Miscellany – Page 12 – Neil Baldwin's blog : Warning contains walking, technology, photography, holidays.

Thames Path – Sheperton ferry to Staines-on-Thames

Unusual house on the Thames with unusual ornaments.

The weather was sunny and Helen fancied a quiet day pottering around the house, I um’d and ah’d about a local walk but settled on another section of the Thames. You can get a bus from Staines-on-Thames to Sheperton and it takes 20 minutes. The walk would be less than 10 miles but would get me almost to the M25 which would be a milestone and Staines would be easy to get to for the next leg which would take me to beyond Windsor and Eton.

I arrived in Staines-on-Thames at 10:25 and parked up at a car park opposite the bus station, but the next 458 was due to leave at 10:59, so I had a mediocre coffee at Coffee Corner at the entrance to the shopping centre. The 458 was on time and I was soon back at Sheperton train station, and walked down to the ferry where I had finished the day before.

Polar bear on a balcony at a house on the Thames

Guessing that the path would be muddy I wore my walking boots it was a good choice as the path was muddy at times. At Laleham I took a slight detour in land in search of a coffee shop, but found nothing, I had to settle for an oyster from and ice cream van at Penton lock. I had spotted a few strange fibre glass objects on houses since the start of the walk, some sun having shop mannequins, a Stan Laurel, and finally just before Penton lock a polar bear. Whilst eating my ice cream quite a few two man canoes were portaged round the lock it appeared to be a race as they were mainly jogging and support crews were on hand with energy drink and treats.

It was less than two miles to Staines-on-Thames and was done quite swiftly. I toyed with the idea if walking a bit further but saw a sign that said 10 miles to Eton, which was perfect, I’m sure I saw a bus service to Eaton from Staines. Just as I got back to hr cat it started raining as promised by the BBC weather service.

Thames Path – Teddington to Sheperton Weybridge ferry

It started out a cold day, when I got up at 7:30 it was snowing, however this just mean that the promised frost did not appear so the car windows did not need scraping. The plan was to attempt to walk from Teddignton and to use the ferry at Sheperton. I parked up near the ferry on the Weybridge side, the rules of the ferry are that you should ring a bell changed to the jetty, but only on the quarter hour. I arrived at 5 past 9 so had a 10 minute wait. I rang the bell a few times s but no one came so I rang the number on the sign, a polite man answered and apologised for not hearing the bell, because the chandlers shop door had been closed. The £2 one way fee was swift due to the two outboard motors. He had to dodge a few rowers and canoeists who were holding some sort of slalom event in the weir.

The walk to the station was 20 minutes and I found a handy Costa coffee just before arriving. The ticket to Teddington was £4.40, not bad I suppose compared to previous Thames sections. The journey took 20 minutes, and I was soon back at the footbridge at Teddington where I had started a few weeks back.

I crossed the river again at Kingston. Parakeets were everywhere, and I heard a loud woodpecker a clear sign that spring is imminent. The path splits into two a high road and a low road, I took the high road because it was not muddy. Both followed the Thames around Hampton park in a big curve making it a sort of peninsula.

I took a wrong turning using a gaye into the Hampton park and had to retrace 300m, then I found the right gate and was happy to see that the cafe was available in the non-ticket area. I had egg and cress with crisps and a coffee. They had free water either iced or lemon sliced. I welcomed the rest I was 6 miles out and not quite half way. I visited Hampton court some years ago and can’t remember too much of it, but from the outside it looks grand, I made a mental note (and clearly a typed one too) to take the time to visit again.

I crossed the river river at Hampton not far from the entrance to the court,I would stay on the southern bank AL the way back to the car. At Molesey there was a lot going on, a relay running race and lots of rowing. There were a lot of house boats and water from chalet type residences as well as high end mansions on the Northern bank.

