Day 77 - Cromer to Hunstanton

 

 Date: Wednesday 6^th July  2011   Distance: 44.76 Miles

 

We had arrived at the Premier Inn New market at 10pm the night before and parked free in overnight car park for the shopping precinct (as long as we left by eight or paid from then). So we had breakfast at 7, watching a never ending stream of beautiful racehorses exercising on the green, and set off early. Every- where are gaily decorated horse statues. Horses have right of way over other traffic here.

 

We had to drive to Norwich to hand over the hire car we took from home and then cycle back 3 miles to the station showing us a different, more historical, aspect of the town. Despite leaving so early we had to wait almost an hour for the next train arriving 11.30 at Cromer.

 

The sea wasn’t as blue this time but still it was a lovely day and we took the coast road north. It was a day of very little navigation as we decided to hug the coast on the busier road but not so busy to be dangerous. We went through East Runcton, West Runcton, and Sherringham where there was an impressive steam train that later passed close by the road.

 

At Weybourne we passed a tank advertising the Muckleburgh war vehicle collection but it looked to be far from the road so we carried on. Clouds gathered and just in time we found a tearoom cum antique shop called the Old Reading Room gallery and tea shop, which was very busy for out in the sticks and full of interesting but quite expensive bits and bobs. Jacket potatoes were the staple food for lunchtime on this holiday!

 

We were surprised again by the long low hills taking more effort than expected. The larks were in fine song all over the agricultural landscape and it was sunny again. Salthouse, a bit further along would have been a good place to stop for crab sandwiches and it looked to be full of character.

 

Clay-next-the-sea had a modern visitor centre (with wind turbine attached) where local birdlife could be observed and everywhere seemed very picturesque especially when we reached Blakeney village. There were more tourists here and you could take seal trips from the quay. The cottages were still utilising flint from the beach.

 

 

Blakeney is famous for its bird sanctuary though we didn’t see any unusual birds. Houses on our route were selling samphire- poor man’s asparagus that grows on the salt marsh. I read at a mobile shell fish stall that you should cook it for 10 minutes until tender, removing the fleshy bits off the harder core and smother with butter and a little vinegar.

 

We are impressed with the bus service that seemed to run every fifteen minutes between Kings Lynn and Cromer- the Coastal Hopper. At Stiffkey, a very pretty village, there were traffic jams as the road wasn’t wide enough for 2 lanes of traffic. (Must be awful in the peak of season.)

 

We stopped at a tiny guage railway, reputedly the longest in the country at 4½  miles long, to have refreshments from a mobile cafe. Nice friendly people here at the Wells and Walsingham light railway and we especially liked the swallows nest, in the toilet block, only just above eye level with 2 large babies being constantly fed by darting parents.

 

Wells- next- the-sea was very touristy and we overtook another miniature train on the way down to the lifeboat station and cycle route no.1 that took us by a nature reserve. Some bits were too soft and sandy but most was good and the first bit of road, after 2 miles came out at Holkham. We went by Tudor, Holkham Hall and deer park. After the wall it was mainly fields. A bus nearly ran over a hare. It escaped into a field on our left and then sat perfectly still as we rode by. Bob wouldn’t allow me to take a picture as the wind and busy road were a bad mix. It was a beautiful animal and sightings are so rare now!

 

At Burnham, or one of the 3, we passed Mrs.Purdy’s cottage-quaint. At Brancaster it was really against the wind and we would be later arriving at the B and B than we originally said so we phoned to say we were on our way. Passed an AA box- unusual these days. We passed a hotel advertising Pimms and posh tea then it was Thornham and Holm-next- the- sea.

 

At Old Hunstanton someone offered to take our photo and his little boy said, “I want one of those” of the tandem. It was 3 more hard miles to Hunstanton from Holme next the sea, with sand dunes and beaches beyond Hunstanton’s golf course and nature reserves habitat for the natterjack toad and 100 bird species (entrance ticket required)

It seems friendly at the Band B that’s near the town centre and the menu for breakfast looks delicious. It’s now cold and windy and we look in town for somewhere to eat. After walking round a bit we settle on a popular place, Goblins Pantry, small and like an old fashioned cafe. All ages are eating here and bound together by the energy and affability of one of the waitresses. It was a wait for the food but enjoyable and we were kept topped up with vino. This friendliness seemed inherent in a lot of the people in this area.

 

We came out to the sun shine again and we went to look at the unusual cliffs in 3 tiers, white, orange and paler orange limestone and sandstones. The sand banks visible when we arrived were now covered with water and the wind surfers who had been in the shallow channels between the banks were gone or leaving. Colourful flower beds and a plaque with information on a local saint Edmund, whose name was given to the church near the B and B. Marauding Vikings in the 800s had tried to get Edmund to renounce his faith by torturing him with arrows then beheading him when it was clear he never would. They then played football with his head and it was later found intact miraculously, in a forest, between the paws of a wolf. A 4’ oak baying wolf sculpture stands near the lighthouse near where Edmund first landed.