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Norfolk revisited – Laura and Bob Pickett return to East Anglia

The Bell Hotel, Thetford - 15th Century Coaching Inn After we completed the Tipi holiday, we felt there was more of Norfolk to be investigated. A couple of years on, we hired a chalet at Hemsby Beach – further to the east of the county than our previous visit… and the home to some of the most highly rated beaches in the country. So booking made, we packed our bags and headed out from London one Sunny Sunday June afternoon.

Leg 1 – London to Thetford…and a haunting?

As Laura hadn’t done any distance riding for a considerable time, we thought it a good idea to break the journey part way. A spot of homework sourced The Bell Hotel, a 15th Century, former coaching inn in Thetford.

The Bell is famous for two reasons; first, it was the home of the classic TV series “Dad’s Army” (both cast and crew stayed there during filming and Thetford provided the backdrop for ‘Warmington On Sea’) , second, it is reputed to be haunted by two ghosts – a monk and the former landlady from it’s days as a coaching inn.

Haunted room? We counted eight 'orbs' in this photo Room 10 and 12 are said to be where the most sightings are made – we were in room 118, so well away from the ghostly goings-on. But when we look at the photos, the four-poster bed is surrounded by “Orbs”, the phenomenon that many feel to be the sign of ghostly activity!

The chain that owns The Bell runs regular promotions – in this case, we got to stay in a large room featuring a four-poster bed and a balcony overlooking the river (the bed was not on the balcony!), plus breakfast, for under £25. A real bargain – especially when you factor in the quality of the food. We had an excellent 3-course dinner that evening, plus a superb full English breakfast, made all the better by the fact that local produce was used.

Thetford is a pleasant little town, with an interesting mix of old and new. Take a look at the Greene King website and check for offers – if you are in the area it is well worth the stay.

Leg 2 – Thetford to Oulton Broad

Hemsby Beach - stunning beach, woefully underused Fed, watered and refreshed, we cross the county and into Suffolk to Oulton Broad. Oulton Broad sits on the Suffolk coast, just down from Lowestoft… which gives us the opportunity to head onto central Norfolk’s cracking roads. Well surfaced, sparsely populated, and in the middle of some stunning countryside, the ride is not to be taken at speed but enjoyed… even when Norfolk’s road signs do their usual trick of missing out some vital information, in this case Diss, the next town we want to head towards! Yet again, we end up with a large road sign, a junction, traffic lights about to change and no idea of which way to go!

I toss a mental coin and aim us towards Bury St Edmunds (insert your own joke about not knowing he had died etc), as I’m sure we can detour over to Diss from somewhere near there. Of course, my passable knowledge of towns and their locations is always challenged by my non-existent sense of direction…

… thankfully I married a girl whose sense of direction is radar-like. Laura turns us onto a road that for the life of me I cannot work out why… until she waves at the sign pointing to “Diss”. I have no idea how she does it, but there are SatNavs that would love to sort routes from scratch to her standard.

But why does it have to be hidden behind this 'tacktastic' mess? Just 17 miles out of our way, we are back on course and head into Diss and across country to Oulton Broad. Oulton Broad is the starting point for the Norfolk Broads (hence the name?), featuring a pretty marina, where you can hire a boat for the day or for longer trips should you wish. As I said before, it is also home to a friend, Gloria, and her dachshund, Trudi – much taken to licking arms for three hour stints!

Leg 3 – Oulton Broad to Hemsby Beach

Somewhat soggy from a concentrated slurping by my now exhausted four-legged friend, we continue on to our home for the next few days, Hemsby Beach. The route to Hemsby takes us along the A12 to Great Yarmouth, Caister (home of the infamous ‘Caister Soul Festival’) and then the A149 to Hemsby.

Caister throws up another pleasant surprise; how well mannered the drivers in Norfolk are when it comes to bikers. The traffic is backed up, so we filter. On seeing two bikes trying to squeeze through, it is like the parting of the Red Sea. A wide, accommodating line is made available to us. Thank you drivers of Norfolk for this simple courtesy, it made our lives much easier.

Finally, we head off the A149 and onto the Canal bypass and into Hemsby.

Leg 3.1 Hemsby – tackytastic!

The bikes, parked up outside our home for the next few days Hemsby is a nice residential village, giving little sign of why it is a holiday resort. It is only after heading out and towards the beach that it changes and turns into a series of holiday complexes that in turn head to the award-winning beach that gives Hemsby its full name.

But to get to that beach, you have to go through the most concentrated mass of tacky, plastic fast food joints, penny arcades and fairground rides I’ve ever seen in such a small space!

For today, we decide it is more than we can take after a day on the road, so we head back to pick up a takeaway and get back to our chalet. Just as well, as the heavens open up as we close the door behind us.

Useful bike touring tip: Buy wet wipes. If, like us, your visor turns into Shiva for a large number of flies, simply leave a couple of wet wipes on it for about 10 minutes, then wipe off and hey presto! – clean visor.

Leg 3.2 – beaches and horses

The decision is made to spend the day locally. Just as well, as a quick trip to the shops to stock up on provisions results in finding a promotional banner for an evening’s horse racing at Great Yarmouth. Neither of us has ever been to a meeting, so the decision is made to go along.



Horse racing at Great Yarmouth - a first for us... and we didn't lose too much! But first, we visit the beach. The plastic offensiveness of Hemsby amusements is, thankfully, less abhorrent in daylight without the neon glow – but we still head past to the beach as quickly as possible.

