Hev Yew Gotta Loight Boy?

If you are old enough, you might recall a novelty act called the "Singing Postman" who shot to short lived fame on Opportunity Knocks, or New Faces. I can't remember which, but it was back in the 1960s and was the talent programme before Simon Cowell got in on the act.

Sadly, I am old enough, but if you're not, here he is in full glory if you click on the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqmXLkJ8Bwk

When I was in the Army, I had the dubious pleasure of sharing a room with a few lads from East Anglia; two from rural Norfolk and one from the wildest part of the Fens. I discovered that I could do a passable impersonation of an East Anglian accent. Well, to be honest, more of a parody. Ann's Mum also had a slight Norfolk twang on account of her own mother originating from Norfolk and despite living in the leafier suburbs of London, still spoke about going to a "Foo-neral on Toos-dee" and eating "Cooo-k-umber Sa-a-a-a-nd witches". Not that someone with a vestigial rural Hampshire accent is any position to take the Mickey of course!

What, you may ask has any of this to do with the usual theme for this blog? I was just getting to that: we thought a few days away in North Norfolk would make a nice break. It still being a major holiday area, we thought we'd avoid Easter and head off for a week or ten days around the May Day Bank holiday. With the heatwave last May day and the warm spell over Easter, we were looking forward to scorching temperatures and wall to wall sunshine. We got that slightly wrong with storms, torrential rain and temperatures well below average. In fact, the coldest early May Bank Holiday since records began.

So, on the Friday the week before the Bank Holiday, we hitched the caravan to the car and headed off, joining the M25 traffic jam at Wisley and not escaping until the A1 junction at South Mimms. Strange how the M25 was originally dismissed as a white elephant that nobody would ever use. The traffic jam continued through Hertfordshire following an "incident" requiring a couple of Police cars, a traffic "Womble" (I think they are called "Highways Officers", really - but they clear up all the stuff that the everyday folk leave behind, so Womble seems quite appropriate) and an ambulance. It all looked like a false alarm by the time we passed. Heading off at Baldock, passing Duxford and heading into rural East Anglia, the journey improved and we eventually arrived at the small village of Barney not far from a town that is spelt "Fakenham", but pronounced "Fa-a-a-a-k'num. Home for us was to be the Old Brick Kilns Caravan Park and we had a serviced pitch in an area reserved for Caravan Club members.

We've been to Norfolk before on a few boat holidays on the Broads; two in the 80s pre-children and once again in the 90s when the children were old enough to act sensibly around the water. Allegedly...

Many years later with children doing "jankers". David is now (May 2019) 31 and Lisa 35, so that gives a clue to how long ago this was taken.

With the weather forecast looking decidedly miserable, we revised our plans a little. Sunday took us to the small village of Thursford, home to a huge collection of traction engines, steam rollers, fairground organs and carousels, and the location of a huge Christmas Fair. Not in late April, obviously... It also houses a rare cinema organ with a virtuoso player who performs twice a day. Not entirely my choice in music, but the skill of the musician has to be admired, as does that of the craftsmen who built and maintain the organ. Naturally, at the end of the performance, it slowly sinks into the stage.

Someone just couldn't resist a ride on the Galloper

A Foden steam wagon, owned and operated by George Cushing who set up the collection

A magnificent fairground organ, just one of several in the collection

A Few National Trust Properties... And tea with Phil & Betty

Determined to get value from our National Trust membership, we found a selection of NT places to visit. First was Felbrigg Hall; dodging between showers, we were just about able to visit the walled garden - all 4 acres of it - and then do the tour of the house. A very informative guide told us that the house was owned for many years by the Wyndham family, amongst whom was the captain of the Mary Rose and the estate stayed in he family until lost by the last of the Wyndham's, known rather politically incorrectly as "Mad" Wyndham, he liked to dress up as a railway guard and cause mayhem on the local railway station. Once the Great Eastern Railway banned him from all their premises, he bought himself a Policeman's uniform and eventually formed a relationship with a lady of dubious repute who assisted him in bankrupting the estate.

The centre piece of the walled garden with a rare appearance of blue sky

Felbrigg Hall viewed from the front.

 We also visited the Blickling Estate on a thoroughly miserable day, hoping to see the gardens but the weather rather put us off, so it was just the house. This is the birthplace of Anne Boleyn. Eventually, it ended up as the home of the Marquess of Leith. A member of the appeasement Governments of the 1930s, he was significant in the formation of the National Trust, allowing properties of significance to be left to the Nation rather than being broken up to settle Death Duties. The house contains a massive library.

Blickling Hall

Just part of the library. Didn't see any of my books here, though...

We realised that we have elderly, distant relatives with a nice country home in Norfolk. We call them Phil and Betty; we thought we'd pay them a visit. Oh, alright then... the house is Sandringham and we're as closely related as just about anyone reading this. No photography inside the house, I'm afraid...

