Touring Norfolk in a motorhome

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Day 16: We bite the bullet and visit Cromer, unsure what to expect

Route: Gresham – Cromer – Overstrand – Mundesley – Cromer - Gresham

Expenditure: Coffee £5.00; car parking £4.00; Chip meal £7.00

A wet day sees us getting mobile in Bryony. First stop is a booked visit to Blickling Hall. We arrive early and have breakfast in the car park. 

The Hall and its gardens are visually stunning but the lack of information within the rooms leaves us very disappointed. It is rare that we leave a National Trust property disillusioned but we felt ‘cheated’. We learned nothing about this great house, the seat of the Boleyn family. 

We learned nothing of the history of the renovations done to the house and rooms. We learned little about all the hung portraits; nor about the fantastic friezes in the longest gallery in England. The scantiness of information was so disappointing when compared to what we have seen and read in other National Trust properties such as the currently being renovated Oxborough Hall (see previous blog post). 

If the NT isn’t about educating us about our unique heritage and history which it seeks to conserve – then what is it about? Who designed the gardens for example? Was it a Capability Brown creation? For a house that boasts symmetry everywhere, why were the two rows of houses outside not symmetrical with each other?

As history enthusiasts we are still debating whether to send a ‘strongly worded’ email to the director of the National Trust! As retired educationalists – we are definitely not happy! Aside of the lack of information, Blickling Hall is worth visiting.

(Details about Blickling Hall can be found at https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/blickling-estate

 

The North Sea breezes at Cromer blow away these ‘disappointed’ thoughts. It is busy, crowded and mainly full of cafes, chips shops, amusement arcades, odd curio shops and a few galleries. We appreciate the older houses and hotels on the sea cliff roads, faded Victorian and Edwardian splendour and as we stroll the promenade, admire the brave efforts of a lone surfer on the beach directly in front of some brightly coloured beach huts. But, after a short wander around and a coffee at the Grey Seal Coffee house, we leave and head out to Overstrand and Mundesley on the coast. We are still finding it strange to be in big crowds. I wonder if it is just us or are you feeling the same way? 

The motto ‘Gem of the Norfolk Coast’ is highlighted on ‘Cromer’ road name signs but I remain unconvinced. Meanwhile, quick research on its place name shows it was first mentioned, not in the Domesday book as I was expecting, but in a will from 1262, where it seemed to mean ‘crows’ mere or lake. There is also a north-country word ‘Cromer’ meaning a gap in the cliffs. It became a resort in the early 19^th century when rich Norwich banking families made it their summer home. When the famous London journalist Clement Scott visited Cromer and described it and neighbouring Overstrand as ‘Poppy-land’, its fate was sealed, helped by the arrival of the railway. To be fair, out in the surrounding countryside, poppies do seem to be a dominant feature of the landscape.

The town was of course a fishing town, crabs and lobsters in summer and drifting for herring and long-lining for cod in winter. Now it is famous for its Cromer crab, caught by no more than 10 or 12 boats. Tourism developed during the Victorian period with the pier and pavilion theatre being big draws.

You can find out more about the attractions of Cromer at https://www.visitnorthnorfolk.com/places/cromer.aspx

Overstrand proves to be genteel and pleasant, a former fishing village, now famous as being a village of millionaires. Information boards scattered about the small town give walking routes and historical information hotspots. We wander the back streets finding odd lighthouses, old fishermen’s cottages and sheds and all sorts of curios. Information about Overstrand can be found at http://www.tournorfolk.co.uk/overstrand.html

Mundesley is a brief stop off, and being Sunday, most places are closed and the chip shop doesn’t open until later in the evening. Unlike our two previous stops, it does get a mention in the Domesday Book. Hurrah, as an occasional history teacher, I like that kind of thing. The towns name was recorded as Muleslai, the main land holder was William de Warenne (we can assume he was Norman) and the village had a church at that time.

Tourist information for Mundesley is at https://mundesley-visitor-advice-centre.norfolkparishes.gov.uk/

So, fancying chips, we end up back in Cromer eating fish and chips in the little sunken garden on the cliff top, surrounded by lovely flowers, meandering little artificial streams and a variety of small bird life on the lookout for chip crumbs.

Funny old day, neither one thing or another.

 

Notes: the car park on Renton Street which is on the cliff top does have height restriction barriers but these were open on our visit. The car park is large, mainly sloping grass and there were upwards of 20 motorhomes in it. All the other car parks we saw had height restrictions in place. The car park at Overstrand is tricky to find but is right on the cliff top, not far from a nice cliffside café. Mundesley car park has no height restrictors either but it is small. Motorhomes are best parking in the first section immediately off to the left on entry to the car park, where there is on the right-hand side a set of car parking bays with a grass strip behind, over which the rear end of motorhomes can hang.