Tag Archives: beach

Long journey into Norfolk

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Oliver gets down to some serious photography

Later on the 22nd, I walked up the hill and along the path to Ilfracombe, which opened up to give nice views. Met the craft shop crew on the way back, and later in the day we all went to Woolacombe again. It was cooler and windier than before, but still pleasant enough for me to go into the sea with Oliver and Amy as they did some surfing: Dot hired an extra board for Amy, and I quite enjoyed myself.

Afterwards we took everything away from the beach hut and locked up, but it was too late to deposit the key, so Dot and I dropped it in the next morning, reclaiming the deposit. We then continued down the coast to Croyde, where I had spent a holiday as a child, but nothing rang a bell. It wasn’t far, but it was a very slow journey because of the narrow roads. When one queue met another queue, things got tricky, especially when there was a bus involved.

In the afternoon we all went down to the cove as the tide went out and made our way quite a good distance along the beach, looking for paths between the rocks that avoided deep pools. Amy took on the role of tour guide for a while, and Oliver took lots of photographs. He has a good eye for an effective picture. On the way back I took a different route and ended up having to jump the river, wall to wall.

In the evening we all went down to the Grampus for a meal, preceded by some outdoor table tennis. The food was exceptionally good: Oliver and I had steaks, and Roger had a second slice of banoffee pie. Very pleasant pub, to be recommended, which I did in the Daymer Cottage Guest Book.

Elegant Amy, at ease in any situation

On the Friday it rained as we packed up the cars, but it eased off as we left, about 9.45am. It was a bank holiday weekend, so the traffic was predictably bad, but we managed to stay together for the first services on the M4, where we had lunch and said goodbye to David and the children. We still stayed more or less together, though, until they left the M25 at the M1 junction. The M25 hadn’t been too bad (though it was pretty solid going the other way) until then, but it was getting worse as we reached the A1, so I took that route, up to Baldock and along the A505 to the A11. We managed to keep moving well enough until we reached Barton Mills, where there was a queue leaving the roundabout, so we took the normal evasive action through some nice Suffolk countryside and arrived home around 6pm.

On Saturday we decided to go to the Maddermarket for a production of A Murder is Announced, by Agatha Christie. This was remarkable in that it is the first time I have been to a play at the Maddermarket that was badly acted; it was pretty amateurish all round, and it was hard to know where to pin the blame. The director? Key roles? On the bright side, I ran into a couple of ex-Archant library people: Maureen Green and Frances Pearce. Had quite a long chat with Frances, who now lives in Aurania Avenue, behind my childhood home in Brian Avenue.

Yesterday I led the service, and Howard preached about the nature of holy places (everywhere). Unfortunately Dot had developed a sore throat and wasn’t feeling well, so she stayed in bed. However, she managed to come with us to the King’s Head and Ali Tandoori in the evening, with Heather and Simon, and we had a really good time.

Today Dot stayed in bed till late, but then got up, though she isn’t much better. The sore throat is less severe, but she’s developed a cough. Barbara and Roger have been visiting her sister and are just back (6.30pm). I cleaned the car out, getting rid of most of the sand, and did some food shopping. Also caught up with email backlog and the post. Now I will get us all some tea.

Sand, surfing, rocks and caves

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Amy and Oliver head down the hill to Lee harbour

Halfway through our week at Daymer Cottage. The Murrays and Dot have just left for Barnstaple to do more food shopping, and David and Oliver are playing a card game that Amy has invented. It’s intricate, but it works. I spent an hour playing it with her yesterday. Amazing creativity.

It’s overcast again, but we’ve had some very good weather as well as some rain. We discovered that we were entitled to the use of a beach hut at Woolacombe, which is a huge sandy beach beset by much surfing. We drove there down narrow lanes late on Saturday and managed to park solely because so many people were leaving. Dot obtained the beach hut key from the shop and we found the hut – Number 43, Myrtle – a bit of a trudge down the beach.