Sandringham, main entrance. Us riff-raff are only permitted access to the ground floor 

Exquisite grounds. This is looking over the lake

...and looking over the lake to the rear of the house

You can't visit Sandringham and not visit the Church and there's a museum that does allow photography and which houses a collection of royal motor carriages.

the tower isn't really falling over - it's an optical illusion caused by taking the picture from a low angle. It's just an ordinary Parish Church that gets a very good attendance on certain services

The earliest car in the collection is a Daimler chosen by King Edward VII

I always wanted an Austin J40 when I was a boy, but sadly well out of my family's price range. This, allegedly, was Prince Charles' first car. It would appear he can drive better than his father

The estate used a number of coach built cars for transport on the estate (hence the term estate car). This Zephyr is longer and taller with an extra row of seats

A Ford V8 Pilot "Woody", ordered by King George VI with various modifications such as a floor mounted gear change. the roof mountings are for guns or fishing rods, but I'm sure it would be better with a surf board fitted and Jan and Dean blaring from the radio. "Well, I've a '52 Pilot and I call it a Woody. Surf City, here we come, etc."

Not all the Royals were provided with Daimler or Rolls-Royce cars for transport, minor Royals had to slum it in an Austin Princess. This is the car from which the kidnap of Princess Anne was attempted. It is said that having been educated in the correct use of English by her father, her response to the kidnapper was to "F*@k Orff"

On the subject of Austin Princesses it's time for a little anecdotal story. When Ann and I were first engaged, I was given the introductory tour of her family. We went to visit Auntie Ede and Uncle Terry, who lived in a vast mansion flat in Hampstead. Knowing of my interest in cars, my future Mother in Law said I should ask Terry to show me his car as he had "a lovely Austin Princess". At the time, the things that looked like this one below were current and so, out of politeness, I asked Terry if he would show me his car, fully expecting to see an almost new Leyland "wedge". Heading down to the garage block at the rear of the mansion block, he opened the double doors to reveal a "proper" Princess, complete with cocktail cabinet in the rear. It was their everyday car!

This Rover P5 3 litre is the personal property of the Queen and hence wears a set of number plates. It was used when at the estate to go our on little trips in her private capacity

Norfolk and no Boat Trip?

You can't come to Norfolk and not have a day on the Broads, can you? So we hired a boat for the day. Starting from Martham Ferry, we managed to take in Hickling Broad, Horsey Mere and the River Thurne as far as Potter Heigham bridge. We weren't permitted to pass through the bridge without a pilot as it was a hire boat. Although the first time we went through, it seemed small, compared to many canal bridges it is positively huge.

our little plastic Noddy boat for the day. I think it had started life as a holiday cruiser some years ago, but it made a very nice day cruiser for two

We thought we might see some wildlife, but had to settle for a large number of Great Crested Grebes and a few Cormorants perched atop navigation poles

a Cormorant having a rest on a pile at the edge of the channel across Hickling Broad. It is very close to the sea here, hence the sight of what are normally sea birds

A male Great Crested Grebe. Hunted almost to extinction for their head feathers that were used for ladies' hats, they are now back in substantial numbers

At the top of Horsey Mere, there is a narrow dyke that heads to a restored wind pump. Owned by the National Trust, we again amortised our annual membership fee! We both climbed to the top, but only I went out onto the balcony. I was about as impressed with the view as Mrs Richards was with the view from a Torquay hotel window. But I could see the sea and, yes, it was between the land and the sky.

Horsey Wind pump

No Steam Train This Time?

Don't be silly!! There's a preserved line between Sheringham and Holt: the North Norfolk Railway. Normally, we would have gone for a trip at the weekend, but they were expecting a visit from a certain cheeky blue tank engine and a few of his friends. So, instead, we went for an evening meal, after spending the day in Cromer. A  town that describes itself as a traditional seaside resort. Think "Hayling Island", but with a bit less to do... We parked the car in Sheringham and took the modern train to Cromer. Or rather, we didn't as the entire line is being reconstructed, so we went on a rail replacement bus. Which was a bonus as it was free!

Cromer Pier. It faces north, so for someone who has lived almost all his life on the south coat, to be beside the sea with the light coming from behind is most strange

Sheringham is another traditional resort. It, too, was mostly closed.So we just hung around and enjoyed our meal on the train.

The "Blood and Custard" coaches in the rear will form our dining train later in the evening. Power for the train will be the loco shown here. For once, it is not one of those boring "Grease, Water and Rust" things, but an LNER, former Great Eastern engine. You just had to ignore the visitors who, seeing a green loco with the letters LNER on the tender automatically assumed it was Flying Scotsman. It is in fact no 8572 of the LNER, latterly 61572 in BR ownership and is of class B12, originally built to haul expresses from London, Liverpool Street to East Anglia

And, to finish this entry on another railway topic, the nearest town - if you could call it that - to where we stayed is Melton Constable. A sleepy, one road in and out large village that was home to a major four way railway junction, a railway company headquarters and locomotive works. Once it was the "Crewe of East Anglia", but now nothing remains from what was the home of the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway.