Mad machines on Southwold pier

April 25, 2013

A SUNNY, breezy day in Southwold and a few welcome hours to myself. I mean that in the nicest possible way.

While David and Mike set off for Minsmere and some serious birdwatching, taking the dog in the Hymer, I settled down in the kitchen with Ferdinand the cat to catch up on a blogging backlog.

The sense of freedom as the day stretched out in front of me was so relaxing.

At Mike’s recommendation I strolled down to the Dome antiques warehouse – crammed from floor to ceiling with Arts & Crafts furniture – a style I like very much, but this was way out of my league price-wise.

I presume I was being watched on CCTV, since I didn’t see a soul in the whole hour or so I was there. Could hear the odd noise somewhere, but no voices. Spooky.

Down to the Pier for coffee and a panini in the Clock House café – an excellent place to take pictures of the iconic beach huts. I was totally bowled over by the mad automata in the Under the Pier Show and the water-powered clock.

The coin-operated Rent-a-Dog treadmill was my favourite machine, though Crankenstein the wind-up monster and the My-Nuke reactor were top value, too, and I loved the innocent old-world lunacy of the whole concept.

Chickening out of climbing the lighthouse steps, I contented myself with taking a photo to prove I’d been there, and launched myself upon the shops.

It was good to see that some independent food retailers were doing well despite the inevitable, if somewhat incongruous presence of a Tesco Express and a Costa.

I stuck to buying cards and presents from the multiplicity of seaside-themed gift shops and galleries.

Our friends were out for the evening, so David and I walked back into town with the dog for second helpings from the Lord Nelson’s excellent menu.

A thoroughly satisfactory day all round, including for David a weirdly coincidental meeting with another old birding friend at Minsmere.

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Holme, sweet Holme

April 24, 2013

UP late for a long walk along the beach at Holme. How lucky to have such a wonderful landscape outside your back door.

The weather stayed sunny and warm almost all the way, turning grey just before we got back to a much-needed breakfast of smoked salmon and scrambled eggs. A perfect way to end our long-awaited reunion.

But there was no time to lose – we were off to Southwold to see two more friends for the first time in a decade or so.

En route, we stopped off at the lovely little church at Burnham Norton. Such a peaceful spot for a few moments’ quiet contemplation and remembrance, and somewhere I should have visited long ago.

Anyway, never mind that, we were soon rattling along the bumpy A road via Fakenham, past signposts to the ‘bootiful’ Bernard Matthews poultry empire, cursing at the traffic lights in Norwich, with a passing glance at the cathedral.

We turned off the main road briefly at Loddon, where we discovered an ideal spot to put the kettle on.

Right beside the bridge, there’s a small car park that’s free for two hours, looking out over the river with its brightly-coloured holiday boats. We watched a heron taking a rest in a garden, stock-still for so long we wondered if it was real, till it decided to indulge in a scratch.

On, then, to Reydon, where our friends run a B&B, in plenty of time for another lovely walk, this time following a circular route across the fields and along the Southwold quayside, stopping off at just the three pubs (!) for a glass of wine in each, and a very good steak at the Lord Nelson.

So tired I didn’t know what to do with myself by the time we got back. Just as well we had a proper bed again.

Picture-perfect Norfolk

April 23, 2013

WIDE open skies, without a cloud in sight, greeted us on Cley beach. A fantastic morning, it felt like the whole world had taken a shower and emerged clean and renewed.

A walk along the shingle bank produced a pair of greylag geese with three delightful fluffy goslings, marsh harrier, sedge warbler, lots of avocet, which are always so beautiful, plus godwit, sandwich tern, shelduck and shoveler.

Nothing remarkable, but then, as the car park attendant told us, the weather has been so cold that there are no insects for arriving migrants to eat, and many are dying.

The dog, meanwhile, had found a ball-shaped fish egg sac and refused to let it go, running off every time we tried to get near enough to stop him gradually chewing and swallowing it. Yuk. And he now has smelly breath.

After a very good lunch in the visitor centre – a beautiful building with spectacular views where my husband remembers only a scrubby old quarry the last time he was up here – we set off along the coast road, through a succession of picture-perfect villages, all brick and flint, and Farrow & Balled up to the nines.

We were off to look up an old friend and meet his wife at their home in Holme-next-the-Sea. Once-familiar sights, now rarities, spotted en route – a Tardis-like police phone box in a garden, and an old-fashioned AA box that must surely be one of the last of its kind.

Our friends treated us to a very civilised dinner at the Titchwell Manor Hotel – highly recommended.

And leaving the dog in the Hymer, we slept like babies in their palatial spare room.

Out of hibernation

April 22, 2013

AT last we’re back on the road, looking forward to a week veering between Norfolk and Suffolk visiting long-lost friends.

Outside, a gentle drizzle is falling as we sit in a quiet site at Rectory Hill Barns, Cley, where we’ve been looking out over a field boasting partridges, pheasant, pigeons (of course), a formation of Canada geese, and a nibbling hare. I’m not used to seeing hares, so their abundance en route has been a delight.

We got off to a very dodgy start. The Hymer, stored at a farm all winter, started first time. Then, once we’d stowed everything on board, it decided it was glad to be back home and didn’t want to go anywhere else.

A call to Green Flag followed. Fortunately they let us sign up to their home start service on the spot, arrived within 15 minutes and got us going in a jiffy, while I walked down to the chipshop to fetch an emergency lunch.

Well, we’ve seen red kites, buzzards, a jay and a kestrel over the A34, plus an almighty abundance of litter.

Last spring in Spain I remember tutting over the roadside mess and thinking smugly ‘It wouldn’t be like this at home.’ Famous last words.

The route between the A303 and Oxford is an Environmental Shame Area.

Can’t someone on a community service sentence clean it up, please?

The morning’s sunshine gave way to unrelieved grey skies as we headed east, past a vast, featureless Amazon distribution centre that matched the landscape.

Wind turbines and drab fenland  gave way to ferociously tidy orchards, and finally, after Hillington, to prettier countryside with hedges, woods and lots of wildlife dotting the fields.

While I walked the limping dog – his hip was playing him up – the Motorhome Masterchef got to work with the leftovers from our fridge back home, and I returned to wonderful salty fried asparagus, followed by fried egg on a bed of mixed veg and chorizo, all prepared on a 2ft worktop, with one frying pan and a wok.

Can’t imagine wanting to do all that after five hours at the wheel of a left-hand-drive van. But I did wash up.

Meanwhile Man U have been on the radio, notching up yet another Premiership title with a Van Persie hat-trick.

Oh, and we’ve installed a carbon monoxide detector, at a cost of £24, which seems like a good idea.

Itchy feet

February 18, 2013

FOR several months now we’ve been becalmed in Salisbury.

Not the worst place to be, and much good has come of it.

A brief hotel break in Tenerife has helped recharge the batteries, and it's time to look forward again.

Spring beckons, and given that we feel a need to remain in the UK, this could be the perfect time for a trip up the East Coast.

Long-lost friends populate the route, in East Anglia, in Bridlington, and in Aberdeen.

The rose bushes in my front garden are beginning to send out shoots but I’m ready to ignore them for a few more weeks, give them a short back and sides and then take off.

In the meantime we’ve eaten up all our food stocks from the Hymer, which is now being stored (at some expense to us) by an obliging farmer because our neighbours objected to the sight of it on our drive.

I didn’t think it was that hideous, but one of them called it ‘The Monster Van’.

At least it’s freed up a much-needed parking space.

The Birdwatcher's Glastonbury

August 18, 2012

IT’S been a long old journey from April to here, and the Hymer hasn’t even left the front garden.

Family matters have kept us in England all through the monsoon season so it was with great relief that we found ourselves with three days to spare at the end of this week, along with day tickets for Birdfair 2012.

Billed as ‘The Birdwatcher’s Glastonbury’ – I can’t help thinking that’s over-egging it a bit – this is a very civilised, if somewhat earnest event where you get to camp on lovely, unspoilt farmland alongside Rutland Water.

If you want to buy absolutely anything sludge-green to wear, look no further; likewise if you’re intending to upgrade your binoculars, telescope or camera.

Otherwise, like me, you can eat scones with jam and cream and wander round collecting holiday brochures and maps to help plan future trips.  One bonus was meeting up with our best man, Sav, who now runs Wrybill Birding Tours in New Zealand and was over here to promote them.

If browsing palls, you can take your pick from a series of lectures. One by the writer and broadcaster David Lindo, known as The Urban Birder, couldn’t have been more appropriate for the situation we find ourselves in at present, needing to stay close to home.

He took as his starting point a quote from Proust: “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” He went on to talk about the natural wonders that are all around us, if we only look up and see them. I knew just what he meant.

I’d been strolling with the dog in an adjoining field early on Thursday evening, before the crowds arrived and turned it into a temporary car park.

As he sniffed his way slowly along, I stopped and turned to take in the view.

I was just in time to see a beautiful barn owl swooping out of a line of tall trees and circling close by, with a young fox sitting motionless by the hedge opposite, watching us from a safe distance. It was one of those much-needed moments that just make you feel better.

Panic over

THANKS to everyone for your concern. No 2. Son is now on the mend and has been allowed out of hospital this weekend, but blogging is likely to remain sporadic due to another serious illness in the family. With luck, normal service will be resumed before long and we can begin planning our next trip!


In the meantime David has been emptying the Hymer - it's amazing how much stuff was in there, like the Tardis - and building a bookshelf in it. 


Things we've decided we won't waste space on again include: the ladder for the drop-down bed, because we can climb up without it; the digital radio, because we couldn't pick up any digital stations in Europe; DVDs - we didn't watch any; and more than one smart outfit, or any jewellery.  Once away from our everyday lives I quickly degenerated into a total style slob, and very comfortable it was, too.


Things we definitely must take another time include a waterproof seat cover to protect the upholstery from a dog who's made it clear that he now expects to travel on a 50mph sofa even when he's been swimming.


For the record, we travelled 6,000km, or 3,700-odd miles in five-and-a-bit weeks. This was by far the longest time we have spent in each other's company in our 33-year marriage, and we've both been surprised by how well we got on!