June journeyings part 2

On the first Monday of our holiday we were unsure what the weather was going to be like, we'd had so many showers, so I looked for a National Trust property, where at least we could remain dry.  I came up with Felbrigg Hall. So we set the satnav, and off we went. The route seemed quite convoluted, and we soon found that it takes ages too get anywhere in Norfolk.
Eventually, we found it, and made our way in. We found the cafe in the stables area, and had lunch, then off to do the tour of the open rooms. It was quite interesting, and as with so many of the stately homes, there was one generation that was profligate, and precipitated the family's decline. In  this case, it was the wife of one of the owners, he was considered to be 'mad'. As we toured the rooms the sun came out, typical.
Afterwards we explored the grounds and the secret garden, but didn't have the energy  to walk to the orangery, so we got in the car, and came back following signs rather than satnav. I cooked a Sainsbo's lasagne, then we relaxed, we were getting used to the bed, and I later discovered it was a memory foam mattress, not to bad for turning over on too. There were more aircraft flying around that night.
The first Tuesday, it looked as if it could be a nice day, so we decided to drive around the North coast to see how far we could get. My eventual aim was Cromer, I had been there about 40 years ago. for a day trip.

Inside the hall

Convenient hidey hole in the library 

The Hall

part of secret garden

We set off relatively early, drove past Hunstanton, then on to Brancaster. We drove down towards the sea, but there wasn't much there at all. There was a bit of a shower so we turned around back to the main road and headed for Wells next the sea. We found a car park,and spent a couple of hours browsing round Wells. Last time we went there, I was still expecting twins. It was one of those days when everything went wrong, so I had developed a dislike of Wells. We didn't make the mile or so trek to the beach, just stayed around the harbour and the town. We found a cafe that did crab sandwiches, so that improved things even more. Wells went right up in my estimation.

Wells -next- the -sea

Our car parking time was nearly up, so we returned,and headed off in the general direction of Cromer. However the signposting wasn't aimed at the coast road, and we soon found ourselves in the middle of a moor, with clouds gathering all round us. Earlier we had passed some ruins, but with nowhere to park. Suddenly we spotted some more ruins, much bigger, so we reversed, then drove in the ruined gateway. There was an enormous church building which looked boarded up. We parked the car, and found we were at the ruins of Binham priory. It was obvious from the recent graves, that the church is still in use, so we started off by looking at the ruins. As we did so, thunder began to crash around us, lightning could be seen on the horizon,and as we got closer to the columns which resembled the ruins at Weathertop, and Osgiliath, one could almost imagine Ringwraiths appearing.

However the only thing that did appear was raindrops, large heavy splashing drops, so we hurried to the church entrance, found that they had loos, and then spent a good half hour having a history lesson from the very friendly stewards of Binham. In the mean time the rain hammered relentlessly on the roof. It eventually eased,and we went on our way thankful for the shelter, and with a new appreciation for the history of religion in Norfolk, although why a priory, in the middle of a moor, with never more than 13 monks, remains a mystery.
By the time we reached Blakeney, the sky had cleared. My back was too painful for me to walk out to the point, so we wandered around the village, and found somewhere for a cuppa. Refreshed, we walked to the end of the village, then back to the car. We headed back along the Coast road, past many interesting places, but no sign of the first lot of ruins we had seen.

Blakeney