
Andrew taking a look at our parents’ new gravestone on Saturday morning. An unusual aspect of the picture is that it shows the Rosary open to High Green following the demolition of the fence by high winds. We had a good look round the cemetery and found several friends’ graves.
After lunch we drove to Hemsby, which we found shrouded by a thick mist. There can’t be a village anywhere more totally desecrated by cheap and tatty holiday development, but still you can walk along the valley toward Winterton and find yourself quite isolated in an area of wild beauty. The feeling of isolation was heightened by the mist, and as it was not at all cold, the walk we did was very pleasant. We climbed over on to the beach to find that what used to be gentle dunes had become a sand cliff practically all along the beach between the two villages. I still find the area magical, including the Glebe area behind the second row of dunes where we used to holiday when I was a child. We looked for the two bungalows we used to stay in, and may have found them – but there have been quite substantial changes, including a tarmac road where there used to be an earth track. I remember the greengrocer’s truck coming round regularly.
In the evening we went down to the Nelson for a meal, which was very pleasant, though I think the restaurant is aimed at a somewhat younger clientele – and of course at the residents at the Premier Inn, which adjoins it. Not much we could do today outside because of the abysmally wet and unpleasant weather, so we watched a couple of videos. Norwich and Spurs both lost this weekend, and Wales deservedly won the rugby grand slam. Delighted to see Hamilton took the Australian grand prix.
Last week Dot did a school inspection at Eccles, near Attleborough, and the governors took her for lunch – at her cousin’s restaurant: Peter Beales Bistro. I’ve been busy devising and writing invitations to a party we’re holding in August to mark our ruby wedding anniversary – this one for friends rather than relatives. Also writing an Easter Communion service. All very hectic. Oh, yes – I also went for a pre-op check-up at the hospital and found I was probably fit enough to withstand general anaesthetic. Of course by the time they actually administer it – April 16, incidentally, and not the 17th as previously reported – it could be a different matter.
Ruth and Steve have had a baby girl – Beatrice Norah.