I had a plan to stop at the only possible stop on the path back to the ferry, a pub at Sunbury locks. I reached the locks but there was no pub, there were buildings that could have been pubs but no pub. You can imagine my joy when just after the locks there was the pub, called The Weir, a freehouse to boot, I had a half of Twyford Tipple and a packet of Jalapeño crisps. A chance to test my feet was very welcome and I only had about 20% of the distance left to walk. It was starting to look a bit greyer outside which reminded me that rain was due early afternoon, the time was 14:00.

The final stretch was not to bad and the rain held off. The path was really in the country side now. I got back to the car and thought I would take a look at the chandlers over the other side of the ferry they had a sale on. I had to go back to the bridge and down ferry road to get there. It turns out it was not a chandlers but was full of cheap clothes and nautical related tat. There were a couple of weather stations going cheap at £25. I moved on then stopped at a Snow and Rock shop outside which cars were hunting for parking spaces. I had a look round but even the stuff on sale seemed expensive.

The walks are becoming easier my feet do not ache as much and I think I can easily do a 15 miler if I needed to, but I will keep the stretched to 10-12 miles but push out longer if it seems appropriate.

Thames Path – Tower Bridge to Mortlake

Sunday was my opportunity for a walk so I went to bed early for an early start. We got new neighbours on Saturday but we have not really heard a peep out of them yet. I drove to The London Wetland Centre at Barnes and is run by WWT. They have free parking but the sign at the entrance suggested a £10 “donation” would be required if you did not have proof of entrance tickets on exiting, I took a chance, and in any case they do good work so would rather pay them than a car park.

The plan was to walk to Mortlake then public transport my way to Tower Hill then continue where I left off last week. By the time I got to Mortlake I had walked 4 miles, and I realised I may have bitten off more than I could chew. I threw caution to the wind I would see how I got on, and made a note to improve my map measuring technique.

I had a message from a friend last who I had not communicated with for some time, but whom I have known for man years, and we always seem to be able to carry on where we left off. Anyway he had read the blog, yes people do read it and asked if he could join me for a section near Oxford, I jumped at the chance it would be great to meet up again. It would probably be warmer by the time I get that far, and having access to another car would save buses or doubling back.

I splashed out £12.10 on a travel card as I was not sure what i really needed then got the South West train to Waterloo and then the Bakerloo for a stop and jumped on the District line to Tower Hill. I planned on walking for another hourish before a break for lunch.

The Southbank Centre seemed like a good place for some lunch, egg sandwich and hot chocolate, and evaluate the distance left. It turns out there was another 8 miles back to Barnes further than I ideally would have preferred but doable, that remained to be seen however, but with rests at arcticle points I should be OK. I left the the Festival Hall at 12:40.

You start to leave the tourist crowds behind after the Houses of Parliament, so the walking starts to get a bit easier, I put a spurt on for a bit to get some ground behind me. At the bridge before Battersea I crossed over to avoid a hike in land around the old power station. I upped the pace again though Battersea park where I passed the Peace Pagodas. At the village I was forced in land by a path closure, and took the opportunity to stop for a well earned coffee and carrot cake. The cake was a double portion there was a clear portion line down the centre, however two slices was just too much for me.

After Putney bridge is an area where Londoners go to mess about on the river.There were lots of people in rowing boats and some evidence that sailing went on too. I think there were races going on as there were a couple of launches with load hailers.

Back at the Wetland sensor was obvious that the parking would not be free as you needed a token to get out, so I went to the entrance and purchased one of the £10 tokens. This Thames walk is becoming an expensive task, what with the petrol, coffee stops and the rail ticket today it probably cost me over £50! The total distance today was 15 miles and and managed to fill in a gap I now had a continuous stretch of about 40 miles of the Thames done. Only 140 miles to do.

London Drizzle

My brother and family were down for the weekend, being northerners they don’t get to London often so a trip was the plan for Saturday. The weather was not good, cold and drizzle. We tried to figure out the best way to buy tickets and figured if we were two familys with one child each we could save £2.80, but at the ticket office we were advised that three adults I a group and an adult with two £1 kids was better and we saved £20!

The 10:15 from Berkhamsted was running 3 minutes late. We walked to Kings Cross to get pictures on platform 9 and 3/4’s. We passed the new Francis Crick institute which will be a research institute for Cancer Research UK. It is a very impressive and imposing building which will be worth a visit when completed. The queues to take photos with the half a luggage trolley were massive, so after queuing for 5 minutes we decided we might come back later. I took a photo for Photoshop purposes just in case. We did the tour of the Harry Potter shop when you could buy all sorts of Harry Potter stuff at inflated prices.

London Millennium Bridge from Tate Modern

We had a planned destination of London bridge and Borough Market, so we found the appropriate bus stop and waited. The bus did not take long to arrive. It was on a diverted route but the 30 minute journey time was not affected. At borough market everyone was hungry but it was too cold to grab a take out. We wandered around and looked for somewhere to eat but the cafes were busy. Google maps came to the rescue and we found a Pizza express.

After a welcome pizza we had a look around Tate modern. There was an installation in the machine room, which was raised beds of earth from different places which had been left under artificial light to see what weeds would grow. It was obvious early days as there were not many weeds.

At Festival hall there was a Roald Dahl event on. We had missed both of it but we stayed to let the kid draw on the big blackboard floor, and watch some of the hand made instruments being used. Next stop was Big Ben where we arrive just a few minutes before 16:00 to hear it chime. We walked up Whitehall and past 10 Downing Street. The guards were marching about at Horse Guards.

In Trafalgar square they were getting ready for the Chinese new year. We popped in to the National Gallery for coffee and a look at some of the more famous paintings. We got the bus to Foyles where I bough ta book about Hacking and Penetration Testing. Then we got back on the bus to Euston, picked up some curries at Waitrose in Berkhamsted then went to bed early after a long day!

Thames Path – Teddington Lock to Mortlake

At loose end I couldn’t figure out what to do this Saturday the weather was absolutely lousy in Aylesbury. When I look at the BBC website I noticed that the middle of the day so I have to plan to walk some of the Thames Path.

The plan was to drive into London and park at ham House the National Trust property then walk down to Teddington by the Lough get the train to Mortlake and then walk back along the Thames Path. By the time I got to ham House the rain stopped, at 11 degrees it wasn’t exactly exactly warm. It took 40 minutes to walk to the station at Teddington, the ticket to Mortlake was £4.20.

Twickenham Bridge with Richmond Railway bridge in the back ground

I got a FitBit for Christmas and it has encouraged me to walk more, so much so that I like to do a 10 Mike walk every weekend. So far I have been pretty successful 4 out of 5 weekends I have done more than 10. Last weekend we were away but I still managed an 8, and one of the weekends I did a 15 miler, which was probably a bit too far, but something to work up to.

On the way to the station I passed the Laboratory of the Government Chemist, I wonder what goes on there? A train came within 10 minutes which was handy, the journey would be a smidge over 20 minutes. The first stop was strawberry hill somewhere I gave never been. Next stop Twickenham, there was no match today, even though the Six Nations starts today, I checked before I set out as I did nothing t want to get stuck in traffic for a match. I could see lots of terraced houses from the train nearly all of them had skylights so as to maximise the expensive properties in this part of London.

The river with easy to find from Mortlake station just follow the streets to go downhill. Passed a brewery on the way now owned by Budweiser I did and acute bridge and then joined the Thames Path for some time it’s a very hard surface with no mud. I had chosen the right side of the river on the other side side properties with Gardens extending right down to the riverbank full stop that meant that the footpath went in land.

