Trip 1: March, Deepdale Camping, Brancaster, Norfolk.
We had a good drive here with very little traffic. We are on pitch 52 which is near the facilities. It is a little uneven but we got level with the ramps.
The sun is out so after setting up and having lunch we sat outside. A beer and a glass of wine were available so we made the most of it.
Later this afternoon we are off to the Jolly Sailors for tea and to listen to the Nelson’s Shantymen practicing.
The food was good and we had a good night.. We had 2 wines and 3 beers, Sue had crispy chicken and a Greek salad, I had a pulled pork burger with fries. I also got a free Prosecco for my birthday and a bag of crisps. Sue had the drink and I had the crisps. The whole evening cost £67 which was good value.
There were no chorus notes tonight but I joined in now and again with songs I recognised. Not a great photo but shows where we were and most of the Shantymen.
Walking home was easy and it did not seem to take as long but I got told off for walking too fast.
Tomorrow we catch a bus to Heacham to see Elaine.
Day 2.
We had a lazy start today until we caught the Coastliner bus to Heacham. The bus was empty when we got on it but it seemed to stop at every bus stop before Hunstanton. At one point about 8 walkers/bird watchers got on complete with dog, binoculars and walking poles.
We met Elaine at the bus stop near her new house. We were very well looked after with Lasagne and an Apple crumble plus some wine of course.
We left Elaine at 15.00 and caught the bus back to Brancaster. We got off at the Jolly Sailors for some refreshment before walking the last bit home. We noticed a new mural on the end of the cafe which needed to be logged.
We had a sandwich for tea and watched the tele before bed.
Day 3.
Today’s plans include a walk and mussels at the Jolly Sailors but we are not rushing out this morning.
Today we set off for a walk to Barrow common. Today we walked around the east side of the common before crossing over to the west side.
We followed a farm track down from the common and then crossed the main road . The next two fields were the site of a large Roman fort.
We then followed the boardwalk back to Brancaster where we headed up into the village and the Jolly Sailor pub.
We had mussels and a couple of drinks before heading back home. The mussels were good but a little on the small side however it is the end of the season.
We decided to walk back along the boardwalk instead of the road. It was a pleasant walk in the sunshine.
We did 7 miles in all.
Day 4:
Our last day so we are going for a walk around Holkham beach, but we are catching the bus to ease the pain.
We caught the bus but we went to Wells next to sea.
We made our way out to the beach that we used 8 years ago with our son and granddaughter. The first thing we noticed was the fact that the miniature train was no longer there to ferry people up the mile long walk to the beach. We got to the end of the walkway and there is now a new RLNI lifeboat station built in 2022.
I asked a gentleman in the gift shop about the train and he told us that the Holkham estate and the council would not give the train a 3 year contract, so the owners ripped it all up and moved it to Devon.
The beach we used with Martha years ago is not there. There are now sea defences and the ramp for the lifeboat. The sand has gone and is replaced with mud which we struggled to walk across.
Once clear of the mud we followed the coastline along the sand to Holkham Bay.
We stopped at a bench and had a coffee before moving to the Cafe for a quick facilities stop.
It was then a 1 mile walk to the main road to catch a bus. We sat in the bus shelter because we thought the bus was half an hour away, that was until I checked the time table and it was 3 minutes away.
We caught the bus and it took us to the Jolly Sailors where we sat outside with a drink before ordering 2 for 1 pizza and another drink. We sat in the sun and ate our lunch before walking back to Iona.
We had a really good day, we are loving the bus passes which we will probably use at other campsites now we have the bus passes.
Our next trip is to Northamptonshire and to check out how a village where my parents lived for some years has changed.
Iona’s Travels 