Episode 24

Episode 24
We travelled south east from Lincoln and passed through Kings Lynn then north past Sandringham House, one of the Queens residences. This is all fairly flat agricultural country. We have seen many fields of cabbages or cauliflower and big stacks of beets in the fields. At Hunstanton there are cliffs about 15m high facing the sea: They are quite unique, the top couple of metres is white chalk, under that is a thin strip about a half metre deep that is red chalk and under that is the deeper red of sandstone. Red chalk is very rare apparently.
Just outside the town we saw a small ruin so I went off to read the notice board beside it. This ruin is all that is left of a 13th century chapel built in memory of St Edmund. This fellow was an Anglo Saxon who was a one time King of East Anglia from 855 to 870AD. He was captured whilst in a battle with the dames and executed by them by means of a barrage of arrows after he was tied to a tree. He was 29 years old. After being executed at Thethford he was then entombed in Bury St Edmund and years later he was canonized. He became to the first patron saint of England.
As we passed through the lovely small villages we noted that the buildings and fences are constructed of small pebbles mortared together, this is the only stone available in this area. Some of them have thatched roofs too. Plenty of pheasants and partridges in this area too, in fact we have seen a great many all over the countryside, and several that have been road tenderized.
The coast around Cromer is a fairly popular holiday area so we stopped for a look at the beach but were sorely disappointed. There are cliffs here too and a narrow strip of murky looking sand lapped by an even murkier looking sea. Every couple of hundred metres along the beach there is a breakwater built out into the sea, for what purpose I cannot say. The coast between the villages is lined with many caravan parks full of demountable mobile homes. These demountables are very popular in the UK and we have seen a great many all over the country from the Outer Hebrides to here.
I must mention that English Beach resorts are not quite like we find at home. Along the shore you will find many amusement arcades, bingo halls, and souvenir shops along with the usual cafes and restaurants. Often there is a long pier with more arcades built on it. I expect this is because often the English weather is not what one really needs to spend a day on the beach so people have to spend their holiday time entertaining themselves in some other way under cover out of the rain.
Spent a while having a look around the Norfolk Broads. This is an area of small lakes, marshes and waterways sandwiched between Norwich and the east coast. It’s not so easy to get a look at the lakes. Most of them are surrounded by privately owned land, houses and farms, and there is also marsh land that is full of tall reeds etc. All the riverbanks are lined with boats of all sizes, mostly quite large, and there are boatyards galore full of even more boats hauled out of the water for the winter. One wonders how they can all possibly fit onto the lakes; it must get awfully crowded out on the water in the summer.
We did preserver and found our way to the shore of a couple of these broads (lakes) and found that they were covered with birds. Mostly sea gulls but there were plenty of black moor hens, a few ducks and some geese, one of which we hadn’t seen before. It was standing room only for the birds and we wondered how they could all exist, there must be plenty of food for them here. There are a lot of woods around these broads and it is a very pretty area and popular holiday destination. Thought of taking a boat trip about here but when I enquired I was told that they only run now where there is a coach load booked; yesterday there was 3, but no more for several days.
After seeing the cathedral at Lincoln we decided that the lesser ones would be somewhat of a let down so we didn’t bother with Norwich or Bury St Edmund. Instead we headed on towards London as our bright sunny day became heavily overcast. We crossed the Thames east of London over the Dartford Bridge; the tunnel is for north bound traffic only. The view was very hazy so couldn’t see much. Took a more scenic route than the motorway that led us through the Kent countryside past orchards and oast houses (used for drying hops) but we didn’t see any hops growing. We passed through the pretty towns of Tonbridge and Royal Tumbridge Wells both chock-a-block with Christmas shoppers. From a couple of high points along the way there were good views over the surrounding area but no where to pull off the road and take it in.
In the fading light well after sunset we arrived back in Arundel at Heathers home. She greeted us with her usual enthusiastic welcome and her warm home is very welcoming. Derek the cat greeted us with some enthusiasm whilst his brother Trevor who is far more reserved rushed for cover.
Seeing as an election was coming up we went up to London one day so that we could go and vote then we spent a few hours wandering about. It had been quite a pleasant morning when we set out to walk to the train station in Arundel, the sun had been shining and the birds singing. By the time we got to London it was tipping with rain and we got quite wet looking for the right bus stop for a bus that would take us to Australia House in the Strand.
When we got there we found a larger area on the pavement where a special security tent had been set up and barricades erected to cater for large masses of Australians rushing along to do their public duty and vote. However, when we came along on this wet Monday, mid morning, not another soul was about and the security people were glad to have someone come and relieve their boredom. Inside it took merely a few minutes to fill out the envelope form and do our voting. A couple of other people came along whilst we were there. This poling station had been open all the previous week too.
Just along from Australia House is the lovely restored church of St Clement Danes. This is the church of the song ‘oranges and lemons’ fame; Oranges and Lemons say the bells of St Clements: After WW11 it was nothing but a burnt out shell but has been restored and is dedicated to the RAF. Inside all the crests representing each airfield are embedded in the floor. Around the walls is a great amount of information relating to the RAF and the names of every member who has died in service right up to the present time.
Back outside on the street we came across a very tiny shop sandwiched between much larger buildings. This is the Twinning’s Tea and Coffee Shop. It was bought by the founder of the company Thomas Twining in 1735 and has been continuously owned by the same family every since. He first started business in 1706. Almost next door to the tea shop is an old pub, dating from a similar time and on the glass in the front there is some interesting embossing; a few animals, especially pigs, and a naked man chasing them: They are only small so you have to look for them.
Walked some way along the Enbankment and for a while the sun came out, then suddenly it started raining again and it kept like that all day. Bought some lunch from a convenience store and was surprised that is wasn’t incredibly expensive, then we sat in Leister Square and ate it while some workmen were preparing to erect a Christmas tree or Christmas lights in the square. Had a wander around Soho and found the Chinese area, a tiny ‘china town’; then we came to Covent Garden. Now it’s really just a town market with stalls selling all the normal market stuff that you can find in any number of places but originally it was the site of the Monks gardens in an abbey or convent. Nearby is the church of St Martins in the Fields; of course the fields are long gone along with the monks gardens, all replaced with tarmac roads, concrete and glass structures with the never ending roar of traffic all about.
With the rain tipping down we took some bus rides. Just hopped on the first bus that came along, got the front seats upstairs and sat there as we made our way along the Strand, then Fleet Street, up past St Pauls where there has been a lot of new building in the vicinity in recent years. At some point we went along Treadneedle Street and ended up at Liverpool Street Railway Station. Caught another bus that took us back over a similar route then through Trafalgar Square, up to Picadilly Circus, then up Regent Street to Oxford Circus and we got off at Marble Arch. This arch was originally constructed to be part of Buckingham Palace but when the Palace was completed it was found that there wasn’t enough room for it so it was decided to use it as another entrance to Hyde Park to compliment the gate at the other side of the Park. Now in stands on a concrete island surrounded by roads at the intersection of Park Lane and Oxford Street: caught another bus back to Victoria Station and the train back to Arundel where we walked back to Heathers in the dark with the rain pouring down and got soaking wet.
Apart from that trip to London we haven’t really done much at all. When the weather was good enough David did some work on the car and got it ready to go off to Spain. It took quite a while as he couldn’t find any place undercover to work. Now it’s ready so we will probably go in the next few days.
© Lynette Regan November 29th 2007