Touring Norfolk in a motorhome

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Day 18: we cycle to Holt and return far quicker than we anticipated.

I have been waking early around 4am when it starts to get light and I have found myself enthralled each morning by the view out of our top roof skylight, my little window on the new day. I wonder if any of you feel the same way about your skylight?

This morning, the clouds have been scudding along above us in layers. The high wispy cirrus clouds are static and below them come two other layers of varying grey. Surprisingly this morning, it is the lowest layer, the fluffy cotton wool ball kind of clouds which are moving fast, a constant travellator across our skylight. If I stretch my neck a little, I can see each cloud appearing in the front cab skylight. By the time it has reached the main roof one, it has morphed and transformed its shape.

All this atmospheric motion is to the sound track of the dawn chorus. A squawking pheasant, some cooing pigeons. I am captivated by the pigeons above us. One of them sends out a melodious song which is repeated note for note by some pigeons across the road. After they finish it is repeated by another pigeon about 300m away, again note for note. In the far distance and very faintly, a pigeon in the village centre repeats the song and then sends out a revised version, which, unbelievably, is then repeated back by every pigeon until ours, in the tree above repeats it and then alters it to start the process again.  Utterly mesmerising. Meanwhile, in the circular paddock that surrounds us on three sides, one of the horses is kicking a bucket around and from the snorts and harrumphs, it is clearly having fun.

 

Such is the relaxed state we have descended into on this trip, that we have become prone to leaving our senses behind us. So, let’s not discuss the panic that ensued yesterday when we arrived back at the car park in Cromer, only for Maggie to discover that she had left her handbag in the coffee shop.  Maggie is sharp, funny, quick witted, highly intelligent, super organised and pretty laid back about most things, but yesterday I watched the blood drain from her face and I have never seen her move so fast back down a hill before; and we have been together over 37 years! And before you chastise me, I did offer to run back for her but she was having none of that!

The handbag had been handed in by some good soul, we know not who, but if you are the one and you are reading this blog – thank you, no really, THANK YOU!

 

Today we cycled the seven miles into Holt following route 30 on the Norfolk cycle map. We stopped off to watch the LNER steam engine idle down the line to reverse back up past the carriages it had just brought back into the station. I was thrilled. Maggie says I positively skipped down the station platform, camera in hand. It’s in my genes, a genetic thing. Dad and Grandad were Great Western Railway men; one side of Grandad’s family were entirely GWR employed for generations around the Swindon and Malmsbury area.

Holt proved to be dominated by the famous private school Gresham’s. The town centre was crowded as people ambled across roads and pavements popping in and out of little shops. To all intents and purposes any thoughts of pandemic restrictions and curbs on social behaviour had gone out the window. After several close encounters with Range Rovers, Alfa Romeos and even a Bentley, we beat a rapid retreat up an alleyway to find an uncrowded outside café.

Where upon, I discovered I had lost my wallet! My zip pocket was open and the wallet not where it should be.

It is the fastest we have ever cycled back to the motorhome. I scrutinised all the lane margins as we went; I stopped off at every point we had stopped off at on the way out. I was sure I had my wallet at the start of the journey. I was positive, wasn’t I? Who knew you could actually pedal an e bike so fast you could actually overcome the speed limiter on it?

The wallet was back in the motorhome, lying forlornly on a counter top, abandoned, neglected and lonely! I cannot begin to describe my sense of relief. It was overwhelming.

We calmed our nerves with a soothing short bike ride down into Sheringham for an ice cream on the sea front! Since then, I have started to develop this theory – see what you think – ‘extended touring in a motorhome makes you go soft in the head’ - discuss!

 

In total we cycled 22 miles today, seven of those in complete panic!

 

You can find out more about Holt at https://www.visitnorthnorfolk.com/places/holt.aspx

The railway looks great fun but you need to pre-book at https://www.nnrailway.co.uk/

https://youtu.be/peuj1zsVq_g

Parking in Holt looked to be a nightmare and what car parks we found were down small narrow roads and few were big enough to take motorhomes over 6m long. That isn’t to say there isn’t parking that is suitable, just that we didn’t see any where we went.

We liked Sheringham, it has a nice seaside town feel about it. You can find out more about Sheringham at http://visitsheringham.co.uk/listing/sheringham-tourist-information-centre/