Month: March 2020

The fast road home …..

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Well it won’t be a true reflection of my journey if I don’t record my experience of being ‘grounded’.

Having realised that my days were numbered I had already concluded that the right thing to do was head back down to Cornwall (where I ‘live’ when not travelling around the UK and more importantly where I am registered under a GP) and planned to make the long journey home on Wednesday.

However Mr Johnson put us into lockdown at 8.30 on Monday evening and so after watching this extraordinary announcement, a moment of shocked reflection on the enormity of the worldwide situation and a little bit of packing, I tried to get an early night (though I can’t say that I slept well with all that was buzzing around my head!).

We got up early (for us) on Tuesday and started to prepare for the long journey ahead. By 9.30, I was enjoying my first and last cuppa of the day with Poppydog walked and fed and the van pretty much ready to hitch and go, as I idly watched the Site Wardens wandering from unit to unit advising us that the site would be closing with immediate effect and we needed to be on our way as soon as possible!

How surreal and eerily silent this all feels!

As any of you that follow my blog, will be aware, I rarely travel more than 50 or 60 miles, as we potter slowly around the UK coast, so the thought of the 420 miles ahead of us was rather daunting! I have to say that in my rather fanciful imagination I was expecting road blocks and all to confront me on my way! And at least a row of tanks to greet me on the Cornish border!

As it turned out of course, no such drama, a lovely calm sunny day and incredibly quiet roads – so much so that at one roundabout I actually forgot I was towing, my apologies to the car driver that I ever so slightly cut up! It took us 8.5 hours including just the one half hour stop around Bristol.

Poppydog was brilliant with not a murmur all the way. We snuck into our little holiday home site where we have a small chalet just as the sun dropped below the horizon and were tucked up in bed asleep within the hour!

Beyond the marshlands at Thornham….

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Another lovely sunny day, still a nip in the air but the wind has dropped some. We have decided to make today our last day exploring the Norfolk Coastline.

Continuing our journey along the northern tip of Norfolk, today we park up in Thornham, a pretty sleepy Norfolk village.

From the village we walk the mile or so along lanes to reach the coastal path. There was in fact some parking at the end of the lane, but we enjoyed the peaceful walk. Here the coastal path sits on top of the sea wall above the surrounding marshland.

We crossed an area of dunes and this fab beach lay in wait….

Well social distancing certainly won’t be a problem…

As Poppydog waits patiently for a bit of freedom….

We walked back along the beach to where we left off at Holme Dunes Nature Reserve.

Before taking a last look at this wonderful coastline – until next time.

I have been living, maybe naively, pottering along as we do, with very little human contact, that firstly, we are not endangering anyone and secondly, that we are keeping safe. However, I also appreciate that each county has its own health facilities based on it’s permanent residents and so we are heading home to Cornwall.

A wander around Sandringham….

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Another lovely sunny day for us, not warm but sunny. It was pretty busy at the coast yesterday and even though we were well away from the crowds, we are feeling a bit guilty and decided to stay closer to home and stroll around the lanes here within the Sandringham Estate. The Estate is understandably closed but a pleasant walk nonetheless.

Strange times – stay safe!

A blast along the beach at Holme-next-the-sea…..

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A lovely bright sunshiny day, but wow a seriously cold blast of wind running along the beach. Today we headed to Holme-next-the-sea a small village just around the coast from Hunstanton, to pick up from where we left off yesterday. There is a car park, chargeable, but we were lucky enough to squeeze into a bit of roadside parking for free! I don’t know why I have become so obsessed about parking for free but I have! Beyond the dunes this fabulous beach lay waiting….

The sand is soft but with quite a lot of stones in it and quite a few people out, no doubt, like me, enjoying the opportunity to get out whilst we still can! As we head off in a North easterly direction the wind is ferocious, making walking into it, as we are, quite a challenge and just to add to the mix, blasting a fine layer of sand with it!

Fortunately the tide is far enough out for us to walk on the wet sand away from the low flying soft sand and save Poppydog from a sand blasting!

Here the beach resembles a moonscape and dodging the pools distracts me from the biting wind. After a couple of miles or so we reach Gore Point, where the beach inclines towards the east and Holme Dunes Nature Reserve begins.

After a quick foray inland where it is much more sheltered from the wind, we decide to about turn, admit defeat to the wind and save the next bit of beach to another day…

What a fabulous parting shot as we rejoin the beach at Holme Dunes and get blown by the wind all the way back!

Old Hunstanton and it’s fabulous beach….

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A bit wet overnight and for our morning walk but brightening up by lunchtime with a mostly sunny afternoon. Today we are off to explore Old Hunstanton, parking up on the roadside above the cliffs in Hunstanton. Taking a quick look at the ruins of St Edmund’s Chapel on St Edmund’s Point with a glimpse of the Lighthouse through the archway (all that remains)….St Edmund, King of East Anglia from 855 was beheaded by the Vikings in 869 for not renouncing his faith, his head was tossed into the forest and later recovered by his men at the feet of a wolf who was keeping it safe! And so we have a wolf….We then took a closer look at the Lighthouse, closed in 1922 and now an holiday home…Before walking down towards this fabulous beach….

A short way along the beach, beyond the dunes and a collection of pretty beach huts, sits the flint stone village of Old Hunstanton…

Continuing along the beach a fairly deep (wellies ok but walking boots not so) divides the beach and we are forced to stay on the inland side (the tide is coming in and I certainly don’t want to get caught out!

Our turning point is Holme-next-the-sea where marshlands stretch in front of us before a stretch of low tide beach and the sea.

On our return we are trying to stay ahead of the rather black looking cloud that seems to be coming our way…

We don’t quite make it but it is fortunately short and sharp and though we get wet, the following sun and ever present breeze soon sorts us out again.

We even linger a while to watch the kite surfers – crikey they must be cold!!

A delightful 5 mile walk and home to find out what Boris has in store for us today.