Friday, 14 September 2018

Wild Duck Holiday Park Nr Great Yarmouth

We woke up to sunshine again. After breakfast we had a ride to Lowestoft and parked up near the seafront again. 

We cycled from Lowestoft through Holton and onto Gorleston. 

We parked up and had a nice ice cream. Not really very much at Gorleston so we had a walk around for about 10 mins before cycling back to where we parked the car.

We moved the car a bit closer into town and did a little shopping. We found a new cycle lock in Wilko and some solar powered lights in Poundstretcher. 

The we walked to Wetherspoons Joseph Conrad for tea. The service wasn’t great today. We had to remind them after about half an hour that we hadn’t had our main course yet. 

We called in for fuel on the way back to the Caravan. 

Thursday, 13 September 2018

Wild Duck Holiday Park Nr Great Yarmouth

Woke up to bright sunshine this morning. We drove to Gapton Hall retail park in search of a new bike lock to replace the one I lost in Lowestoft a couple of days ago, and some new solar powered lights for the Caravan. We found neither. 

We drove across the road to Pizza Hut for a buffet lunch. 

We headed into Great Yarmouth to the Elizabethan House Museum. 









About a 100 yards up the road we popped into the Merchant’s House. 








Then we drove to the sea front just down from the Pleasure Beach where we parked up and cycled along the front. We stopped for an ice cream before continuing up to the Britannia Pier where we parked up for a while. 

We had a short walk into town and then onto the pier for a cider. We then rode up to to North Denes and then back to the car and on to the Caravan. 

Wednesday, 12 September 2018

Wild Duck Holiday Park Nr Great Yarmouth

Full cloud cover this morning. After Breakfast, We cycled to Burgh Castle. 









A tiny little Tearoom with only four tables, this was the best afternoon tea we have ever had. We had 16 finger sandwiches each, a scone and clotted cream each and four full sized slices of cake between us. The service was excellent and the owner kept topping up the teapot and looked after us really well. 

Later we had a sit by the river opposite for a while. A truly lovely spot, before heading back to the Caravan
The late 3rd century 'Saxon Shore' fort at Burgh Castle was built as part of the Roman network of coastal defences, and probably abandoned just over a hundred years later. Three of its imposing stone walls survive, almost to their original height, making this one of the best preserved Roman monuments in Britain. The fourth wall collapsed into the surrounding marshes a long time ago.
The land around the fort is a wildlife haven and offers panoramic views over Breydon Water.
We cycled back to to the Caravan to shower ang get ready for today’s afternoon tea at Rosie Lee’s Tearoom in Lodden. 

Tattershall Castle & Thorpe Camp

Very overcast this morning. By the time we were ready to go out it was raining quite heavily. 

We went to Tattershall Castle, mainly because the last time we were there Maddy forgot to get her National Trust passport stamped. 

There were lots of Knights in Armour and fighting displays planned for the day but that had all been moved inside the castle due to the rain. 





We spent an hour listening to a talk about armour and how to put it on which was very entertaining. 

On the way back to the car we nipped into the church for a cuppa and a slice of flap jack. 



We went to Thorpe Camp Visitor Centre in Tattershall Thorpe. The centre was formally part of number one communal site, RAF Woodall spa and was built in 1940 with the planned lifespan of only 10 years. 

At the end of the war, when the RAF vacated the site it became a target for squaters and was taken over by the Horncastle Rural District Council who converted it into temporary housing for which it was used until the early 1960s. 





By 1987 the site was completely derelict an overgrown. Part of it came with the area acquired by the woodland trust when they purchased the adjacent Carr woods. The trust planned to demolish the buildings which led to the formation of the Thorpe Camp Preservation Group to restore the site and create a visitor centre depicting the story of RAF Woodall spa and it squadrons together with civilian life in Lincolnshire during World War II.

Then it was back to the van for tea and chill. It finally stopped raining about 6pm. 

Wild Duck Holiday Park Nr Great Yarmouth

Overcast and windy this morning. 

After breakfast we headed into Norwich for the day. We hopped onto the City sightseeing bus and got 2 for 1 tickets for being in the Caravan Club. Good value at £12 for both of us. 

