2006 SHORT BREAK TO NORWICH

Tuesday 10th October @ 9:00 am (Sharp) - Rush hour traffic was horrendous and caused considerable delay in getting to BAWA and not a lot of change as we left BAWA and headed for the M4 North finally getting there at about 9:20 am and there was some fog. We were delighted to have our old driver and courier-Andy and Carol. We stopped at Reading for a comfort break of about 30 minutes (now it’s raining) then on to St Albans for lunch at about 12:00 noon then back on the coach at 2:00 pm en-route for Norwich with another comfort stop on the M11 at Birchanger Green Services-Bishops Stortford. We reached our hotel at about 5:30 pm, had dinner at 7:30 pm followed by coffee in the lounge then bed.

Wednesday 11th October @ 8:15 am. – A leisurely breakfast then on the coach for 9:30 am for a guided coach tour of Norwich. We picked up our guide ‘Audrey’ on Theatre Street while our courier Carol successfully obtained two additional tickets for the evening performance of the David Essex concert. We then had a very sedate tour of Norwich with Audrey giving a running  commentary of the sights to be seen. The whole area is steeped in history and Audrey pointed out sections of the old City walls. The area has no natural stone that can be used as a building material, only flint. All the older buildings are constructed of flint and even the newer buildings have flint panels somewhere. To my knowledge, Norwich is the only City that has two cathedrals. One C of E and the other RC. The city has something in excess of 100 churches; Many of which appear to be churches but are not. Many are now workshops, museums and a variety of other uses. Some are abandoned and derelict as they just do not know what to do with them. After the tour we were left to our own devices for about 4 ½ hours. A little too long for some of us as it came onto rain soon after 1:00 pm. My wife, myself and two others decided to catch a bus and return to the hotel – that was fun – and I will say no more about that episode. Dinner was arranged for 6:00 pm for those of us attending the concert then on to the theatre on the coach for  7:30 pm. The whole performance was to say the least-memorable, and I don’t mean that in any sarcastic sense. My wife and I enjoyed the show which ended just after 9:30 pm.

There were many young people there and the show finished with several encores and a standing ovation from a large proportion of the audience.

David Essex has obviously changed from the way I remembered him. From the theatre circle he appears a lot older; he has more hair on his face than he does on his head but his voice has not changed much at all. One of the songs he sang asked “Would you like to marry me?” to cries of “YES” from many places in the auditorium. In the old days, the ladies would throw various items of personal clothing onto the stage but today he was handed flowers-very sedately. I must confess, the evening made me feel quite young again but then I had to stand up and age returned with a vengeance. Back to the hotel where some refreshments were laid out for us.

Thursday 12th October @ 8:15 am – A good breakfast and on the road by 9:15 am headed for Kings Lynn. The weather is glorious and almost too warm for any sort of coat. Kings Lynn is a very old city and one I thought I would know quite well as I was stationed in the area for over 4 years…but…I didn’t recognise a thing. I should not have been surprised as I was last here 50 years ago almost to the day. There was just time for a quick walk around then back on the coach and on to Sandringham. We had three hours here to obtain refreshments and to walk around the house museum and gardens. The house is set in an estate of about 8,000 acres with its own gardens orchards etc: Their visitors Centre sells a lot of preserved produce from the estate and from the Duchy (Cornwall?).

3:30 pm then back on the coach and headed for Sheringham, a small coastal township, for me very typical of many seaside towns. 5:30 pm and back to the hotel for dinner.

Friday 13th October @ 8:15 am – A very leisurely breakfast then on to Wroxham Barnes at 10:30 am. Wroxham Barnes is a sprawling collection of buildings housing a variety of arts and crafts-drawing, painting, stained glass, jewellery , woodworking and so forth. Many of the craftsmen/women demonstrated their art and were only too pleased to answer questions put to them by prospective customers. Many of our party made purchases-my wife included; 1:15 pm then on to Wroxham proper. Here we picked up our cruise boat “The Queen of the Broads” for a 1 ½ hour tour of the Broads. The captain gave a running commentary throughout the tour (speeds restricted to 3-4 mph on conservation grounds-so-very leisurely). His knowledge of the area and its history was extensive as was his knowledge of the areas wild life. We returned to the mooring at about 3:30 pm and had about an hour to explore the immediate area, leaving for the hotel at about 4:30 pm for dinner (and packing). The days’ weather leaves one wondering what has happened to our climate.  The weather has again been absolutely glorious. We did see the odd cloud on two occasions, but it seemed that they appeared only to remind us of what they looked like. We were warned to take something warm on the cruise as the Broads could get quite chilly. I for one dumped my coat and would have felt happier if I could have removed some of my other clothing it was that warm.

Saturday 14th October @ 7:30 am – Here we are at the last day of our all too short-short break which we understand has been enjoyed by all in attendance. We had a little earlier breakfast than normal which gave us the time to get checked out, bills paid (where necessary) and on the coach for a 9:30 take-off. The weather is once again that with which we have been blessed, almost perfect. A little fog and mist to start with, then continuous sunshine. We departed on time and headed for Cambridge where we were to spend about 3 hours giving us time for lunch, shopping or whatever took our fancy.

The roads in Cambridge are full of old buildings and character but this character precludes the entry of coaches into the city. In consequence we were dropped on the outskirts of the city behind the various college complexes and found our way into the city (Thankfully Carol had supplied us with a map of the city – it was needed). The one item of prevalent traffic in the city is the bicycle . Thousands upon thousands of them. Apart from those being ridden cycles were chained to every post, rail or any object one could get a chain around and there seemed almost as many people as cycles. This city is the first place I have seen in this country that has traffic lights specifically to control bicycles. Their understanding of a one-way system is that determined by the direction you are facing at any one time…so…mind your backs.  Back on the coach for the last leg home across country the M11 to the A1(M), then on to the M25 and M4 for Bristol. One comfort stop at Reading and a second stop at Membury Services where we changed drivers. Andy had to take another tour to Ireland first thing the following morning and had to get his legal break in (the Tachograph rules). We arrived at BAWA at 6:15pm with the weather still excellent.

Our thanks to David and Janet for all their hard work in arranging yet another successful short break. Our thanks also to Rover Travel staff Andy and Carol for their continuous courtesy and assistance throughout.

Bill Brand