September 2023. North Elmham is a village north of Dereham, which is west of Norwich in Norfolk. There you will find the King's Head Hotel, where we were made to feel welcome - and it wasn't their fault that there were power cuts on two successive nights!
Mark met up with us at The King's Head later. Sadly Tim was laid up with knee problems and missed it all.
The weather was hot and humid, in the middle of a stretch of six days in which the temperature climbed above 30 degrees C. Not quite Death Valley but hot enough to discourage long walks. Mad dogs and Englishmen and all that ....
The weather was hot and humid, in the middle of a stretch of six days in which the temperature climbed above 30 degrees C. Not quite Death Valley but hot enough to discourage long walks. Mad dogs and Englishmen and all that ....
With electricity off we relax in semi-darkness and gladly accept the kitchen's offer of a ploughman's meal, which needs no cooking. Together with a couple of pints of Wherry we feel well fed.
Still warm in the morning after 20 degrees overnight, we march out for a circular walk around Elmham, Including St Mary's Church ...
not forgetting Bishop Herbert de Losinga's Chapel (now just a ruin) ...
... and the partly dismantled but still proud Mid Norfolk Railway, where enthusiastic supporters repair and maintain the station at County School. Though the rails and their sleepers have seen better days and no trains run from North Elmham yet, the railway does safely connect Wymondham and Dereham and there are still running days when trains chug up and down (for dates see their website).
Too warm for walking in the afternoon so extended quiet time until evening, when a visit to The Railway Arms on the other side of town (extensive menu, rather too much echo in the dining room but good food) concluded with a walk through the dark brought about by our second power cut. Early beds again ....
And on our final day we took a river walk around Swanton Morley where the churches of All Saints,...
and in Bylaugh St Mary's, took our fancy. We like box pews.
Altogether good walks abbreviated by the heat but this is a grand yet little known area for pleasant river and field walks. We enjoyed it!