We did a full lap on the bus and on the second lap we got off to have a look around the Anglican Cathedral. 

The cathedral was begun in 1096 and constructed out of flint and mortar and faced with a cream-coloured Caen limestone. An Anglo-Saxon settlement and two churches were demolished to make room for the buildings. The cathedral was completed in 1145 with the Norman tower still seen today topped with a wooden spire covered with lead. Several episodes of damage necessitated rebuilding of the east end and spire but since the final erection of the stone spire in 1480 there have been few fundamental alterations to the fabric.




The large cloister has over 1,000 bosses including several hundred carved and ornately painted ones.

Norwich Cathedral has the second largest cloisters in England, only exceeded by those at Salisbury Cathedral. The cathedral close is one of the largest in England and one of the largest in Europe and has more people living within it than any other close. The cathedral spire, measuring at 315 ft (96 m), is the second-tallest in England despite being partly rebuilt after being struck by lightning in 1169, just 23 months after its completion, which led to the building being set on fire. Measuring 461 ft (141 m) long and, with the transepts, 177 ft (54 m) wide at completion, Norwich Cathedral was the largest building in East Anglia.

When we came out it was raining. We walked back and did some shopping before heading off to the Bull Hotel to wait for Steve and Julie Wheeldon, friends also on holiday in Norfolk, who were joining us for a bite to eat. 

When we came out we had missed the last park and ride bus so we got a taxi back to the car and headed back to the Caravan. 

Monday, 10 September 2018

Wild Duck Holiday Park Nr Great Yarmouth

Bit overcast this morning but reasonably warm and bright.

The gas ran out half way through cooking breakfast. They had no gas on the park so I went in search. Everywhere I went they had none until I finally found Simpson’s Garage who did. So we finally had brunch instead just before 1 pm. 

After brunch we eventually headed off to Horsey Windpump. The windpump is still undergoing restoration and currently the ground floor only is accessible to the public at this time. The sails have been reinstated and you can find out more about the history of the windpump and its exciting £500,000 restoration project. They hope to get the sails turning again by the end of 2018.





On the way back we called in at Caister Roman Fort. The fort was built around AD 200 and was occupied until AD 390,towards the end of the Roman period in Britain. It protected the estuary of the rivers Yare, Bure and Waveney, am important trade and strategic route leading inland. 




On the way back we called had a gentle ride through the seaside villages of Scratby and Hemsby, and a ride through Yarmouth seafront before heading to Great Yarmouth stadium for a lovely meal and a night of dog racing. 

After a nice evening, I lost £2 and Maddy won about £4, we had another ride along Great Yarmouth seafront in the dark before heading back to the Caravan. 

Sunday, 9 September 2018

Wild Duck Holiday Park Nr Great Yarmouth

We had some rain in the night but woke up to a nice warm and sunny morning. After breakfast we decided to go on a bike ride. 

After an hour and a half trying unsuccessfully to find the car par for the start of a ride we downloaded, we decide to head into Lowestoft to ride along the sea front. 

We called in at the toilets by the pier the lifeboat siren went off so we rushed out to the lifeboat station to catch the launch of the lifeboat.

It must have been a false alarm because it just did a lap of the bay and came back in after about 10 minutes. 

After all the excitement we had a nice double scoop ice cream before heading further along the front. We came across The Jolly Sailor pub, with live music ringing out, so we decided to stop for cider and G&T in the sun. 

Then we headed back to the van for tea and a relaxing evening. 

Wild Duck Holiday Park Nr Great Yarmouth

We left home around 8 am and were on the road by 9. We called at The Gap in at Muston for the traditional all you can eat breakfast, and after a good journey with no hold ups, arrived around 1:45 pm.

Wild Duck is a Haven site at Belton, near Great Yarmouth. As expected the facilities are excellent with 10 showers toilets and plenty of sinks. Tv and phone reception was excellent. 








We soon had the caravan set up and went in search of cider and gin.

After a quick look around the entertainment complex we dropped into the Sitting Duck for a pint of Thatchers Gold and Gin and Tonic for Maddy.  

Then we headed back to the caravan for tea and relaxation.