Norfolk and Good

Today was basically the journey home from Norfolk. I called in at the town of Wymondham on the way for no reason other than I've never been there. It's a pleasant small town, the Abbey is fairly simple but has a lot of history. There is plenty of evidence of the original monastic building but what's extant is the old Parish church and tower.


The town Heritage Museum is also interesting, typical of such places with enthusiastic volunteers. It also has a coffee shop in the old Bridewell, the coffee was ordinary instant but the cake was homemade - at £2.60 for the lot it's great value!


Unfortunately without going a long way round I couldn't easily avoid the A1 roadworks near Cambridge. These will be running through to the end of 2020 and even on a good day are adding 15-20 minutes to journey times.


I've added a few jobs to the list, nothing major though. I think I've got this 'van about sorted as I want it now. I've finally, by combining some bits, got the satnav well mounted. I've got to check some of the curtain rail mounting screws though. I still think I can tweak some storage, I'll look at that next weekend.

There’s an Old Mill by a Stream...

or more accurately there are several old mills by the River Ant, but that doesn’t scan. The photos will go up on the website in the next few days but I spent the morning walking along the river from the caravan site. Although the OS map shows the footpath as being right next to the river there’s actually a drainage ditch in between so views were a bit more limited than I’d hoped and there was no shade from the hot sun. The windmills (in this case using mill in its sense of referring to any machinery not just that used for grinding) were used to pump water up from the drainage ditches into the river. All the ones seen today were cap mills and in various states of dereliction or restoration. The most unusual was a skeleton mill, it is just a wooden frame instead of the familiar stone tower.

That last was at How Hill, the furthest point on my walk. It’s an education centre but with public access as well. I did spend some time sitting watching the boat movements and thinking people are much the same wherever you go. One group, a 50th Birthday party judging by the banners, were going so fast through the moorings that I was sure they’d either fail to make it round the bend there or would run into the back of the boat in front. Fortunately they did avoid hitting anything but it was close.

The best sight were the Hunters’ hire boats. These are traditional Broads sailing cruisers, with no engines. Tacking one through a congested mooring takes a bit of nerve, I was convinced one of them had failed to make the tack but it just managed to pick up the wind again. The rigging on these boats does help - being technical they’re gaff rigged sloops with boomed self tacking jibs (so when you go about, or turn, you don’t have to faff about with bits of string).

From How Hill I completed the circular walk mainly by road, coincidentally (and if you believe that I’ve got a bridge you might like to buy) that took me past the Dog Inn. It would have been churlish to not go in and have a pint or two. I had a chat with the barmaid, some lunch and beers then reckoned it was time to relax back at the ‘van. The forecast was for rain from about 4pm, in the end it was 6 before the storm hit and it didn’t last long.

Overall a pleasant day, other than walking about 6 miles I’ve not done as much as I’d usually do but having been here a couple of years ago there wasn’t really anywhere I was desperate to visit.

Wood and Water

It’s been a fantastic day with my TOG friends in Norfolk at Fairhaven, a water and garden park. The place is lovely, we had a short boat ride on the Broads, and the food was superb. It was great to catch up with people as well, although it seems sometimes like one long road trip as I met up with some of them recently in Lancashire and many of them will be in Devon in a couple of months.

The pub near the camp site, The Dog Inn, was a suitable venue for the 6 of us (including Amber the dog) who’re at the caravan site. The “live” music was OK, a decent singer doing mainly swing songs to a backing track. I’m not sure when he was booked to finish but there was only one couple left when we departed!

Tomorrow’s plans depend on the weather. Earlier the forecast suggested we’d be getting the thunder and rain other places have had tonight, but later the Met Office reckon a day of sunshine. If the latter is the case I’ll leave the ‘van on site and go for a walk down the river. The trip has confirmed one thing, I must get a bike rack sorted. The e-bike would be great tomorrow but it’s not much use in the shed at home. I’ve been considering the best approach to this as there are a few options but another campervan on site has a Thule rack on their towbar and I reckon that’s the way to go.

In the Workhouse

The first trip away this year is to the Norfolk Broads for a long weekend. This is partly a ”do” with friends (more on that tomorrow) but I’m taking the opportunity of a holiday. As I’d got the whole day I’d looked at the maps for something to do on the way. I came across Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse Museum. Basically it does what it says on the tin! There’s a mixture of rural equipment collections, the Workhouse displays and a working farm. I probably didn’t learn much I didn’t know but it helped put things into perspective.

There was a slight complication with the next part of the journey, a new road around Norwich that the  SatNav didn’t know about! I managed though and reached Wroxham Barns (a touristy shopping centre) in time for lunch. From there it was a short drive to site where, after the few minutes it takes to set up, I had a beer.

Having met up with friends we made use of the visiting Fish and Chip van before spending the evening with a few drinks and a long chat. Nothing earth shattering, just a pleasant evening with good company.