Radar and More

I guess a trip to an old Radar Station isn't everybody's idea of a good day out, but it suited me. Neatishead started as a radar establishment back in the early days of the war and the museum reflects this.

Although the guided tour is optional, in practice you can't really visit without doing it. It takes you through three specific phases, the Battle of Britain, the later wartime period then the cold war. You're then left to wander around the other parts of the museum including a section on RAF Coltishall.

For a volunteer-run organisation (there is one paid administrator/curator) it was well staffed, many of the people having worked there or on similar things elsewhere. As it happens we were joined on our tour by the current patron and chairman of the trustees, a former senior RAF officer. He was able to add his own bit of history to the story as he was being guided on a training run by staff at Neatishead when it went off-air due to a fire in 1966. 3 civilian firemen lost their lives that day and the control had to be moved back from the underground bunker to the WW2 control room for several years.

I had a bit of a chat with one of their ex-RAF IT people, we worked on similar systems in the 1980s, and I can also recommend their cafe. After lunch (a decent baked potato) I decided to visit Happisburgh, really for the sake of it. I've got a few photos of the light house and yet more wartime defences (a couple of pillboxes). Looking at the pictures it's frightening just how much land has been lost there in a relatively short period. The only defences now are a stone breakwater that's protecting the ramp down to the beach, even that's currently being repositioned due to further erosion. I know the experts now reckon it's not worth trying to protect individual areas of the coast as it just moved the problem elsewhere, I can see it won't be that many years until the lighthouse and other buildings will be lost or will have to be moved as they did with Belle Tout.

Shopping for Broads

Sorry, that should read Shopping and Broads!

I needed to do some food shopping and, being only a few miles away, the obvious place was Roy's of Wroxham (or Woy's of Woxham as some of my friends call it). That done it was off to Wroxham Barns, a craft centre. Bit of a waste of time really, half the craft shops were shut and there was little of interest except a cup of coffee and a freshly baked scone.

Next stop, on what was always intended to be a shortish day, was The Museum of the Broads. Well worth a visit and good value for a fiver. It covers quite a lot of Broads history and, at the moment, has a special exhibition on brewing! Some interesting, and different, boats there including a couple I wasn't even aware of such as an airdrop lifeboat from the early part of WW2. They were literally slung under a plane and then dropped to downed aircrew to try and make their way back to the coast. The most frightening thing in my view was a large punt gun used for wildfowling. Before guns that size were banned it would take 1lb of gunpowder and 2lbs of shot, nails, etc.  to load it. When fired the punt would be sent up to 25 yards backwards with the recoil.

From there I popped in to Stalham, braving the chaos of the Tesco petrol queues and having a quick look round. After that it was back to the site for lunch and a relaxed afternoon. I'm now trying to work out if it's cooler inside the camper, where at least there's shade, or outside in what little breeze there is. It wouldn't be easy to organise on Dai but in the future I think a sunshade would be very useful.

Steam, Cars and Steam Cars

Not a great day weather wise, it was damp when I left site and headed for the Strumpshaw Steam Museum. I probably wouldn't have known about this but for the TV programme Salvage Hunters. It's another of those collections started by one man, but it's now a trust. The difference to Thursford is immeasurable. This is anything but a sanitised tourist attraction, you can wander around amongst the engines, etc. Everything is oily and a bit grubby and they don't mind if kids start clambering on things (although they rarely get youngsters). It's quite an eclectic collection, including various steam tractors and rollers, a few diesel tractors and engines plus a couple of larger engines. One of the beam engines and a couple of the smaller ones were running (on compressed air) and they also started up one of the fairground organs. I had a bit chat with a couple of the people and a coffee, well worth a fiver.