That beach is well worth it; tall rolling dunes and waves crashing onto a perfect sandy beach, I cannot understand why so little is made of it; we have been to other resorts with much lesser beaches where they have set up a promenade containing interesting little bistros and bars. Hemsby relies on a plastic arcade filled with chip shops and candy floss outlets.

There is a real opportunity going missing here.

After stocking up and going for an afternoon swim, time to head over to the Race Meeting at Great Yarmouth racecouse. Up to now, we’ve only ever gone greyhound racing, so it was interesting to compare and contrast the “Sport of Kings” to the more down-to-earth world of the dogs.

Life is slower at the horses: at dog racing it is all get a bet on, race, pick up winnings (hopefully) and get the next bet on (13 races in an evening makes for little gap in the action). The horses are taken at a more relaxing place – with half the races there is much more time for mingling, grabbing a bite and the next drink before leisurely perusing the form and placing a wager.

It is no less enjoyable, but the feeling of “Us and them” is more pronounced. That said I have no complaints about bars serving real ale from the barrel, a wide range of food and a reasonable cup of coffee at a decent price.

Empire, Great Yarmouth - example of the town's former grandeur With no idea of form, we start out using the standard betting technique; look for names and colours we like. It doesn’t work. With the gap between races, we have time to get an idea of how the form card works. Sadly, this doesn’t do the trick either. With no wins to our name, we turn the page for the field for the last race… and spot a horse called ‘Rocket Rob’. With a name like that, we have to place a bet on it… and finally it comes up trumps.

We win back most of the money we lost, but this is nothing to the man collecting his winnings in front of us. £800 – and he barely blinks, let alone show any sign of pleasure. We work out he bet £100 on that race, and more than likely the same on every other race during the evening. Making minimum value bets and being pleased as punch over an £18 win seems much more fun somehow.

With a successful end to an enjoyable evening, we head back to our chalet and a decision.

Leg 4 – Great Yarmouth, chips and ice cream

Great Yarmouth, Empire Parade - grab some fish and chips and an ice cream... Great Yarmouth looked worth a visit when we rode through – and the previous evening’s visit did nothing to change this point of view. So the next day, we ride back to explore the town in more depth.

Great Yarmouth is like Madonna – a little jaded round the edges now, but a master of reinventing itself. From it’s beginnings as the roman village of Garrianonum, it became a fishing port. Then in the 1760s it gained popularity as a seaside resort – a role it still holds to today. But now it has also broadened its appeal as a major shopping centre and holds a weekly market.

As luck would have it, we are there on market day – and find an excellent stall selling blends of coffee (and buy some of their “Norfolk Three Bean Blend”). Sadly, the food at the market is a bit ‘Chip-Alley’, so we continue our search round the shops and come up with a real gem, ‘The Bizarre Bizarre Trading Company’ in Regent Street.

With no trouble parking up - two large bike parks grace the roadside ‘Bizarre Bizarre’ is one of those wonderful shops that sells things you never knew you wanted, until you saw them – and at a fraction of what they would cost in Camden Market. I am very taken by the large, metal Penny-Farthing for a ridiculously small sum of £15, but I’d never fit it on the back of the bike! We do come away with a fantastic doorstop, a bowl and some ‘GelGems’, for barely a Tenner – I’d say that if you paid three times as much in Camden, you would be going away happy.

Following our bargain hunt, we are at the seaside, so time for fish and chips, plus an ice cream down at the seafront. There is something quite charming about Yarmouth seafront. It is a mixture of old and new, refined and gaudy – and is very welcoming to bikers, with a couple of huge free bike parks on Marine Parade.

We do the “ride up and down the promenade” thing – which must be a good mile each way – before heading home. Well worth doing, as you get to see some of the grandeur that would have dominated at the start of the last century.

Head up to Great Yarmouth on the excellent local roads, park up with ease, spend time exploring the town and come away with a real bargain at ‘Bizarre Bizarre’, then finish with a bite to eat down at the seafront. It really is worth the ride.

Leg 5 – Just ride… and see porpoises

One of the many wind farms that feature in this area Last day, we decide to just have a ride round some of the local roads near Hemsby. Again well surfaced and none too busy, we also get to ride to almost within touching distance of a wind-farm. They are grand and imposing up close, sadly there wasn’t a safe stopping point to photograph. We decide to take a break in Winterton (the closest thing to one of those picture-postcard villages we enjoyed in our last Norfolk trip), as the beach is supposed to be the best in a region that boasts a number of them. But asking us for £1 an hour to park up in a rather tatty looking car-park we think is taking the Mickey, so we head back to the chalet.

With our beach fix not satisfied, we head to Hemsby’s beach in the evening… and have a real treat. As we sit there, looking out to sea, we spot a seal bobbing its head out of the water. Then, totally unexpected, we spot a dorsal fin slide out and back into the sea. We have spotted a porpoise, hunting for fish only a short distance away – a perfect end to an enjoyable short tour.

The next day, we head back home, down the A149 and then onto the A12 into London – an enjoyable ride until you close in on London and the road manners demonstrated over the last few days start to slide away.

Verdict: Do visit Norfolk. From a biker’s perspective it has a lot to offer; well maintained and surfaced roads, beautiful countryside, accommodating drivers who seem to be aware of bikes and a wide range of interesting places to visit. If you’re inclined to put a few more miles into your daily rides than we did, it would be easy enough to cover both our trips in a week.

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