Illegal to eat keyboard I heard and saw a lot more ringneck parakeets than I had thus far on the walk. At the bend in the River Thames became rather choppy and I could see white horses on the River. From the Kew side of the river you get a great view of Syon House and the remains of an abbey. There was a handy bench so I rated for five. Tween the thames path and Q Gardens there is a waterfield haha a 1.0 possible to beat like a portcullis didn’t like it had been put down for some time. Just passed Kew Gardens is the Surrey golf club, then on the right an island called Isleworth Alt. At Richmond lock I crossed the very ornate footbridge, then headed into Richmond in search of coffee.

I settled on a place called Topshop Cafe on the high Street, a strange place. It appeared to be a long established place run by middle Eastern people, judging by the food on the menu. There were hanging plants all around, with that succulent green grass like plant in. In a corner three menu had a large Gaggia coffeeake in pieces and seemed to be discuss how to fix it. My American was strong and bitter typical of middle Eastern preference for the beverage.

I was 7 miles in to the walk but less than three remained, but I had a plan. I would continue on the path, and all pas the ferry to Ham House to take a look a bit further on where I could see a museum marked close to Eel Pie island, which I might also take a look at. I was tired by the time I got to the ferry, but alas it did not seen to be running despite what Wikipedia said as well as the signs on the jetty. There was a light on but no one seemed to be there. I waited five minutes and there was still no sign of life so I decided that i the best bet would be to double back to the bridge at Richmond where I found a cafe under the bridge in an archway. The coffee was better than the last place and the apple cake divine. Whilst day in cafe I took a closer look at a dog tag I had found on the path,it had a mobile number on it so I texted the the number to tell them and offer to post back. I got this polite reply; “Thank you so much. Yes, that’s our Sam. He was out for a run there this morning. Don’t worry about returning, I can easily get a new one – it will probably cost more for the postage! Many thanks anyway.”

I had sore feet for the final mile back to the car and the seats were a welcome relief. I had walked at least12 miles, a good walk. I missed the M4/M25 turn off and had to double back, a theme is emerging! I stopped off a Tesco for dinner and picked Helen up. We were home for the rugby England v Scotland in Murrayfield.

London to Brighton Vintage Car Run 2015 #LBVCR

The first Sunday of November is as usual the London to Brighton vintage car run and as we have been doing for the past, well more than 20 years, we are helping out Rory get his vintage Humberette down to Brighton, in one big long traffic jam.

Helen and I opt to meet everyone at Crawley rather than getting up at 4 in the morning for the official start in hyde park at 7. It was foggy in parts when we left at 8:30 from home. The M25 was busy but moving at full speed. Just before the M23 we checked in with Rory to find out where they had got to. That had just left the usual coffee stop just before the M23 so we headed south on the motorway to park up at Crawley.

After last years fiasco when the official stop was moved to a Honda dealership just outside Crawley then missing out the High Street, the compromise this year was stop at the dealership and drive up the High Street. A real shame but it did mean we could meet at the White Hart.

The car broke down just before the stop, when it overheated. Mark thought he might have to deploy the fire extinguisher! They had to push start the car to get moving again, and when it stopped in Crawley the radiator cap had be replaced by a cork and paperclip indicator. Ozzie Dave was with us for the next part of the journey which continued at 12:00 about the same time as most years. The traffic was not quite as heavy as I remember from previous years.

We overtook the car and stopped a few times, then peeled off to Brighton just before Burgess Hill. The traffic jam to Brighton delivered us to the hotel by 14:00 just on time for checking in. Dave and I headed to the sea front and Helen went shopping. Martin was down on the seafront at the entrance to Madeira Drive. We saw the Humberette arrive, then we walked down to the parking area, where we jumped the barriers to get to the car. We hung around for a while chatting, and watched the spectacle that is a starling murmuration over the pier that is still standing.

The fog had burnt off in Brighton and people were wandering around in t-shirts and sitting on the beach enjoying the sun. Helen read somewhere that it was the hottest November day on record!

