Hall (above) was just breathtaking, and this was just one small area. Another advantage if you're visiting places like the Lake District is that you can park for free in the Trust's car parks. They send you a car sticker for your windscreen, and you can simply ask to get another one for a second vehicle - easy! If we return to the Lakes next year this will save us a fortune in car parking fees as the car parks up there are fiercely expensive!

Another advantage of NT properties is that they tend to do mighty fine tea & cake! We often treat ourselves - but for occasions when the budget won't stretch most places provide picnic areas, either in the carpark or the grounds.

For further information on the trust, and the places I've mentioned, take a look at their website The National Trust - if you're looking for a source of entertainment, with added educational benefits for kids, then for around £5.50 per month, you can't got too far wrong!

Robyn

Simple Pleasures...

....there is another stunning sunset outside the window. There seems to have been a lot of these this year, and few better than the one pictured above, which was at Sheringham in North Norfolk a few weeks back when we were there for the beer festival. Once again this year we're making good use of the tent to enable cheap weekends away - we still have a few to come too before the weather gets a bit too chilly for even us hardened souls, and we pack the gear away for the winter months.

Another simple pleasure is playing around with photos through the various apps on my iPhone (the phone itself is a FAR from simple pleasure!) - this one was processed using Luminance, which I believe cost the grand total of 69p! It applies various filters and effects to your photos, as well as allowing you to tweak things like exposure, brightness and contrast and even white balance - features you only usually find in a RAW processor. Ironically enough this apparently won't cope with RAW files, not though that worries me as I have only been using it to give a little extra punch to shots taken with the iPhone's own camera, so far.

When you have little money to spend, life's simple pleasures become all the more valuable.

Robyn