Flower Show…

We joined a couple of our neighbours for a visit to see the RHS Wisley Flower Show. It was a lovely day and although there were many thousands of other people also visiting, the stands were thoughtfully arranged to minimise crowding as much as possible. We walked for miles that day and thoroughly enjoyed it all.

Jazz at the Castle…

Another sign of things starting to return to normality was a live music event. It was held outdoors in the picturesque surroundings besides the Guildford castle. The event showcased the Latin Jazz ensemble of Picante and was a lively show with many of the audience enticed to their feat to shake their stuff.

Face to Face…

For the first time in a long while several of us managed to get together to play board games, and we managed to recruit the son of one of our regular group to join us. We hope to make this a regular (monthly) event.

Norfolk ‘n Good…

The first full week in September, once the children had returned to school, we went on a holiday to East Anglia, mostly Norfolk but we passed through Essex, Suffolk and cam back via Cambridgeshire.

It would seem that as a result of the Covid travel restrictions a greater number of people have been holidaying at home (staycation) and so finding accommodation was difficult. Originally, we had hoped to book a boat on the Norfolk Broads, but what ever was left was prohibitively expensive. In the end we found a couple of places through Airbnb, and even then, we had to compromise on dates and location.

To break the journey up we travel part way on the Friday, stopping at Canvey Island. We were not expecting much and were not disappointed, staying at the large but distinctly average Oysterfleet Hotel. We did however find a nice restaurant on the Thames Estuary called the Labworth, which was lovely and had very friendly staff.

The next morning, we drove to Southend-on-Sea for breakfast and a look at the pier. It was a grey morning, so we continued to the pretty seaside town of Southwold, where, as the sun was now out, we walked along the beach and through the town stopping for lunch at the Sole Bay Inn located at the base of the lighthouse and just around the corner from the Adnams brewery.

Afterwards we travelled on to Ormesby Broad and the Boathouse where we stayed in one of the lodges that they have available, for a couple of nights.

We spent the next day exploring the Norfolk Broads and then meeting up with an old friend at the fabulous Gunton Arms. We had a few drinks and started to catch up the 30 years since we saw each other. The evening we went back to their house in Mundesley where they provided dinner and we talk on for a few more hours.

The next day we packed up and moved on exploring more of the Norfolk Broads including the bustling Wroxham, then on to the coast for lunch at Cromer (crab naturally), exploring the beaches there and at Sheringham.

Our accommodation for the next few nights was a small cottage in Swanton Novers. It was quaint and old fashioned without any frills (no TV, microwave, freezer) though it did have wi-fi. It was however well located for north Norfolk, with any place less than an hour drive away.

In the morning we explored the nature reserve that was behind the cottage before heading to the northern beaches at Cley next the Sea (an enormous shingle beach), Wells-next-the-Sea (a busy resort town full of holiday makers) – here we had lunch at the Crown Hotel where we had the most amazing sandwiches (Sue had crab, and plenty of it, and I had ‘fish fingers’ which were more like small fillets). Then we moved on to Brancaster which has a fabulous large sandy beach.

For our final full day in Norfolk, we went to Sandringham. We didn’t go into the house, but explored the lovely gardens and then found an old pub, the Rose and Crown, with a lovely walled garden for lunch (amazing crab cakes). After that we went on to Old Hunstanton beach, another large expanse of sand, before returning to our little cottage for the evening.

During our holiday we made sure we took time to relax as well and we had a few board and card games we played of an evening, a good music system, and books to read. It was nice not to be rushing about all the time.

On the Friday we packed up and drifted southwards, stopping briefly at Oxburgh Hall (undergoing some major roof repairs) and Thetford Forest where we had a lovely walk and a picnic lunch amongst the trees.

Eventually we made it to the small city of Ely for the last night of our holiday. We stayed in the posh Poet’s House opposite the cathedral. We walked down to the river passed the lovely old buildings and had a couple of drinks before returning and getting ready for our slap-up dinner (courtesy of my company).