We returned yesterday for most of the day (parking £7 per car), and the children enjoyed it very much. It was warm, and the tide was exceptionally low: quite an expedition to reach it. Loads of surfing going on, and the children were able to use the board we found at the house. There were so many people on the beach that we kept losing each other, but the children were quite capable of finding the hut on their own. During the day we bought ice cream, and then chips, from stalls on the beach.

Sunday started grey, but became warm and sunny. We spent most of it down at Lee Bay, which expands dramatically when the tide is out. Loads of rocks and rock pools, and the children especially enjoyed a river that channels down across the beach. Oliver and I (with Roger) had reconnoitred the previous day and found a path to another cove: now the tide was far enough out to reach it across the rocks.

We found a cave and Oliver did much climbing on the rocks. The more vigorous among us decided we would all climb the steps up to the cliff at the far end and walk back round by the road: quite strenuous, but different. Back at the cove Dot and I stayed for an hour or so as the tide came in, until the small space remaining was overrun by dogs.

The house is delightful, with great views of the Bristol Channel and, in clear conditions, Wales. A few boats and kayaks pass at low tide.

Spectacular celebration marks our anniversary

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Amy and Oliver on Mundesley beach

And so the excitement continues. On Tuesday Dot and I picked up Oliver and Amy from Caddington and brought them back to Norwich for a few days, with fine weather forecast. Wednesday dawned fine and very warm, and so we headed to Winterton with an amazing amount of equipment and camped on a surprisingly crowded beach. Locals with dog were heard to ask “where all these people were in the winter” and add: “We want our beach back.” I didn’t point out that we came to Winterton at all times of the year; anyway they weren’t talking to me. There was a certain amount of paddling done, some frisbee throwing, some picnicking and some dashing about in the dunes. All in pretty warm weather.

On Thursday Amy and Dot did some shopping in the morning, and we had lunch at Prezzos. In the afternoon we drove to Mundesley. When we arrived (4pm) it was a bit chilly, with one of those misty things off the sea, but the longer we stayed, the brighter and warmer it became. Amy did some swimming in the sea, and even Oliver and Dot went a fair way in. Astonishingly, I paddled a bit too. By the time we left, just after 7pm, the beach was near-deserted and looked stunning in the evening sunshine. An idyllic couple of hours.

Oliver had heard someone mention fish and chips, so decided we should get some, and we drove to Bacton, where the chip shop was still open after its stated closing time, so we bought some fish and chips and ate it at the table outside. Embarrassingly late home.

Friday was warm again, and we took the City Sightseeing bus around the city, which was a bit expensive but good fun. David had phoned saying he was coming to stay the night, so we decided to go to Winterton again and have some games in the dunes, followed by tea and cakes in the excellent cafe. I impressed Oliver by my speed off the mark and my death-defying leap to reach the hide-and-seek base. Ended up aching all over, which was not so impressive. Got home shortly before David arrived, and we had an evening meal of chicken, some of which I had purchased earlier, at the same time as filling the car up with petrol (well, not exactly the same time, obviously).

Friday was also our 44th wedding anniversary and the opening of the London Olympics. We had prosecco to celebrate (provided by Dot) and then we all stayed up to watch the Olympics opening ceremony, which I thought celebrated our anniversary very well. We didn’t watch it all because it went on very late, but we recorded it, and Dot and I watched the ending today. I have to say I was greatly impressed.

Colin came on Saturday and finished off some stuff in the garden. He was going to do a temporary repair to the living room ceiling, but the company who are going to fix it wanted to see it as it was; so instead he’s left us a board to screw in after they come tomorrow. Meanwhile it rained heavily today, and water started flowing through one of the holes again. I rang up the roofer, who has promised to come tomorrow morning.

I preached at St Luke’s this morning and then went down to St Augustine’s to sort out various money matters and to get shown how our new heating system works. Stayed on to rehearse some songs for Lowestoft next week.

