Trip 10: Sandringham Camping & Caravan Club site, Norfolk.
This campsite sits in a wood/forest on the Queen’s Sandringham estate. The event, a THS, (temporary holiday site) was set up by a Local Camping & Caravan Club district association. We are joining it after the weekend festivities, which included a Feast of Lanterns 🏮?
We have booked a pitch with electric, mainly because the sun is so low and the site is amongst the trees so solar power would be limited. We are hoping to do plenty of walking, there certainly seems to be enough forest to get lost in.
We arrived at the campsite at midday after an easy drive. However we were met by a miserable warden ,who did not know how to smile. He told us that we would have to sit in the van until 13.00 when we could be signed in. That was fair enough but if he smiled we would not have minded so much.
Once we were let in we made our way to the Rally Stewards who were totally different. They were really helpful and friendly, it turned out we were down for 5 nights and paid ÂŁ80, which was totally wrong because we only paid for three nights. Anyway we were soon set up with the kettle and heating on, it was a good job because it started to pour with rain.
Once it stoped raining I filled up with water and we got ready for a walk in the forest. We didn’t go far and followed various tracks in a circle back to the campsite. I finished up with 11,357 steps. Tomorrow we will go further and explore properly but it was a good start and great to get out & about once the rain slowed.
Tonight we have spaghetti 🍝 bolognese for tea. The phone and mifi signals are weak but the TV is good.
Day 2:
After a night of Gales,rain and wood pigeons stomping on the roof morning eventually arrived. It is now 08.29 and it is so dark under the trees that the solar panels are still not producing any electric. Thank goodness for the electric hookup.
We went for a walk this morning ,we followed a cycle path towards the Sandringham visitor centre but we made a couple of detours following paths through the woods.
We eventually came to the visitor centre. Sue went for a look in the shop and came back smiling and persuaded me to go with her for a look. There were some great things on display, but some were just overpriced. There was a Union Jack cushion with the royal standard on it. It was about 18”x12” for £50. A pint beer glass with some pheasants on was £9 although I nearly bought one because of the design.
We left the centre and walked into the woods. I was aiming for a cave marked on the map. On the way there we stopped and sat on a fallen tree to eat our packed lunch. Then onto the cave which turned out to be virtually filled in. It was very disappointing.
We headed back to the campsite via a new set of paths and once home the gps had recorded 6 miles. Time to relax in Iona until beer o’clock. The sun came out and we sat outside with a drink ,well it was nearly drink o’clock.
Tonight Sue is making a fish chowder for tea.
Day 3:
We went for a walk this morning out to the Dersingham bogs. The first part was along a quiet road until we came to the footpaths. The sun was out and quite warm, I had to take my T shirt off, I was still hot with just a shirt on.
We followed the marked paths out into the bog and then followed the path around the edge of the bog until the road ran out. We then had to go off road up a steep hill and followed a track left by a tractor until we found another path.
At one point my phone rang, I answered it politely which was a good move because it was the DPD driver, asking for directions so he could deliver the box of peanuts I had ordered. I had left instructions on where to leave them and sure enough the driver sent me a picture of the parcel under the wheelbarrow as instructed.
When we got home we had walked over six miles. We hate our packed lunch back at Iona and then I went for a shower which was a disaster. There was no hot water so I ended back at Iona and used our own shower to clean off.
The sun was hot so we sat outside, I was now in T shirt and shorts, anyone would think it was July not October. However come 6pm when the sun is low it gets cool very quickly.
Tea tonight was Pie and vegetables but there was a bit of a disaster with the pies. The tops were burnt and the bases were raw pastry. However we managed to scrape out a bit of meat to go with the vegetables.
The following morning we left for home. Unlike our drive to Norfolk, which was quick, 1.5 hours, and easy driving. Going home was the opposite, long queues at the roundabouts. It took an extra 3/4 hour to get home.
With the pitch we had for the motorhome it was sitting under the trees. I knew there would be pine needles on the roof so after lunch I got the steps to have a look on the roof. The roof did have a few pine needles but it was covered in bird droppings. The next two hours were taken cleaning the whole van, something that I had not planned on doing today.
That was trip 10. We have two more trips planned this year, our next outing is to Derbyshire and then to Leicestershire.
Iona’s Travels 