When it was time to go back to the car I volunteered to be the passenger so as to get the car loaded on the trailer quickly. I was the only ones Rob trusted to do it properly. By the time the others reached office on foot the car was loaded and tied down all Rory had to do was just check that it was to the correct specification. Luckily for us smokehead parked near the tender vehicle and as there was only 5 of us we all managed to squeeze into his Renault Megane and we headed back to the centre of town through the traffic jam was trying to leave Brighton.

It turns out we had parked in the wrong car park we have parked in the NCP car park but if we had part that the RCP car park it would have only cost us £10 for 24 hours rather than the £26 that the 24 hours going to cost us.

We agreed to meet up at 7:30 to go out for something to eat so I had 2 hours to relax and have a shower before heading out. We met up the in reception where the drinks were two for one, Helen enjoyed her large glass of wine for the price of a small one.

No one would commit to the type of or which restaurant type to go for, we ended up at an Italian called Donatello, mainly because we could not see an establishment with a free table for 10 or agree where to go. They sat us at a round table so no one felt they were out on a limb. The food was tasty but nothing special, we all had starters, and drinks (except Jonah) and some had desert, the the final bill was £23 per person including service charge, which is good value for money. We stopped ofc at a pub for a pint, I had a nice IPA, then headed back to the hotel and bed.

We met up at 09:00 in reception and headed to Bills for a cooked breakfast, I had the veggie one which has toast spread with spicy humous and another with guacamole, which is very tasty. Next we did some window shopping and a few if the girls bought boots, and Rory bought some frog salt and pepper pots. We left at 12:30 ish and dropped by one of Helens relatives for a spot of lunch, then headed home. The traffic was busy but we were home before the real rush hour at 17:00. Another great London to Brighton.

Body boarding in Croyde Bay

Relaxed start to the day for me but three of the party went down to the beach at seven in the morning for a swim. Well I say seven but in reality even though Helen had prepared her stuff, she was still ferreting around and rustling about in our bedroom at 07:30! I got up at about 08:30 and made myself some breakfast, black cherry jam on toast and a mug of coffee.

The other came back at about 09:00 they had managed to get wet up to the ankles (ed: it was above the knee!) and complained that the water was cold. We sat around deciding what we should do with the rest of the day and someone suggested some body boarding. Great idea, so C & T and I got into our swimmers and headed down the lane to find an establishment that would rent out the kit. Our first stop was Baggy Lodge Surf Hire but there seemed to be no one on duty, so after trying to get some attention we headed down to the Croyde Surf school.

The surf school did not hire out kit without lessons but they kindly pointed us in the direction over the other side of the road where the caravan park shops are. We headed over and were soon kitted out with wetsuit, boots, gloves and a bodyboard each. We used the shops changing rooms to squeeze ourselves into the wetsuits, then wandered back across the road to the beach. We left Helen looking after the kit on a handy rocky outcrop and headed to the waves.

Surprisingly in a wetsuit the keeps you warm in the sea, unless you put your back into the wave then the water goes right down the neck and through the wetsuit giving you an all over chill. Being novices we took some time to figure out how to catch a wave, but after about half an hour we had figured that you needed to be not too far out, and wait for the wave that sucks you in before you launch yourself forward using the purchase you get from your feet on the sea bed.

Rather than go back to the shop we walked back to the hut to have a shower and extract ourselves from our wetsuits. Then I drove down to the shops with Helen and dropped off the gear. We had also decided to stay in and I had volunteered to cook pasta for dinner.

I had seen a recipe in the Tesco magazine for baked chick peas and J had purchased some while they were out for a walk near Appledore. You bake them with a teaspoon of olive oil and smoked paprika to which you add honey and seeds for the second part of the bake. It took a lot longer than the recipe but I think it was a combination of the oven and the fact I did double the quantity. I will try again at home, with my own trusted oven. They tasted fine with extra time in the oven.

I had a portion of the cheese cake I made earlier in the week. The middle was not divine but the edges were still split, so the fridge is not the answer. We watched the bake off then went to bed, C, T & J were going on a Lundy boat trip on Thursday the rest of us were undecided.

