Holt

Heading north today to this very pleasant little town. Like much of the North Norfolk area, it has a reputation for a certain exclusivity, arising from the number of wealthy Londoners who either have holiday homes in the area, or have retired here; nearby Burnham Market is often referred to as Chelsea-on-Sea. Still, it means there are plenty of lovely things to look at, if not to buy!

However, there's plenty that is affordable too. We much enjoyed our visits to Great to be Green, with its lovely homewares and soft furnishings; to the lovely Bird Ventures, with every supply for garden birds and other wildlife; and finishing with excellent tea and cake and the "higgledy-piggledy" (their phrase) Byfords of Holt.

Anniversary

We chose well: today's weather was rather grey and uninteresting, so we spent our time with the paperwork and line-learning that was our main purpose in taking this break. Curled up in front of the little woodburner, we were, as a previous guest had put it, "happy little hermits".

However, in the evening we went out for a meal, this being the sixteenth anniversary of our first date. 3rd March 1994 had seen us in an Italian restaurant in Surbiton; in 2010 we chose from several highly-recommended pubs-with-great-food, and finished up at The Walpole Arms in Itteringham. Superb food (Moroccan lamb with couscous for us both) and a delicious bottle of the wonderfully-named Arrogant Frog red wine; lovely atmosphere; and the weekly quiz evening began at 9pm, which we were happy to join in with (but didn't do terribly well at!).

We'll go back and try out the other local eateries another time...

Beautiful graffiti, great coffee

Looking for tea and a snack before going back to the cottage, we stopped in the small town of Stalham. Sitting patiently in the high street was a cheerful shopfront, filled with artifacts and fairy lights; when we walked in, we found the walls covered with neatly-written graffiti, provided by both the owners and the customers, reflections for others to find.

Excellent coffee, tea and teacakes were much appreciated; the customers laughed and talked to total strangers. Visit Reads Coffee House. It's great.

The town that fell into the sea

... or is on its way there, anyway.

It's a beautiful piece of coastline, and especially on a bright day like today.

However, look closely. Standing on the coast, looking over the eroding cliffs at collapsed items of masonry, is a sobering experience.

We'd previously visited Happisburgh about three years ago. On that occasion, we'd had tea in a B&B-cum-cafe in the worst hit part of the village, and the owner told us then that they wouldn't be open next year. We're not certain whether anybody still lives there, but certainly the houses along that small road have a feeling of desolation. Somehow, I couldn't bring myself to take photographs of them.

We looked from the end of the road across to the great red-and-white lighthouse. Whether that stands far enough from the vanishing cliffs to remain there - only time will tell.

Move along with us for tea in Stalham.

The round tower of Witton

After a lazy morning (we were tired!) and a practical early afternoon gathering supplies, we had an excellent lunch (posh welsh rarebit) at The Cockerel in North Walsham. Lovely food in a friendly place, and they seem to host great events, too.

Then, in the late afternoon, we drove east towards the coast. On a beautiful day, the sun descending but still bright and clear, we stopped off at Witton, with its beautiful round tower (we weren't able to go inside, but details can be found here on Simon Knott's excellent website). It makes an impressive sight against the skyline, and especially on a clear blue March day.

One of our parishioners is the writer Rory Clements, and he had mentioned that he takes names for some of his characters from ancient gravestones. We think he might find this one useful.

From the back of the churchyard, the horizon displays at least three churches, plus the bright red-and-white lighthouse that points us towards Happisburgh. Pronounced Haseborough. Don't ask us why - we've only been living in Norfolk for five years.

Follow us to Happisburgh.

Norfolk retreat: a few days out

I'd just completed the run of a show (Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean at the Sewell Barn), complete with long blonde wig, lots of leg and very high heels...

... yup, that's me on the right with the understated wig... we felt that a few days out was a sensible idea before jumping back into the fray.

We didn't need to go far, and in the event, the place we found was just fifteen miles from home: The Retreat, near Itteringham. Jane's wonderful little cottage is the perfect hidey-hole, with tiny but beautifully equipped kitchen, shower room and cosy bed-sitting room, with excellent wood-burner, and a beautifully sunny outlook over the garden. You can see the exact location here.

During our visit, we were fortunate enough to have some beautiful (albeit very cold) weather, and exploring time around some corners of our lovely county that, despite location, we don't get to see very often. So follow us through a few little well-kept secrets that deserve to be better known... (click on Newer Post to see the next instalment)

The robin that fell out of the fridge

Take one garden-bird-watching session, one husband with a blocked-up ear, and you have a problem...

Having been watching, through our kitchen window, the various members of our local ornithological community bouncing around the bird-table (clearly delighted that spring appears to be on its way), we turned our attention to lunch.

Opening the fridge to get out the ham, I remarked in passing "One of the yogurts fell out of the fridge yesterday - that's why it's dented." I got a startled look, and when I repeated what I'd said, my husband replied "sorry - with this blocked ear, I thought you said "one of the robins"..." I then spent the rest of our lunchtime in repeated helpless giggles at the thought of a robin hurtling out of our refrigerator going "****, it's cold in there..."

I'm easily pleased.