Unfortunately it was only the part of the house this side of the hedge but it is bigger than it looks with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms as well as a large living room and more than adequate kitchen. Its set in a nice private garden close to the cliffs and within walking distance of both Hunstanton town centre and the sandy beach and dunes of Old Hunstanton.
During our stay in Norfolk we did however visit a somewhat larger house . Sandringham, the "Queen's Country Retreat in Norfolk" is only a short drive from Hunstanton and the house is set in lovely grounds. It is used by the Royal Family solely for holiday breaks rather than any official business and so the rooms open to public view have a nice family feel to them (in a Royal sort of way!). There is also a great museum as well as the beautiful grounds to admire. The last time we visited there, in 2000, the house was closed to the public but it was a Sunday and we actually saw the Queen and the Queen Mum coming out of the local church. Obviously there is no Queen Mum there now but Charles and Camilla are staying at Sandringham this week. Here's a photo of the house and grounds -
If look closely you can see that it is somewhat larger than the house we rented.
There are some excellent beaches on the north Norfolk coast. When the tide is out you can barely see the sea. When the tide is coming back in it advances at quite a pace and it is easy to get trapped on a sandbank island. On one beach, Brancaster, where we spent the day, there was ship wreck visible in the distance. This photo, taken by telephoto lens, brings it in a little closer.
I wanted to take a close-up look but there was a water channel in the way. Afterwards (back home) I googled "Brancaster Beach Wreck" and discovered that the wreck is the SS Vina and it was used for bombing practice during WW2 (although I could see little resemblance to Dresden). The water channel near it is quite treacherous and many people have got into difficulties trying to cross it to get to the wreck. Feeling very sensible, but frustrated, I didn't attempt it on the rising tide.
One evening we went to Thornham Quay. It was high tide and the road had a caution sign noting "Tidal Flooding". This was indeed correct - the calm water in the foreground of this photo is in fact the road down to the quay.
The quay is where the two yachts are moored. Finding the quay end at high tide involves stepping from one foot deep water to twenty foot deep water in one step (not recommended).
We had a very quiet but most enjoyable week and we can thoroughly recommend the Norfolk coast for a lazy peaceful holiday.
Hopefully you won't have to wait another month for my next blog posting.
