blakeney – Neil Baldwin's blog : Warning contains walking, technology, photography, holidays.

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.

Bank holiday weekend traffic to Blakeney

We wanted to go away for the bank holiday weekend, but struggled to find one that suited us as our usual haunts were booked up, then we decided to take the Friday off and rent a cottage in Blakeney Friday to Monday. We set off early and stopped for coffee with my folks near Peterborough, leaving us two hours drive to Holme/Titchwell. The sat nav suggested a different route to usual, after ignoring the proposed route I realised that it was because of 6 tail back near Kings Lynn, so we quickly changed routes. In the end it took about 3 hours to get to Holme-next -sea where we renewed our membership of the NNT and took a stroll on the beach and over the dunes, the weather was perfect sunny with clouds, warm with a Norfolk breeze.

We had planned to stop at Titchwell RSPB but decided to head straight for Blakeney, where the parking was a challenge, we ended up down on the car park near the marsh, where there were warnings about the tides, however I checked with the car park attendant who said we were OK till Sunday evening (I hope he was not lying!). We had planned to eat out, but the cottage was next door to a delicatessen where whe stocked up with stuff to make a salad, and decided a pint down at the front followed by a healthy salad would be fine. We already had tables booked for Saturday and Sunday.

We carried our luggage up to the cottage, which was well appointed with three bedrooms, more than we needed but it was the only one we found that was a reasonable price for the weekend. Clean, tidy a recently decorated it would be fine for a weekend. I made myself at home by connecting up the Wifi then plugged the Fire Stick into the TV to make sure that worked too. We then took a walk down to the quayside and out on to the marshes. There were many people crabbing, and Beans Seal trips was plying his trade. The tides meant that seal trips would have to be at 17;00 or 18:00 for the weekend. At £12 for an hours trip they are good value.

As we walked out on the marsh as far as the gravel ath would take us, I could hear bees buzzing. On investigation there was what looked like a swarm but they were solitary bees as each one had it’s own little burrow. As we walked back the light was low and great for taking photo’s which I did. I moved the car to a higher spot on the car park (just in case). A pint was in order and we found Adnams being served at Blakeney Manor, with a free picnic table available overlooking the marsh it tasted even better.

Back at the hut we had salad and a quiche/tart each and watched iPlayer on the Fire Stick whilst planning our Saturday.

Blakeney to Cley NWT and back

We set off in fairly good time this morning, down to the quay and Blakeney we headed off on the coastal path/sea wall out towards the point then back in land to Cley. There was a lot a fine rain showers as we headed out but as the day progressed it got increasing brighter and the sun started to break through the clouds.
Once at Cley we headed through the tight high street, and out the other side if the village and then along to the NWT visitors center. We had lunch at the center and I bought a book that has a chapter devoted to Lee Evans down fall, it is called “Tabloid Birding” (get this confirmed).
After lunch Nancy and Sallie headed back by bus via the git shops, and we headed in land to eventually do a loop round to the opposite end of the village, of Blakeney. We stopped off a Cley church a grand building and passed through Wiveton.

By the end of the walk my feet had pounded enough ground and I was ready for a glass of Admans from the mini barrel we purchased at the Adnams shop a Holkham, pure nectar after the long walk.