Bluebell the motorhome is parked up back at home having whisked us off to the Costa del North Norfolk coast for a sneaky night/couple of days of sunshine, beach time, swimming in the sea, good food and an enjoyable 8 mile walk. It’s been a little while since our last outing due to work commitments- summer term is always a grueller for us with summer concerts, exams, gigs etc, so we were delighted to find ourselves with a gap in the diary this week, that coincided with the weatherman giving the virtual thumbs up on getting some decent weather!
We were planning a trip to Sandringham House and Castle Rising, but after seeing the weather forcast predicting temperatures of 28-30 degrees, a trip to the beach just couldn’t be resisted, so we chucked our beachwear in, loaded the essentials ( Pimms….check, gin…..check, bikes, picnic, etc) grabbed our Brit Stops bible and hit the road. We were to return to a Brit Stop pub/restaurant that we’ve been to twice (read about it here and here) before, number 239, situated right on the North Norfolk Coastal Path, in between Hunstanton and Wells next to Sea.
Bluebell the motorhome in the car park of BritStop number 239
The outside of BritStop 239
We arrived just after 12:00, it only took just over an hour to get there from our house- ideal for a one night trip. A quick hello to the staff, confirmation that we had a table booked for dinner that night and Keefy set about dismantling the bikes whilst I packed the picnic bits into the cool bags. All loaded up, we cycled the 3 miles to the nearest beach, Brancaster Beach, which we’d visited back in February and vowed to return to in nicer weather.
Brancaster Beach in the summer sun- we could have been in Spain!
We enjoyed our picnic on the beach, several glasses of pimms, and a right good chill (or rather bake!). We even managed a swim in the unusually warm sea, it was like a bath!
a few beach snaps 🙂
As dinner time fast approached, we packed up our kit, cycled back and had a sneaky nap (well all this sunbathing is tiring!) before getting on our glad rags, and moseying across for our 7:30pm booking.
The pub/hotel (I’m referring to it as number 239 as you have to be a member of BritStops to stay there in your motorhome and Steve and Mandy are working very hard on the scheme, which we fully support and recommend) is quite an upmarket place, but in a nice subtle way. It has all the appeal of a cosy village pub, with roaring log fire, views over the sea and splendid ale, but then its annex is a fairly posh affair, almost mimicking a Michelin Starred restaurant with its table layout.
The menu is amazing, and ranges from fresh local oysters, fish, steaks, traditional pub food- you name it. We both opted for a battered fish and chip dinner and a crisp bottle of white, and it was delicious.
enjoying my fish and chips
After dinner we nipped Jazz out to walk it off and enjoyed the sunset.
red sky at night, sailors delight..
After a blissfully quiet nights sleep we awoke and enjoyed a Harling Sausage Bap (The Harling sausage is a sausage made by our village butchers and it is delicious!)
Today’s plan was to do the 8 mile circular walk from Holme Next to Sea through Ringstead and Old Hunstanton. Sadly, we were unable to park at the car park at Holme next to Sea due to a ridiculous height barrier meaning we couldn’t get in! Sorry Holme, you just lost our £3:50 parking charge we would have happily paid and money at the kiosk on cold drinks! We carried on up to Hunstanton and found a suitable spot there, and therefore starting at a different point. The walk was lovely, it took in a stretch of the North Norfolk Coast Path and The Peddars Way, as well as some of the sand dunes along the coast between Hunstanton and Holme- interesting, as you walk right beside and then through the Golf Course!
walking on the North Norfolk Coast Path, through the dunes, with the sea on one side and the golf course on the other
walking towards Holme next to sea and looking back to Hunstanton
walking through Ringstead Downs, a pretty area belonging to Norfolk Wildlife Trust
a lonely medieval barn ruin
the pretty school house in Ringstead
We had a great night away and have come home feeling like we’ve been on holiday- good job, as we are now busy with gigs for the next 3 weeks, but are looking forward to our 2 week trip later in August!
Are you off out in your van over the summer? If so, where? Need some serious holiday inspiration as ours feels ages away yet!
Until next time
Lx
Castle Rising…Blogged that earlier this year, we loved it, home of the original “She-Wolf!. Also went to Sandringham(stayed on the CC site). Loved the huge expanse of forest, directly off the site. A great county. Enjoy
We’ve passed through Castle Rising before and loved it, and did a walk through Sandringham estate a couple of years back, but not done it properly so looking forward to it. I remember reading your post about it 🙂 we watched a programme about Ghosts at Castle Rising the other day on Sky- an American team of ghost hunters were doing an investigation there! Creepy stuff!
Cornwall, I’m on my fourth week here. Plenty of Britstops too.
Ooh we are off to Cornwall at the end of Aug – have you stayed anywhere you could recommend? Britstops? Small campsites? We’ve not got a plan 🙂
We’re doing 2 weeks at Penmarlam Park, Fowey. Van in the park and boat in the marina. Bliss if the weather holds up!
Lovely article 🙂
We spend lots of time in Norfolk and have been going there for the last 18 years. Every single time we visit, we discover more things to do and more tracks and hidden places 🙂
Looking forward to a Suffolk visit soon.
I love photography, beaches, Castles, and so, Castle Rising was a must visit. A picnic for me and hubby and the small dog and a full day of photography left us delighted. The small dog (Qi) loved running up and down the earthworks, he was shattered at the end of the day 🙂 leaving us to get on with the viewing of the images and studying the map for the next days adventures.
We love Holme Dunes Nature Reserve, so quiet and beautiful.
Basically if we can walk miles, picnic and take images and not meet a single person for hours. We generally return. Not that we are anti social, we just love the peace that this kind of holiday offers.
Love your articles, planning on putting some of our trips on my account soon 🙂
Bye for now
Jules