Not really having much else planned I thought I'd drive down to Caister, but before I got there I saw signs for the Caister Castle Car Collection. I thought that looked a good visit and it had the advantage of being largely indoors as the rain was getting quite heavy. This started out as another private collection, that of a Dr Hill, and is now housed in purpose built galleries adjacent to the ruined castle. They have everything there from the very first cars (and bicycles which predate even those) through to some relatively modern "classics". If there was an issue is that the cars are so packed in it's not easy to take photos. A few cars stood out for me, including a small collection of steam cars (a White, a Stanley and a couple of others).

I made use of their tearoom but decided not to climb the 147 steps to the top of the castle tower - the wooden spiral staircase is open tread and I really don't like those. I did run down into Caister itself but with the poor weather didn't stop so made my way back to the site. There had been talk that the Vulcan would be flying over but no sign of it - I don't know if the info was incorrect or if plans changed due to the weather.

Another Day, Another Train

Having decided that timings just didn't work to do the museums at Thetford I got away at a reasonable time to head for the Mid Norfolk Railway. It's another preserved railway, single track now although the original was twin track. I had a bit of a chat with the guy running the museum room, and although the notice board said it was diesel today it turned out that we were hauled by a steam engine.

As such railways are it's fairly typical. Friendly enough but nothing special. I had lunch in the tearoom which was OK.

From there I programmed the satnav for the site for the next few days. It's a typical club site, but there's a shop close by one way (useful for bread) and a pub the other (useful for beer). I must admit that I got talking in the latter and supped a pint or two more than I should on an afternoon. One of the people there now spends his whole time touring Caravan Club sites. Not sure I'd want to do that but it suits him and his dog.

The next couple of days are fairly relaxed, there's a steam museum tomorrow (courtesy of Salvage Hunters on telly), and a couple of other visits before the Royal Norfolk Show. That will be a full day out, but it's a while since I've been to a similar event. It's getting close to 50 years since I first went to the Durham County Show and I'll admit to having a liking for such things.

If You go Down to the Woods Today...

You'll see lots of caravans and motorhomes, at least you will if it's these woods.

Got away reasonably on time from West Runton, one thing with the campervan is that packing up to leave site isn't much more than putting everything away each day anyway. As I hadn't even put the mains hookup on the only extra job was to remove my pitch reservation sign. I took a moderately winding route to Bressingham Steam and Gardens. The place is a little run down these days, see below, but well worth a visit. Obviously for me it's the steam part that's of interest, they have 3 separate running narrow-gauge railways, although only 2 tend to be open midweek and quite a few static displays and locos that are either to be restored or have had cosmetic restorations.

One area is largely given over to Dad's Army, with various vehicles and items from either the series or the film on show. These include the van from the film, the dustcart and the car that Pike drives in one episode. Interestingly (or not) I was at the station used for the King's visit a couple of days ago on the North Norfolk line. More tomorrow as I'm planning on visiting the Dad's Army museum.

I took a trip on what they call The Nursery Line as it runs round the area that was Bressingham Blooms. This was a huge Nursery which closed down about 5 years ago. The plan is to clear the site and return it to natural habitat but it's a massive job and is being undertaken entirely by the volunteers. As is often the case I got talking to the guard on the train. Apparently last year was the first time the trust has had a surplus in 15 years. The problems stemmed from the attempted restoration of the Royal Scot. Costs spiralled out of control, the restoration was halted and they had to repay the Heritage Lottery Fund a substantial sum. The good thing is that they now do have a bit more money available so hopefully it will get even better.

The cafe was a bit of a disaster, nice food and coffee but a server who frankly didn't have a clue. Having had coffee and cake earlier I decided not to bother with lunch. The second railway that was open is the one around the gardens themselves - a great way to see them with minimal effort in my view, but then I'm not really into gardens. I'm sure for those that are they'd repay a walk around.

Putting my anorak on one of the highlights for me is the only Standard Gauge Beyer Garrat left in the world. It's a relatively small industrial loco, hopefully one day they'll actually do a steaming restoration on it. I just had a double check on the gauge of the one I saw in Queensland, although that is considerably larger overall it's only 3' 6" gauge. As with their other larger locos though it's just sat in a shed almost ignored. They are restoring one of these at the moment and hope to reopen the standard gauge track next year.