Idyllic time on the beach

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Dot retreating from the rocks at Sea Palling as the tide comes in

Spring broke through at the weekend, and on Sea Palling beach on Saturday afternoon it was not only sunny but warm. We had driven there via the delightful Thurne staithe (a spur-of-the-moment decision) and then Hempstead, past the house where Dot’s mum was born. A narrow road snaked down under the dunes towards Sea Palling: we stopped at the side of the road and took the narrow track over the dunes (taking note of numerous warnings). At the top we were greeted by a truly idyllic scene. The tide was far out, and the coast-protection rocks provided a lovely backdrop to the huge flat beach, populated by only a few walkers. The sky was totally blue.

We walked out to one of the islands of rocks, and Dot climbed up while I kept an eye on the tide, which was on the turn. In the few brief minutes while she climbed to the top it had almost surrounded the rocks, and she had to tread a precarious path to dry sand. We then walked round to one of the other islands and stood watching the speed of the advancing tide. I took a series of pictures over only about five minutes, during which a large patch of sand became an island and then quickly vanished.

Afterwards we returned to Thurne as the sun was getting low in the sky and walked out again from the staithe to the restored windmill, which was casting its huge shadow on to the meadow.

Yesterday was not so delightful, but while Dot visited Ethel I walked over three miles from Hethersett across some fields to Great Melton church, and back by the road. The field section was particularly pleasant, as it was dry underfoot and easy walking.

The previous week was not so strenuous, and not such fine weather. When I walked up to the dentist on Thursday there was a lot of dampness in the air, and it was pretty cold too. Given that I was also told I needed a crown (projected cost over £1000), I was not a particularly happy  bunny. Dot was on a NafPHT day out at Mildenhall, for which I had had to rise early and deposit her at Thickthorn to get the last seat on the minibus. I managed to reorganise my Paston stuff, and in the evening we had a DCC meeting for which Howard provided Guinness, as it was St Patrick’s Day. Unfortunately, I don’t like Guinness. The DCC meeting wasn’t too bad.

Earlier in the week we had the bookcase men round to recut the shelves on one side, because they protruded a fraction. Took them quite a long time, but they did a good job. The previous day (I record this for the sake of completion) I played a dull chess game and drew.

Friday was almost entirely taken up by the visit of Joy and Phil, who came round for  coffee at 11 and ended up staying for lunch and afternoon tea. Much discussion about their situation: Joy very upbeat.

Battle of Redfish Pass

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chairs
Typically colourful seating on the beach

At the end of the day on Thursday Dot and I went up to the Bubble Room for desserts, and we then all watched 3.10 to Yuma, which is as good as I remembered. Makes you think a lot about why people behave as they do, and what really corrupts.

Yesterday Roger was feeling really bad, and today he’s worse, and staying in bed. Barb not too good either, but she and Dot went shopping yesterday as the weather got warmer. Dot bought a really nice skirt and some tops. Meanwhile I was doing a lot of walking. Started at the dock while there was still a chill in the air and saw three or four dolphins about 100 yards away. Watched closely by pelican, which seemed to think I had food. Then Dot and Barb dropped me off at Tween Waters on their way to the shops, and I walked back along the beach, taking in the chapel and cemetery (not morbid: both are picturesque). After a quick lunch of biscuits, cheese and blueberries, I embarked on a hike up to Redfish Pass, the most northerly point of Captiva. Outward part by beach, then back through the South Seas resort that annoyingly owns all the tip of the island. The last stretch is a quite wild bit of road between the bay and the Gulf, which I had forgotten was so long: mildly concerned that a large alligator might leap out of a roadside pond, or a deadly snake lurk in the grass. But no: in fact snakes and alligators rarely make an appearance, though I’m told there are lots of them. Passed hardly any pedestrians in final mile and a half. Whole walk (about six miles) took a couple of hours. In the evening we went to Doc Ford’s Sanibel Grille and Bar, which is a restaurant owned by R W White, the top local thriller writer whose main character is (of course) Doc Ford. The books are good, and so was the food. I had a delicious large rib-eye steak with mashed potato-and-parmesan and other goodies. Plus a couple of Tropical Breezes, which are rum-based cocktails. Amazing. Back at the house we watched the Olympics – mainly curling, which the Canadian women should have won, but didn’t.

