Touring Norfolk in a motorhome

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 Day 11 transfer to North Norfolk

Route: A10 to Ely – Southery onto B1160 – diversion due to road closure down to Feltwell – B1112 to Whittington – Road to Oxborough Hall via A134 – return to A134 and on to Kings Lynn – stop off at Kings Lynn – A149 to Hillington – B1153 to Great Bircham – B1155 to Stanhoe

Distance: 80 miles with road diversion detour across the fens (73 miles without diversion)

Time taken: departing 0900- stopping at Tesco’s for 40 minutes; stopping at Oxborough hall for 2hrs; stop off at Kings Lynn for one hour – arriving Stanhoe at 4pm. Driving time approximately 3 hrs.

Expenditure: Campsite £25 per night Grass and EHU

Campsite: Camping and Caravan Licenced site ‘The Rickels’ at Stanhoe

 

We drove along one of the straightest road’s we have ever been on today. Seriously, it was a narrow lane which went for over four miles across the flattest landscape we have ever seen. Huge fields, each one at least a square mile in size, extended into the distance for as far as we could see. A veritable market garden basket where deep dark brown well tilled earths were growing hundreds of hectares of peas, beans and various cereals. The flat line distant horizon was punctuated by tall poplar tree windbreak belts and large agricultural barns. It was an extraordinary sight for people like us, used to the rolling hills and small fields and hedgerows of Devon and Cornwall.

Traffic was light all the way on wide roads (except for the lanes to Oxborough and Feltwell) and this allowed us to go at a leisurely pace and so to enjoy the views on offer.   

Oxborough Hall, a NT property, is under restoration; a dormer window installed in the 17^th century slid down into a cupboard in 2016 somewhat surprising everyone who worked there. (I bet it did, it must have come crashing down!).  Building inspectors subsequently discovered that none of the sixteen dormer windows were really attached to anything and they hadn’t been since it was first built some 400 years ago. Thus, the roof is off, the brickwork and dormers are being restored and the whole building is swathed in scaffold.

But this does not distract from the visit. The ground floor is open and it unfolds a fascinating family history dating right back to the dissolution of the monasteries, the rise of the protestant church and the persecution of Catholics (leading to the Jacobite uprisings). You queue in the courtyard to get in and they have put up information boards which show the time line of the house and the family. Beneath that time line is a general British and World history time line showing was happening more generally at those important dates for the house and family. Fascinating stuff.

The estate walks and gardens are a pleasant stroll as well and there is plenty of parking for motorhomes (but note, much of it is on grass).

We didn’t know what to make of Kings Lynn. The architecture is splendid but the river quayside was very disappointing. Perhaps we are spoilt coming from Devon and Cornwall with all its amazing river estuaries and beaches. Anyway, we buy two scrummy thick shakes, have a stroll through the streets and then ponder whether maybe we should have stopped at Ely instead.

The ‘Rickels’ is a bigger campsite than we were expecting but not unpleasant at all. Pitches are well spaced in an open, well maintained field setting and the views across open neighbouring fields are pleasant. It is a little windswept but where in North Norfolk isn’t? There are a couple of barns and two or three chalets to one side. It is also a caravan storage site with a separate yard for this purpose. Personally, we think £25 per night is rather steep for just a grass pitch with EHU but the facilities are open and very clean and in this year of covid, we have noticed that prices have hiked upwards. It does have a very simple, easy to use Moho service point though. We liked that, especially after the difficulties of using the ones at Bladon and Cambridge.

The site is at the centre of a really good cycle network and there are plenty of places to visit within cycling reach and we would recommend the following map of cycle routes around Norfolk because it shows not only the national cycle trails but also those designated by Norfolk County Council, which follow byways, lanes and bridleways across the county. A map sort of showing the roads and routes less travelled shall we say. (Goldeneye cycling guides ‘Norfolk’ ISBN 978-1-85965-266-4)

I managed to grab two nights doing some astronomy and astrophotography. However, there was some very high level thin wispy cloud layers which made any imaging difficult.