Continuing our Easter holiday diary…

Wells-Next-the-Sea

After attempting (and failing) to walk to the coast from Blakeney, we decided to drive to Wells-Next-the-Sea—another name with no preposition, but we coped. We parked amongst pine trees and walked over the hill to the sea.

There was a row of pretty beach huts, and we borrowed the porch of one to eat our picnic, while looking at the beach. Wells-Next-the-Sea has a lot of beach—miles of it.

Dogs are allowed on the beach to the left of the steps, so we left mother dozing on the beach hut steps, and wandered off towards the dunes. In the distance, we could see a digger, dredging the river (family commented that in Norfolk, people take their sandcastles very seriously, and perhaps we should invest in a digger too, to keep up).

We walked for a long way. After a while, we stopped to rest in the sand-dunes, feeling the warm sun, listening to the waves. Two seconds later, Emm was bored, so took the dog into the distance for a walk. We wanted to leave, so sent Jay after him. Jay never came back (probably forgot what he had gone for). Husband then decided to go and tell them to come back – but he got side-tracked too, so I left him and walked back to sleepy mother.

Wells-Next-the-Sea is a lovely beach if you like lots of sand, but you need determination if you plan to reach the sea. It has a very nice car-park, with toilets and cafes and a shop selling clothes you will never wear except on holiday. Some people danced in the car-park. It was a lovely place to visit (I cannot explain the dancing).

Tea in Cromer

When I was child, we visited Cromer most weekends in the summer. We camped, so I pretty much hated Cromer. However, now I’m all grown up, I can see that it is actually a very nice town, and the sort of place where I too might choose to take children. (Not to camp though, I have promised myself I will never have to sleep in a tent, ever again.)

We booked afternoon tea at The Grove guesthouse in Overstrand Road. It costs £14 per person, and is a very generous tea, with sandwiches and cakes and scones. The fruit cake was my favourite. They also provide boxes, so you can take home the leftovers (trust me, you will have leftovers).

After tea, we walked down the steps by the lighthouse to the beach. The lighthouse is short and fat, and very disappointing if you are a child and expect lighthouses to be tall and slender and standing on rocks with the waves crashing. Cromer lighthouse is on a grassy cliff, and not even particularly near the sea. (As I said, there was a lot about Cromer that disappointed me as a child.)

We walked, past bright beach huts and wooden breakwaters, past rusty tractors attached to fishing boats, towards the setting sun. The tall church tower looms above the town. We walked to the pier, and stood, looking up at the cliffs and wondering why the dominant hotel facing the sea is called the ‘Paris Hotel’.

The beach at Cromer is lovely. So too is the town (if you’re not camping). I stole some snippets of the town for my book, Counting Stars—why not read a copy? The link is below.

Hope you have a nice day.
Take care,
Love, Anne x

Counting Stars is an exciting novel, set in the near-future. One of the children (a bolshy teenager) pretty much sums up my own childhood feelings towards Cromer…You can buy a copy from an Amazon near you, UK link below: