Showing posts with label Norfolk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Norfolk. Show all posts

Friday, September 03, 2010

Clacton Pier and other diversions


Clacton Pier
Originally uploaded by The original SimonB
Just had a week or so off to host MrsB's sister and hubby over from Canada. Always good to see them and we really don't mind putting them up and ferrying them about as they always do the same for us when we head west. But the phrase "back to work for a rest" has never seemed more appropriate!

Unfortunately Stuart weas suffering from a dreadful cold/cough/throat infection which did limit our activities a bit but we did manage to squeeze in a trip to Norwich (pastures new for them) as well as the regular places they like to visit. I'm not sure why, but Clacton is one of these. We end up there quite often anyway as we friends nearby, and I even did a couple of weeks holiday cover at the Argos branch however many years ago that was, but I'm still not certain what it is that draws us back. Other than a pier you can still walk out on I can't think of anything they have that you can't get or do in Felixstowe.

Maybe it is just that - a day out but to somewhere with a familiar feel and no worries.

Anyway, they are now up in Scotland, we are getting used to a house with just the two of us again and I'm not really sure where else this post is going, so will stop!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Holiday thoughts

OK, so I had a week off and never got round to writing anything. But I did think about what to write now that I do make it happen.

MrsB had a week in Spain with her sister and a couple of friends while I stayed at home (but did at least take the time off work, unlike last year when she went to the same place). I also had some days out which we won't mention other than pointing to the pictures of Maldon, Norwich and the Bentwaters Airshow...

Anyway, I'd been thinking about holidays past for a couple of weeks after a day out with friends saw us up on the North Norfolk Coast at Sherringham (as pictured here). Not the most exciting of places, and indeed this is not the most exciting of photos either (but click it for more on flickr if you like) but it brought back a flood of memories for me.

We had several holidays in the vicinity when I was small (see the evidence) and seeing this archway to the beach made me remember:

Hours digging in the sand creating what we termed Water Works. Lots of interconnected pools that we would send water scurrting around from a bucket.

Eating and enjoying fresh prawns in a pub garden, but I can't bring myself to eat them at all these days.

A summer house/shed affair in the garden of the place we stayed at a couple of times. It seemed much more exciting than any shed has reason to be and was a great place to play on rainy days.

Berol pens.

Those shops you only got at seaside resorts in the 70s, where you could buy buckets and spades, anything you like covered in sea shells, toys and sweets composed entriely of e numbers. I know similar ones exist today, but they aren't the same.

Walking through country lanes without worrying about traffic.

Seeing a mole scurrying down one of those lanes in broad daylight.

Seemingly endless journeys in the back of the car to get there (hello Ford Cortina, Hillman Minx, Chrysler 180 and Alpine) with a pile of comics to keep us entertained.

And more that has escaped me in the last few days.