April 9, 2023
Hunstanton to Cromer
Cross Country on a sunny Spring day.
Our bikes are still safely stowed under the magic blue, top security, plastic sheet, when we retrieve them. Today’s a cross country effort to Cromer, in the top right hand corner of Norfolk. We’ve plotted the route and it’s a little over 60 kms, not too much traffic, except for the final 10kms. But this is the Uk and it’s Easter Sunday.
Our route takes us up past the old lighthouse and there’s the sign to Ringstead. Only a couple of miles. Miles are deceptive, they go on and on. Kilometres, on the the hand whizz by quickly; they’re encouraging.
The small roads are great- till you meet a car. The preference for wider, bigger cars makes passing tricky. Most drivers are good, and they really only need to slow. There are a couple of homicidal maniacs in vans who let the side down by belting down the lane at top speed.
Burnham Market is Georgian in its architecture but modern in its flat whites, sausage rolls and pain au raisin. We sit in the sun and munch and sip. There are lots of visitors, including drivers of very expensive cars, many solo males, putting them through their paces.
The rest of our morning sees us continuing across country; we’re getting some rolling hills now, and very broad vistas of ploughed fields lying back, waiting for the sun. Burnham Thorpe is a small village whose claim to fame is that it was Nelson’s birthplace.
We follow a beautiful flint stone wall for a kilometre until we reach the gates to the Holkham Estate which our guide book endorses for its beautiful grounds and original hall. Better than anything Sandringham has to offer, they say. There are several cyclists using the narrow gate for a loop around the grounds. A crusty old fellow who tells us he’s from Manchester, expresses some glee that cars cannot enter.
At Wigton we take a diversion to Walsingham, a pilgrimage spot. The buildings are impressive and the gardens too, but it’s not particularly inspiring. Perhaps we caught it on a bad day, though it was Easter. Also we didn’t have time to see the abbey which may have changed our thinking. There’s also a small train that comes there. We’d have liked to visit Great Snoring as we’ve read Graham Greene’s train story many times to our children.
We find Sustrans 30 but also do some of our own route finding towards Langham, Wiverton and Kelling. There’s climbing as we head towards the coast. We have a glimpse of the sea via Salthouse.
The final part of our day requires cycling down a narrow road towards Beach Road which is the road running closest to the coast for Cromer, our destination. This last stretch has heavy traffic and frankly, isn’t particularly enjoyable. Most drivers are pretty good, but all are in a hurry, and some, in an expression of relief that they have passed you, floor the accelerator. We’ve had this happen a few times; I think it’s imparting a rather unsubtle message. The military tank museum we pass has a behemoth parked outside, and it crosses my mind that it would be useful in this traffic.
At Sheringham, Ann consults komoot and finds an amazing back street route that takes us through a park and woods past Amazonia Zoo, as part of Sustrans 30, and directly to the place we’re staying. It’s magical, because my consultation with google produced only a convoluted way on the A149.
At ‘The Annexe’ we find the lock box, blue plastic wrap our bikes, as rain is forecast, and make the most of the last hour warm hour in the sun filled room.
Today's ride: 68 km (42 miles)
Total: 246 km (153 miles)
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