Holiday centre change from Cornwall to Devon

Holiday change over day, from Cornwall to Croyde in Devon, and from just me and Helen to Helens family and hangers on. We were up early and ready to leave the hut at 09:30 without any trouble at all there was not much to tidy, so we had time for a leisurely breakfast. Helen prides herself on leaving holiday properties tidily, today was no exception, ensuring the mantle piece items were repositioned where we had found them.

We took the coastal A39 which winds through the Cornish and Devonshire countryside, the sun was shining and the atmosphere pretty crystal clear, so the drive was a pleasure. We passed through quite a few familiar places from holidays past. At Bideford we passed the turn off to Croyde but we had planned a detour to the National Trusts Arlington Court where our first priority was coffee and cake in the Cafe. The gluten free lime and coconut cake went down a treat with a large americano.

Arlington Court was or is home to the Chichester family which are related to Sir Francis Chichester who sailed around the world single handed at a time without GPS. (ed: bloody good book). The house itself is full of shells, stuffed birds and model boats, it seems that they were a family that liked collecting stuff. The last of the house even had a museum wing to store all of it that somehow there was no room for on the house itself. We left Arlington Court at about 13:00, time for a supermarket sweep before our anticipated arrival at the new holiday venue in Croyde at 15:00.

I hadn’t banked on the amount of shopping that would be required at the Braunton Tesco we needed provisions for 7 for a week, almost £300 and a trolley full. The very helpful store manager asked if we had picked one of every item they sold! The shopping took about an hour, we wondered why people bothered doing that every week, we get Tesco to deliver which is far more convenient.

C&T were already at the hut when we arrived and five journeys later I had unpacked the car of luggage and shopping. Everyone was accounted for by 17:00 and we all settled in, some resting on the lawn others taking a stroll on the beach. Dinner would a simple affair preprepared salad stuff from Waitrose. Bring Devon on.

Padstow to Stepper point look out including Padstow to Rock ferry

The next door neighbours have have vacated the property next door and annoyingly have switched off their broadband hub, so we have lost the small internet access point that is the corner of the sofa in the front window of the property. Last full day in Cornwall we fancied a light walk, so Padstow was the obvious choice. Helen was not keen on a boat across the river Camel but a 5 minute drive to Rock and a ferry, compared to a 30 minute drive to Padstien made the sensible choice the boat. Parking at Rock is an exorbitant £4.50.

The wait for the ferry was short and we boarded with a family, and made the short crossing to Padstow. Feeling lazy and because it looked like it might rain we opted for a coffee before heading out on the coastal path. We nostalgically looked at the flat we rented above the public conveniences quite a few years ago, whilst make use of them.

The path hugs the headland and is relatively flat compared to the walk we had done the day before, and is semi paved with Cornish rock. The sun came out as we got to the point and it seemed like a good place to stop for sandwiches and to lose a layer. Two marmalade sandwiches later we popped round the headland where the wind was blowing and spent ten minutes with the coast lookout volunteer. I always find the coastal lookout people very accommodating, and always make a point of popping in. On a winters day they always have a heater going and it is a welcome break from the constant coastal wind.

The lookout also provided a short cut saving us a big descent and adventure on the coastal path, however it did mean that Helen had to walk through a field of friendly (ed: ???) and inquisitive cows. We were soon heading down hill as luck would have to a Cafe in a set of cottages called “Rest a while Tea Garden” where we stopped for another cup of coffee. A flock of house sparrows were scrounging for food but every time I tried to get a picture some one walked through the garden gate and they flew off, I even tried offering them my sandwich crumbs. (ed: very friendly and good quality food/drinks).

It was not far back to the ferry pickup which had moved closer to where we were because the tide, which had the added benefit of allowing us to walk on the sand directly across the bay. The ferry crossing was smooth enough for Helen to announce that she was enjoying the mode of transport.

