On Monday 13th December we were lucky to go on a little break to Cromer with our very good friends Nigel and Tracey.

Cromer is a lovely coastal town on the North Norfolk coast, which was developed into a seaside resort back in the 19th century by the late Victorians.  There are loads of lovely shops, pubs, cafes and restaurants along the streets and alleys and some fantastic scenic walks as the Norfolk coast path passes through the area.

It was only a short walk into Cromer from where we stayed so as soon as we arrived we wandered into the town for a look round.  The 14th century church of St Peter & St Paul is beautiful and very impressive (we didn’t get to see inside) and the 160ft tower is the tallest in Norfolk.  The Christmas lights around the church looked gorgeous.  In fact all the Christmas lights looked really pretty along the lovely little cobbled streets.

We took a stroll to look at the pier and of course to see the sea.  It was really quiet with very few people about but the nights get dark so early.  There is a show on at the Pavilion on the pier  but sadly not the night we were there!   It was lovely to walk to the end of the pier and hear the sea and the coastline looked beautiful.  Paul walked down onto the beach for a paddle but changed his mind when he got there - think it would have been a bit too cold.  Having said that, we actually saw a lady swimming in the sea one morning! She’s a braver woman than me!

Cromer Pier is 500ft long and is home to a lifeboat station and the Pavilion Theatre.  

It is Victorian and has withstood many storms and tidal surges.  It even survived an attempt by the government to blow it up back in World War 2 to try and prevent it being used as a landing strip for enemy invaders!  In front of the pier is a large compass on the ground with lines leading from it - these lines show the direction of services carried out by the Cromer lifeboats since the station was established in 1804.

You can also see the Hotel de Paris in the next photograph.  

This was built originally as a summer house for Lord Suffield but became a hotel in 1830.  Its guests have included Oscar Wilde and the Prince of Wales and Stephen Fry spent time working there as a waiter!  The defensive wall along the seafront was built after a great storm in 1836 when a lot of property was lost to the sea.

We enjoyed a drink or two in a fab little pub called the Kings Head where the staff were just so lovely and welcoming.  After our beer and a walk we popped to the Co-Op and bought some cheese, crackers and Port (and a fair bit of chocolate!) and wandered back to our accommodation to enjoy them.  We didn’t fancy a lot to eat as we had eaten lunch at a lovely pub we found on the way - so cheese, crackers and port was perfect - oh, and a bottle of red wine first!

On Tuesday we headed 4 miles into Sheringham, which was once an old fishing village.  

In the First World War it was hit by two bombs from a Zeppelin raid, making it the first place in Britain to be attacked by Zeppelins from the air - no one was killed.  

Viking longboats landed on Norfolk’s shores in 1004, in an attack lead by King Sweyn of Denmark.  These longboats were perfect for this part of the coast as they were pointed at stem and stern for stability in the rough seas and Sheringham boat builders built boats in a similar way as they were ideal for safety when handling crab, lobster and whelk pots in the rough seas.

The beaches look lovely and sandy, there are some great little shops and we loved it here.  One of the highlights for me and Tracey, were the amount of lovely little shops - especially the wool and craft shops!  Tracey had taught me how to cast on knitting and so we had to go in and buy some wool - we were like kids in a sweet shop!  Also, if like me you like to have a mosey around charity shops, there are lots of them, both here and in Cromer.

We had lunch in a really great cafe called The Kitchen.   The food was really delicious and the staff were lovely.  Paul and Tracey had homemade soup and crusty bread, I had a tuna melt baguette and Nige had a sausage cob - thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.

Our next stop was Hunstanton.  

We didn’t have so long to wander around here as it was getting dark and we wanted to head back and go out for a meal in Cromer.  What we saw of Hunstanton looked lovely although appeared to be much bigger than Hunstanton and Cromer.  The beach looked lovely and sandy and because Hunstanton faces west across the wash, it’s one of the few places in the east coast of Great Britain where the sun sets over the sea!

It was over an hours drive back to Cromer so we enjoyed seeing all the Christmas lights along the way.  We had a little sit down and chill before walking into Cromer for a beer and an Indian.  It was a lovely meal and as we were all pretty tired we headed home to bed.

Wednesday was our last day so we went for a walk down to the beach as we hadn’t actually seen it in daylight! 

There are lots of stories of the brave lifeboat men of Cromer and this bronze bust commemorates Henry Blogg.  With his crew he saved 873 lives, many during the Second World War.  His bravery earned him the George Cross, three RNLI medals and the British Empire medal!

We have been so lucky with the weather while we’ve been here and today was no exception.  After doing a little bit of Christmas shopping we went to a cafe called Browns for breakfast.  We would all highly recommend it to anyone who visits Cromer.  The full English breakfast was just amazing,

On the way home we stopped at Kings Lynn to visit Jaines Gift shop where we all did some Christmas shopping and then headed for home.

We had an absolutely fantastic few days with great company and loads of fun.  We would all go back in a heartbeat as we loved it so much.