Now it’s pouring with rain, and it will probably continue most of the day. Seems quiet without Roger, and there is only a very remote chance of Dot making it downstairs before noon, though to be fair she made me a cup of tea earlier. Barb is tackling bookfuls of bridge problems, Dot is reading a brilliant book called Blink, and I am roughly halfway through the compelling Black Widow, by the aforementioned RWW. If I am not mistaken, we have reached the halfway point of our holiday.

7 March 2009

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This is a picture received from Howard Morgan in New Zealand, or possibly Australia. It has my grandmother (centre) with her son Ken (lounging behind) and Ken’s wife Eve (next to mother-in-law). The others are a bit of a mystery, because they don’t look much like my uncles, though there is a theory that the man at the right in the foreground could be my father. If so, where is my mother? And what beach is it? Note the beach gear, de rigeur for the 1940s. Howard’s father Frank stayed with my grandparents in Caistor Lane shortly after the war. He had been a PoW, and they looked after him for a while. Today I saw my aunt Kathleen, who apparently took him under her wing, going with him to the beach and cycling with him to Whitlingham. She remembers him and kept Howard’s e-mails, though she didn’t want the pictures. She seems in rude health, apart from arthritis in the legs and back. I arrived back before Dot, who had been enjoying a late lunch with her friend Anne.

I have finished compiling and illustrating a new story for Oliver, entitled Little and the Dark Machine. I wrote it quite a long time ago, but it is not one of the ones that was published in the EDP. I think it’s quite good, he said modestly. Better than the last one, anyway. Speaking of the EDP, yesterday it was announced that about a third of editorial jobs in Archant Norfolk were going – that’s over 50. Life may continue, but not as we know it. It will be interesting to see how bad the EDP becomes, and how quickly.

Since my last post we’ve had a surprisingly excellent meal at the Castle Carvery in Bowthorpe, paid for by one of our friends at church who felt we needed it and saw a promotional deal offered in the paper. She also supplies us with cooking apples, so we shouldn’t starve, whatever happens. We’ve also got a new financial adviser, who I brought in to explain an incoherent document from the people with whom I have life insurance on Dot. I’m not really sure why I have it. The new guy offered to take leaflets about Dot’s business to his clients who were in schools, so it might be a good idea if we organised the leaflets.

I saw my consultant yesterday, who told me my blood was “perfect”, which means the operation successfully removed my cancer. At least I assume that’s what he meant, rather than that I had produced blood that was the best ever seen. However, I am due to have tests to see if my bladder is working properly, because I still have this extremely odd sensation… which it’s probably best we don’t go into.

And I’ve won another game of chess – another quite good game as a guest on Board Two for the C team at Wymondham. Unfortunately we lost 2.5-1.5 and the team will probably be relegated, as will Norwich City if they carry on the way they’re going. Another loss today, and no room for manouevre.

2 July 2007

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A pause for refreshment during the Cley Marshes hike. The refreshment hut – an interesting conglomeration of brick and random pieces of dodgy-looking wood – was due to be pulled down in spring, but evidently survived the threat. The drinks were surprisingly good, and at this point the weather was lovely – warm and calm. A couple of hours later it was tipping down. Present at refreshment were Dave and Julia Evetts, and Dot.

Anyway we’ve just had lovely weekend with David, Vicky and the children – despite the Hollywood Bowl being mysteriously closed when we arrived for our session. They obviously saw us coming. Inistead, after much cogitation, all of us except David went by train to Wroxham and back. During our 30 minutes at Wroxham we walked over to the Bure Valley railway and saw the little train arriving.