We were back at the hut by 15:30 so we went down to the seafront where Helen did some shopping then after a brief walk on the beach we went to the Waterfront bar for a final Cornish beer, Tribute, before moving on to Devon beer next week. Pasta for tea then watched the opening game of the rugby world cup. Tomorrow a new county and another week of holiday.

Search for Norfolk Cafe

The weather promised to be rain there was a band of rain about the width of Norfolk running from the north coast to through Buckinghamshire down to the south coast. We decided that we might be able to escape the in if we visited Norwich. Before we set out I got up early, at 0720, to have a look at the car park tide situation. The the tie was about half way across the road at the Blakeney Hotel, and two or three cars on the car park were up to the bottom of there alloy wheels. I wandered around and took some pictures and threw stones with a kid trying to hit a bucket floating by. The sailing club were already up as they can’t really sail if the tide is out. A family walked down and went for a swim.

I walked back to the hut at about 0800 at the deli someone was ordering croissants for 0830 when the shops officially opens. Not wanting to be disappointed again I stuck my head in the door and ordered a baguette, the owner said he had some ready fresh from the oven so I purchased one and pot of strawberry jam to go with it, breakfast sorted. Helen was not quite up when I got back so I waited for her to have a shower while the baguette cooled down. After breakfast we agreed that a trip to Norwich would be the best option.

We arrived in Norwich from the airport side, and found a very expensive car park £5.60 for 4 hours near the cathedral, then walked towards town. The cathedral is a pedestrian zone surrounded by old houses, a quiet oasis in the city. There was a service on so we could not go into the knave for 45 minutes, so we went to have a look at the cloisters, grabbed a coffee and biscuit from the coffee shop, which is a modern building integrated but not quite attached to the cloister walls.

We arrived at the knave as the service was finishing and the organ was very loud and a pleasure to hear. The building it self is very impressive with a very high vaulted ceiling. I took some photos where I could find a convenient spot to rest my camera to stop blurred exposures. Our next destination was the castle which has a Jeff Koons exhibition on in the temporary gallery. When we got there we found out that it was not open till 1300 so we walked around the market via the royal arcade. We saw a couple of free runners at the top end of the market jumping all over the stone work.

Back at the museum we looked around the excellent permanent art gallery with lots of Norfolk paintings, then I had a look arounf the modern Jeff Koons exhibits while Helen had a look around around the archaeology sections. On the way out of the castle grounds we came across the same free runners this time being photographed by someone who was blaming their DSLR for not getting the shots, I suspect it was a case of not reading the manual and selecting the wrong mode. We thought we might find a cafe or something for something to eat, but they all seemed shut so we grabbed a bag of almonds from an Asian store and got back to the car headed towards Cromer in the hope of finding somewhere on the way.

The search then started we drove through Cromer but it was packed and tere was nowhere to park, then we stopped at East Runton opposite a chippy which turned out to be shut. We ended up a Felbrigg hall but arrived as the rain started, so everyone headed to the cafe for a coffee so the queue was long and the staff seemed slow, but eventually we got to the front. I had coffee and chocolate cake and Helen a cheese and chutney toastie, but very nice. We took the coast road back to to Blakeney and synchronised our crossing of the Sheringham stem railway with an engine heading back the the depot, which I captured on the car dash cam.

Back at Blakeney we could not find a space in the £3 car park so ended up having to pay £5 at the British Legion. We relaxed for a while before heading out for out 1830 table at the White Horse an Adnams pub. I had sea bass on mini onions, peas, beans and sauted potatoes, and Helen had a very interesting cauliflower and hazel nut “carbonara”, mine was washed down with a couple of pints of Adnams bitter. For dessert I had grilled peach with elderflower parfait, and sugared almonds which was lovely. We headed down to the harbour to see the tide, but we were half an hour early and it was cold so we did not hang about. Tomorrow morning would be the main event as the tie would be 30cm higher than this morning an would have the wind behind. Being half and hour later it we decided we would get up to have a look at 0820.