From there it was another winding route past Thetford to the caravan site, with a brief pause to visit Boots for more shower gel, not that I need it here as there are no facilities. I've found another pitch buried a bit into the woods, as with the previous site the first pitch I tried sloped the wrong way but this one is level. This area of the forest is where the 7th Armoured Division, better known as The Desert Rats, trained on the, then new, Cromwell Tanks before D-Day. There's a walk around the area with various interpretation boards and the Division Memorial, a Cromwell on a plinth, is at the site entrance. Those few months were the only time the Division spent in the UK during the war as they went from El Alamein to Berlin (via Italy and France).

I've got a bit of working out to do for the next couple of days, I'm starting off tomorrow in and around Thetford but there's also a railway to visit and I don't want to be too late to the next site. I'll shortly be consulting the map and satnav to work out the best options. I'll also need bread and fresh stuff at some point.

Later update - you can't do everything! I'll still aim to do the Dad's Army museum but unless I'm very quick there I shall leave the Charles Burrell for another day. The other option, dependimg how I feel tomorrow, is to leave both of them and come back another weekend. It's not a huge distance from home (under 2 hours drive) so it's an option.

Phew, What a Scorcher!

Today started off looking very nice weather wise, and by the time I'd got to Aylsham for the Bure Valley Railway it was getting very warm. This is apparently the longest 15" narrow gauge line in Norfolk - I guess there's not a lot of competition! Allegedly they can't make it any longer without stopping for a loo break (no toilets on the trains of course). If you'll believe that...

Strictly speaking, like the Wells and Walsingham, it's not a heritage railway but a tourist line built on the trackbed of a former standard gauge track. It's certainly very popular, and is probably a good way to visit Wroxham although the town itself is a few minutes walk from the station.

First thing I spotted on heading for the town was Wroxham Miniature Worlds. This is a new venture in a shop/warehouse unit which was supposed to open on February but apparently finally opened in May. It's not finished yet but it currently has various model railways already built and running and they're now starting on what they claim will be the largest OO-Gauge layout in the world. There's also a Scalextric track and some very good static displays of model buildings, dolls houses, etc. I understand they did want a large pool with radio controlled boats but were turned down due to the amount of water involved. To say it will be nice when it's finished is being churlish, a lot of time and money has been invested already.

I did have a quick wander round the town itself, and had a decent lunch. After last night it was tempting to have some decent Fish and Chips but I resisted. In the old days little old ladies in a tearoom would hand around photos of the grandchildren, now they hand around smartphones and tablets. I've got some snack stuff for this evening that really needs eating so a more substantial meal seemed a good idea. One sight was a crocodile of school kids all wearing buoyancy aids parading through the town - you don't see that every day! Must admit I was quite happy to get back to the station and sit in the relative peace for a while.

Unlike the engine I was running out of steam by the end so it was a straight run back to the site. It's cooled down a bit but I'm sat sitting outside the campervan with a beer and, shortly, the Kindle. It's my last night here at West Runton, tomorrow night I'll be at Thetford Forest. I'd certainly come here again but I'm pleased I found this relatively isolated pitch rather than end up on the open field area.

A Brief Encounter

Having looked at the train times from Holt I decided to amend my plans and go shopping first as the earliest steam train wasn't until 11:15. I'd had venison sausages (told you I'd found the butchers, Dave) for breakfast today so I settled on Norfolk ones for later in the week, some more bacon and a nice piece of rump steak. I also procured a loaf of bread and 8 bottles of Adnams Sole Star, only 2.7% but a pleasant summer drink.

After I'd taken a few pics around Holt Station, visited the model railway and had a coffee, I boarded the train, only to meet a couple that I'd been talking to on the Wells and Walsingham a couple of days ago! They'd come up from Sheringham so we only had time for a brief hello. If I see them tomorrow on the Bure Valley I'll suspect stalking. The train quickly filled up so I didn't get a compartment to myself.

The North Norfolk, or The Poppy Line as it's styled, is fairly typical of preserved railways. The engine was a BR Standard Class 4, the coaches a mixture of corridor and open stock. Everyone was very friendly and knowledgeable, even the chap in the buffet took time to help someone planning a visit with disabled children, and knew whether it would be possible (there may be issues with the stock that will be running that week). It's not a long run down to Sheringham but there's a reasonable view for much of the way. I did note as we went through Weybourne station that it would repay a visit.

Rather than return straight away I took the time to have a wander through Sheringham. Typical seaside tourist place really (didn't expect much else) so I had an ice cream, I think it's compulsory isn't it? I then strolled back up the the station buffet for lunch which was quite pleasant. As I was finishing I was joined at the table by an elderly gentleman, actually there were 2 of them plus their minders. One of the carers did check it was OK, I was just finishing up anyway so by the time they'd sorted out the order I'd finished my coffee and said, "Cheerio!"

As is often the case there was a bit of a wait for the next train back but at least it was quite quiet. I think a lot of people had caught the first train from Holt and were spending the day in Sheringham. This time I got out at Weybourne for a look round there, and of course yet more photos! The model railway was nothing particularly special but it's always interesting to see other efforts. Getting out did give me a chance to get more photos of the steam hauled train, as is often the case I got chatting to another photographer, although he's moved over to video now. I'm not convinced it's for me though - it takes long enough to sort through still photos without having hours of video to edit.

I finished the journey back by diesel railcar, just for a change. One annoyance was that the museum at Holt Station was closed when I got back there, at 2:30pm. It would have been useful if there'd been a notice to that effect in the morning as I'd have looked round then. I'm heading in the opposite direction tomorrow so won't get another opportunity.

Having got back to site I decided it was time for a bit of housework, 5 minutes of running the 12v hoover over the floors. It's not brilliant but it takes the thick off! Tonight was fish and chip van night so I wandered down to the entrance for the advertised 17:30 only to find they'd obviously been serving fur quite a while. There was also no indication that you had to order and pay then join the queue. Having figured that out there was quite a long wait and frankly I wished I'd gone with plan B and had F&C in Sheringham for lunch and a snack for tea. They were OK but it's a bit of a hike back to the camper so they weren't overly hot.

Now sat sitting with one of the bottles of Adnams, listening to the bird song, dogs barking and the horn from the F&C van which has now arrived on the next door campsite!

Tanks for the Memory

Having breakfasted on orange juice, cereal bar and bacon butties I headed off, with a quick bit of shopping for kitchen roll in the sort of village shop that will sell you just one roll! I then headed up to the first visit of the day, the Muckleburgh Collection. Details are on line but it's more than just a heavy vehicle collection, although I think that's what it's mostly known for. There are plenty of other displays including a large section on the Norfolk Yeomanry. Everything available today was inside, they only have the moving vehicle stuff outside in school holidays, but it was a bit chilly in some of the sheds. I was glad of my "Do I come here often?" sweatshirt (which had been commented on earlier by one of the site wardens). Overall I spent nearly two hours looking round and was suffering a bit from information overload by the time I sat down for coffee and carrot cake. The only slight problem was the lack of photo opportunities, it's all so packed in that I just didn't bother.

The next stop was the Thursford Collection. I won't say I was disappointed by this, as I knew roughly what to expect. It's interesting, with some unusual traction engines, etc. but that's as far as it goes. The display is aimed more at showcasing the organs and stage than the engines themselves, and it really could do with a bit more light! I know they're trying to recreate a fair type atmosphere but it just doesn't work for me. I did have lunch there, a roast beef baguette, again OK but nothing special. Unfortunately I was too late to take the extra tour (another £3 on top of the £10 entrance fee) as it was fully booked, really though I wasn't bothered.

From there I decided to play a bit of Brown Sign Bingo or, as it was actually from the road atlas, Red Attraction Bingo. That's where you randomly follow the signs to an attraction to see what's there. In this case it was Baconsthorpe Castle. It's actually a fortified moated manor house, or at least the remains of one. It fell into disuse several centuries ago although the outer gatehouse remained as a residence until about 1920. I'm always interested in these places and it was a worthwhile diversion instead of driving straight back.

The radio has been playing up the last couple of days, having behaved perfectly before I came away. It's got a power problem again so when I got back I removed the dash and rechecked and tightened the connections. As it's an intermittent problem it's difficult to diagnose, I'll see what happens tomorrow. The only other problem is that the nearest toilet block was out of order when I got back - hope they've fixed it but I've not seen much activity. If they haven't it's quite a walk to the next one (assuming that's OK) or I may have to fall back on my own resources.

Back to railways for the next couple of days, bet you can't wait! 😀

A Rainy Day in Norfolk...

Doesn't have quite the same ring as A Rainy Night in Georgia but never mind.

One advantage of walking up fairly early on caravan sites is there's no queue for the showers. That dealt with and a sausage butty for breakfast eaten I headed off to Wells-Next-the-Sea. I was fortunate in finding space in a free car park at the top of the town, especially since I couldn't park in the harbour area (no campervans) and the beach would have cost £10, unless I got away with the car rate of a fiver. I had a good wander round and was tempted by a print of a steam loco in a bookshop (it had belonged to the owner's father-in-law) but it was framed and there's no way I could carry it around for the next two weeks.

The weather was quite good right up until, after a coffee and some carrot cake, I was wandering back towards the car. The heavens opened and stupidly I'd left the umbrella in Dai. I didn't get too wet fortunately by rushing back. Of course the rain promptly stopped as I got in to drive round to the Wells and Walsingham Light Railway. At 4 miles long it's the longest stretch of 10 1/4" gauge railway in the world. The locos are two 2-6-0 + 0-6-2 Garrats, Norfolk Hero and Norfolk Heroine. Today it was the latter (sub-named Edith Cavell). There's not much view for much of the time as the line is in a cutting but it's pleasant enough and the crew were very friendly and helpful, one lady had lost her hat on the way up so the driver slowed so it could be retrieved on the way back then, when the train started again, they stopped completely to let the people in the open carriages get under cover.

As I hadn't got out there I subsequently drive up to Walsingham for a quick look round before starting to wend my way back to site. I noticed an odd looking Church so decided to have a quick look. Binham Priory is quite odd, although dissolved by Henry VIII the church had continued to be used by the Parish. That's quite common but in the case is amongst, and still attached to, the ruins of the rest of the Benedictine buildings. Inevitably the rain had started again but with the aid of my umbrella I did get a look round.

The last call of the day was to Holt for another look around. I stocked up on fresh meat whilst I was there, including a pork steak for tonight's dinner. I may well shop there again when I do the North Norfolk Railway.
Tomorrow I'm planning on visiting The Muckleburgh Military Collection which I spotted today then the Thursford Collection of steam engines. I wasn't certain on visiting the latter but I'll see if I can combine the two.

My apologies by the way for the lack of photos. The pics are on the phone but it's easier to type on the tablet, also the phone signal is very variable but the WiFi only supports the one device. You'll have to wait until I get home and sort the website out, although that may be a while.

Dai 1 - Pigeon 0

I didn't get round to a blog post yesterday, after an afternoon and evening carousing with TOGs I ran out of steam! So here goes with a two day offering.

Saturday was a latish start by my standards as I didn't need to be in Lincolnshire until early afternoon. I finished packing everything in Dai then, after my overnight guests had left, departed around midday. It was a quick run over, with a brief stop to stretch my legs (this is a euphemism). The rest of the afternoon and evening were spent eating, drinking and generally being merry with friends. The hosts had kindly agreed to me pitching in their garden for the night which was handy, although as I'd actually been drinking low alcohol cider I was perfectly sober. I did run out of steam and had a relatively early night, inevitably that meant I was awake by 6 and ready to go before 7.

