Norfolk isn't flat

The Clarion Cycling Club spring weekend outing this year was to Norfolk, staying at Sheringham, which I last visited in March last year for the steam gala. Ah-ha, I thought, East Anglia is perfectly flat - it'll be a doodle. Hmm, how wrong I was. You can read a full account of the rides on the Clarion website. I travelled up on Friday the 19th April with Jim, who had meticulously recced the rides and the journey up there. First hurdle was getting across London with the bikes, but before that we had to wait at Brighton station for our delayed train (someone had been run over at South Croydon). Behind schedule we travelled to Farringdon, then via several lifts and a tube train, to Liverpool Street, where we'd just missed our named train. Fortunately the conductor on the following train to Norwich took pity on me, after he'd clocked Jim's magic ticket (a perk of working on the railways). After a coffee at Norwich, we boarded the train to Sheringham, where we parted: he to go to the YHA, me to schlep up the hill to Camberley House B&B, where I was staying.



No steam trains on the Saturday (though we saw the narrow gauge Bure Valley train chuffing away in the distance as we approached Wroxham station), but we did get an hour on a day boat, on Hickling Broad, with Mick driving. This was after lunch at the Pleasure Boat Inn, where I was attracted to the veggie 'suet' pudding on the menu. It was however a disappointment - pastry hard as a pork pie crust, with an iffy filling of spinach, cherry tomatoes and goats cheese. With the help of a pint of Woodforde's Nelson's Revenge, I managed to finish it off though.

 

The ride that day was 27 miles, and with the 'undulations' between the stretches of water, felt a lot longer, especially the long drag back to North Walsham and the train back to base. It was a football special, but most of the supporters got off, so we were ok and went to The Lobster Inn hoping for a Cromer crab sandwich, but it was apparently too cold for them to come out. There was also no Wherry, on the beer front.

On Sunday, after another hearty veggie fry-up breakfast at Camberley House with Angela, Mick and Anne, we did get to go by steam, on the North Norfolk Railway along with Amanda, Angela, David and Helen to the end of the line Holt, with our special £1 Dog | Bicycle tickets. We were pulled by No.7560, an 0-6-0 J15, built at Stratford in 1912, sporting black LNER livery.

 

At Holt station we cycled the mile or so to the village, where we met the others, who'd cycled all the way from Sheringham (including a hill!). After a coffee at the historic Byfords Cafe, we set off to the coast, through Cley next the sea, along Old Womans Lane, to Newgate Green, where we had lunch at the Three Swallows, where I did get a Cromer crab sandwich!

 

After about 13 miles, just Amanda and I set off back to Holt station, where we just caught the last steam train back (the stoker was a rather attractive retro woman); the others cycled the extra 5 miles or so back to base. The remaining cyclists ate at the YHA (three of us, the only ones in there), where Jim had his second lasagne of the day.

 

On Monday morning, I met Jim at the Coffee House cafe and we travelled back the way we'd come, with an hour or so to have a quick cycle round Norwich (which isn't flat either) to see the cathedral, castle, market and Royal Arcade. Back at Liverpool Street there were some steps to negotiate, but not too bad at all, and it was the tube again back to Farringdon, and home. It was tiring on the rides, but very enjoyable nevertheless, and the weather was glorious.

Norfolk steam gala at Sheringham

Spent a very enjoyable weekend in Sheringham for the North Norfolk Railway Steam Gala. The journey up on Saturday was long but interesting. The computer told me to take the Jubilee Line from London Bridge to Stratford, which meant I saw some of the Olympics construction, including Anish Kapoor's tower, but also meant a half-hour wait on a platform with no buffet. The two-hour journey went through Chelmsford, Colchester and Ipswich and crossed a few estuaries. At Norwich I changed onto the Bittern Line train for an hour's trip to Sheringham, via Cromer and an enormous field full of photovoltaic panels near North Walsham.



The line ends at Sheringham, but the other side of the road it continues as the Poppy Line, and I could see steam. Closer inspection (I didn't need a platform ticket) revealed a double header of the mighty 92203, named Black Prince by its owner David Shepherd, and a Micky (Black 5) from ELR Bury: No. 45337! What a noise when they set off for Holt! Magnificent. Also in the station was LNER J15 7564 and 4936 Kinlet Hall. I must confess it's a bit odd to see a GWR engine so far east! After a cappuccino, I set off for my digs, Camberley House, up Cliff Road. The name of the street was a bit of a give-away... yes, it was a bit of a schlep up one of Norfolk's only hills. Bags dumped, I walked down to the prom and along to the harbour and a pint of Woodforde's Nog at the Camra Best Pub in Norfolk, the Windham Arms (on Wyndham Street!). The Robin Hood, up the road had a more limited selection of ales (I had a pint of Abbot) but the three-bean chilli was surprisingly good, with the accompanying veg cooked perfectly.



After a great veggie beakfast (including the best poached egg in North Norfolk) on a glorious Sunday morning, I breezed down to the station and caught the 9.46 to Holt, pulled by the J15 7564, built in 1912 at Stratford. On the way back, being pulled by Kinlet Hall, I alighted at Weybourne and waited for the beautifully restored B12 8572, hauling the 1924 LNER Quad-Art set that once carried commuters from King's Cross to the suburbs. Quad-Art? It's a four-carriage set with each carriage sharing a bogey with the next, making the whole train much lighter. I took the Black Prince train back to Holt, where it was left and we came back with Kinlet Hall. At Holt is a 2-10-0 Dub-Dee 90775, out of service. After a cappuccino and toasted teacake break, I caught Black Prince again back to Holt and returned to Sheringham with the 5MT 45337. Also on duty was a GWR tank 5619, which I kept missing. The bummer of the day was the on-off switch of my Flip Ultra II breaking, so no videos!



On the way back to the B&B I called in to the Lobster for a pint of Woodforde's Wherry, thence to the Windham Arms for some Elmtree Dark Horse stout. Monday morning, after another great breakfast, headed back the way I came, except to Liverpool Street (at Norwich you can get a train to either Liverpool Lime Street or Liverpool Street London, which could be confusing to a foreign visitor!), tube to the being refurbished Farrington and back over the river to bonny Brighton.

More photos on Flickr.