The road out of Wroxham towards Coltishall was closed by police with several vehicles in attendance, and in this morning’s paper we found that a young person had been killed when their car hit a wall. No idea why it hit the wall.

On the Sunday the weather was still iffy, and we all went to see Auntie E at Hethersett. Took Amy’s tricycle but couldn’t get Oliver’s tractor in the car, so I spent some time explaining to him how my car’s air conditioning worked, which naturally fascinated him. During this, I discovered that I didn’t know exactly how it worked, but I have a better idea now. Auntie E seemed quite well.

In the afternoon we were mainly indoors, though Oliver had a go on the tractor for a short while. Amy got extremely interested in wood lice, as well as the water feature, but fortunately didn’t combine the two.

This morning I took Phil to the doctor’s. He’s had a bad bout of flu and now has severe UTI; so they’re in a bad way at the moment. Dot is working on her last inspection report of the term.

19 March 2007

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Gradually catching up, but I seem to have mislaid my driving licence, and two very large bills are awaiting payment, which is a bit of a downer. Extremely cold today: windy with sleet and hail showers.

Yesterday went to church as usual, then inserted some flowers on my mother’s grave and saw the new grave of Dorothy Spelman, who died a week or so ago. Flowers also to North Walsham cemetery (weather turbulent), and visited J & F. Son R also present: it was mothers’ day. Very pleasant time and cake. Today have just been to see JP, who has been taken into a BUPA home. She is doing well. Her stepson John visited while we were there.

Just to remind me of what it was like a week ago in Florida (and probably still is), I have included a beach picture: Dot and Barbara against the Gulf of Mexico. No bets on who wins.

8 March 2007

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Well, Traders was a mistake. None of us was really hungry: apart from Roger, we had two starter plates, and they proved far too much. We had to slink out rather quickly.The wine was good though, as was the film – Walk the Line – biography of Johnny Cash. Up rather late this morning. Dot has gone up to the post office with Barbara, after which we shall embark on a tour of some of the lesser known parts of Sanibel. Weather is warm and bright.

The picture (by Dot) is of the exit from Sunset Captiva (where we’re staying) on to the beach.

3 March 2007

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This is Dot on the deck leading off our bedroom. I think hornets may be building a nest there.

In the end the journey to Naples wasn’t too bad, though we were stuck on Periwinkle Way for a long time. Happily, I took a book! We arrived at the theatre nearly an hour and a half early: great consternation because there was no food on sale, and Dot and Barb in particular were hungry. They had to make do with coffee, drunk outside in a courtyard. Lovely setting.

Riverdance was superb – quite stunning in several different ways. The dancing itself was amazing, of course, but I was particularly impressed by the small group of musicians, including a violinist and drummer who were out of this world.

Back in the car by 10.20, we stopped for succour at a filling station: cake and chocolates. Home before midnight.

On the way to Naples, on Highway 41, we were overtaken by a motor cycle. A mile or so further on we found the bike wrecked and the young rider lying on the ground: he had clearly hit a car. He didn’t look at all good, though he wasn’t dead. The difference a few minutes can make…

Yesterday was fairly quiet. Did a bit of grocery shopping with Barb (Roger was painting) and then called at Bowman’s beach on Sanibel. Lovely approach paths through trees and bushes, and a lagoon just behind the sand. The beach itself was quite crowded, though the sea was very perky, and there was intermittent low cloud. Certainly picturesque.

Later went to the dock again. Several manatee about. We booked a trip on a sailing boat for Tuesday.

Evening meal at Dolce Vita, where the ambience was sophisticated, more like a city restaurant, with live music. The food was first class, as was the service. Really good meal. Home by about 8.30 and watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which I found irritating and pretentious. No likeable characters and not much coherence either.

Now Dot and Barbara are up at the pool. Roger has just finished his portrait of Dot – wonderful – and there is the prospect of kayaking this afternoon, though I’m a bit worried about my stomach.