Sheringham, Norfolk 4-10 Aug 26

 

Happy memories - a Saracen APC

At a loose end with an unfilled week, a decent weather forecast and a temporary holiday site near the sea  meant a few days away staying with the Norfolk and Suffolk DA at Sheringham High School. We set out in good time on Tuesday, but had forgotten what a complete Horlicks Norfolk council have made of the road system around Kings Lynn. We got stuck in traffic once again, but we did achieve 40mpg in the van, probably because we hardly got above 40mph for the whole journey. After a stressful journey, we quickly erected the not-so-damned awning, had a cuppa and a bit of lunch and wandered the mile or so into Sheringham for a mooch about and a couple of pints of delicious cider in the excellent Lines End bar.

We knew Sheringham would be busy. It was August, the weather good, school holidays and Carnival week. On Wednesday we wandered into town again looking for some lunch. As we left the high street the heaven's opened. The first rain in months! It chucked it down and everybody scattered into the bars and cafes, so lunch was out. The rain soon stopped so we retired to the Lines End to recover after watching a wrestling bout in the town centre. This reminded us of the awful fixed fights on the telly in  the 70s and surely something that should have died a death a long time ago, but apparently not in Norfolk.

On Thursday we took the bus to the excellent Muckleburgh collection where one of us spent a wonderful few hours admiring tanks and armoured cars whilst the other tried not to look bored. We enjoyed an excellent crab baguette in the cafe, but were irritated by the group of feral kids who were ruining the experience for a lot of people. If only some of those tanks were ready to drive...... Anyway, back into town, dinner at the excellent Dave's Fish and Chips and a pleasant hour or so watching the Sheringham Shantymen perform on the lifeboat plain.

On Friday we did bugger all. We sat around, tried to do a bit of planning, posted a birthday card and did not much else.

The following day we needed to reprovision, so it was off to town to the butchers, bakers and, unfortunately, Tescos for supplies. We also, funnily enough, had a couple of pints in the Lines End.

We were meant to leave on Sunday morning, but the weather was good and it was slightly cooler on the coast so we stayed for another night. We wandered up to the lookout for some wonderful views before heading back to the bar for a quick one. Back at base we decided to pack up the awning to save a bit of time in the morning. As we lifted the groundsheet we found thousands of earwigs and assorted bugs. Norfolk obviously has a lot of insects.

On Monday it was up, packed and heading for home, once again getting stuck in the awful traffic around Kings Lynn. It was a very good decision to pack up the awning the night before as there was a few drops of rain in the morning.