I snuck away quietly and treated myself to breakfast at the Little Chef before setting the satnav onto mild winding route setting to head to Reepham. I could have gone the quick way, straight down the A1 then across past Peterborough but I had plenty of time. The only unfortunate bit was that a pigeon flew right up in front of me, with no time to react it hit the windscreen with a heck of a Bang. After a quick walk round Reepham itself (it was shut) I headed down to Whitwell and Reepham station, my planned visit for the day. Eventually it will be a preserved railway, unfortunately at the moment it seems to be a catering establishment with an old station building and a bit of railway attached! To be fair they're concentrating on fund raising by any means possible at the moment but the "museum" display is virtually non-existent and in the end I decided not to hang about to pay £2 for a 5 minute ride. It does seem to attract cyclists and the local Mini owners club were there in force.

I then again took for the winding route to the caravan site at West Runton, the only problem being I was a bit early. Due to the narrow entrance road it's a 1pm earliest arrival, in theory to give the departures time to get away but there's always 1 - fortunately I met him where there was room for me to wait to let him past.  Before that though I headed down to the beach car park. I honestly can't remember how long out is since I last walked on the sand, probably nearly 5 years ago at Waterloo (the one in Liverpool where the nekkid men are). I also had a lovely cheese salad sandwich in the beach cafe - thick white bread, lashings of grated cheddar and loads of fresh salad.

There was a bit of a queue at the site to get booked in but the staff were very efficient so I was soon looking for a pitch. It's a bit of an odd site being built around a golf course. It's split almost into two halves, the first part is mainly a series of small terraces, some with a view of the sea. I found a nice secluded spot though in the woods, close enough to the facilities block and far enough from the main roadway. The second section of the site is much more open so I'm happy with where I am.

Ask that remained, after sorting out, was to polish off a couple of beers and wander down to the town to check out the pub. I only had one pint but it looks reasonable. It's a bit of a pull back up the hill to the site and the pitch but manageable. Then it was dinner and relaxation time. The mobile data signal is variable so I've decided to bite the bullet and subscribe to the Club WiFi. It's £25 for a year so not too unreasonable. The pitch also became even more secluded when the only other van actually on this bit left around 7pm. I can now only see one other unit.

I'm in two minds about the next couple of days. I've not got too much planned so one possibility is to walk down to the station and her a train to Norwich for the day. I'll see how I feel in the morning.

Last Day and Conclusions

I didn't stir all that early, the beer last night may have contributed, but one I'd had breakfast it didn't take to long to get packed up before heading in to Hebden Bridge. That's really the big advantage with the campervan, being able to pack up and call in places, not just go straight home. I had a good look round and bought a couple of books before starting the trip home.

I made another brief diversion into a motorhome dealers as I noticed a couple of smaller models. Not that I'm in the market of course at the moment! One was a quite nice looking pop-top conversion of a Toyota HiAce. When I was looking most of those were high tops and ruled out, that one I could go for. The other was a slightly odd conversion on a Fiat van. The roof lifted electrically then the two beds slid out sideways. There were some practical advantages but I felt it was over complex and liable to be troublesome.

After that it was just a case of hitting the motorway for a slightly unpleasant drive home due to the high winds. I stopped a couple of times and did finally get home in one piece.

Main conclusion is that I can manage off grid and on no facility sites but I'd only want to do so for a couple of nights. Otherwise I've got things sorted pretty much as I need so I'm happy. I had one breakage, the handle fell off my mug! Fortunately I've got spares as I had 4 in the old folding camper. Next trip will be the long holiday in a few weeks, need to check the gas and restock some of the tinned food but there's not much to do before then.