Thursday, 5th June HINGHAM -
NORWICH - NORFOLK BROADS - YARMOUTH
It’s been a massive day today! We were a bit slow in getting
away (about 9.30), as Lex was changing a password, and I chatted to Mum, then
Cait, Danny and Mikeal called, so we were caught up on all the family news.
Our first destination for the day was Norwich, so we set the
navigator to our closest park and ride. However, once we were there waiting, we
were chatting to some locals and established that those particular buses only
went to the hospital and university. No good for us! So we hopped back in the
car and went to the next one down (Norwich actually has 5 park and rides.)
This was the right one, and there was a bus there waiting. It only cost us 4 pounds altogether for the ride into the city, and the parking is free. They certainly are excellent value. The driver advised us that the best stop for the cathedral is Tombland, so that’s where we got off. It sounds like something spooky, but it’s actually from the Anglo Saxon for an open place, apparently. There is a stunning medieval archway leading to the cathedral square – it’s a beautiful green space, with statues of Nelson and Wellington, the two great British heroes, at either end. The cathedral is huge, and reminded me a bit of Salisbury. We entered through the new welcoming hall, and first on the list of things to do was to explore the cloisters. It looked quite familiar, then I remembered that Norwich Cathedral was one of the places they’d filmed as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films! Then we had morning tea; we both had scones (huge) and a welcome cuppa in the café upstairs. Then Lex left to find a shop he’d found online which could replace the battery in his watch.
I headed for the cathedral itself. It’s a massive space with
an amazing fan vaulted ceiling. It’s over 900 years old – those Normans
certainly knew how to construct a cathedral or a castle. I really enjoyed
wandering around and soaking up the medieval vibes. The stained-glass windows
were beautiful. My favourite was the one of Dame Julian of Norwich, an English
mystic who lived in Norwich in the 1300s. Her writings are the earliest known
by a woman. She was a remarkable woman (and a cat lover!)
After the cathedral, I decided to make my way up the hill to Norwich Castle. William the Conqueror ordered its construction, but it’s very different in appearance to any other castle I’ve seen. It also proved rather hard to get into, although I could clearly see it was right there! I walked around, up, over some steps and then back down again and came to an entrance saying “Castle Quarter”, which I thought must be it. However, it turned out to be a shopping centre. Anyway, after about 20 minutes, I finally found the entrance and headed in….to find out that the castle is currently closed for renovation. Sad. But the Norwich Museum is also there, so I paid my 8 pounds and headed in for a look.
It has several interesting galleries, including several art galleries and works by artists I’d never come across before, from the Norfolk School. My favourite exhibitions though, were the ones about the Romans and Iceni, the local Britons led by Boudica. Norfolk is actually the land of the Iceni, so they have excellent displays of the archaeological finds from the area. Some of the gold jewellery is absolutely stunning. There were several groups of school kids in the museum, so again I felt quite at home!
By about 2, Lex had arrived back in the city centre and seen the cathedral, so we had a late lunch at the museum café. Again, it was huge – they believe in very generous servings here in Norfolk. Lex had the ploughman’s lunch again, and I had a big baked potato and salad. We’d been hoping to go to a steam train ride this afternoon, but realised that we would not make it in time, so decided instead to head for the Norfolk Broads.
We set a course for Hickling Broad, a nature reserve to the
north-east, and arrived there about 4. Although the centre closed at 5, the
nice lady there sold us our tickets and a tea towel and assured us that we
could stay as long as we liked. We walked out to the bird watching hides, but
unfortunately although we could hear lots of songbirds around, none of them
would stay still long enough to even begin to guess what they were! The broads
are huge; an extensive system of inland waterways formed by the riverways, but
also made by peat digging in medieval times. We enjoyed our walk, although rain
kept threatening and the wind was very chilly. We did see one beautiful swan
close up. By about ten past 5, we were back at the centre, and heading off in
our car.
We decided to go back via Great Yarmouth, the seaside city and port at the mouth of the Yare River, to see the eastern British coast. Their beach is nothing like ours – very long, flat and featureless, with a windfarm off the coast. Then we reached the Venetian Waterways, a beachside park with canals where they’ve reconstructed the park as it was in the 1920s. It was 6pm and cold, and blowy, but we just had to go and check it out. After that, we drove along the beach road and marvelled at the kilometres of casinos, games arcades, fun fairs, rides and piers where the English apparently go to have their summer fun. (It was all closed today, though.)
Then, we realised that it was getting quite late, and we set off homeward for the hour trip back to Hingham. The rain had set in in earnest by then, but we made it home by a bit after 7. It’s been a big day!
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