Over the summer I will try and describe some of our local places, starting with these 2 places.
Cromer pier
Both these towns are situated on the north east of Norfolk. We visited both at the beginning of June when we were booked into Sheringham Museum for a morning. This was towards the beginning of opening up the lockdown restrictions. It enabled me to visit the Gansey exhibition and enjoy part of the Michael Harvey Knitting Collection( see blog of 2June21 for pictures and more details).
Both towns held bad memories for me as a child for different reasons. Every year, when I guess I was at Junior school, I was subject to the annual Methodist Sunday School Outing. I would rather have stayed at home and sewed or knitted but that was not to be. I had to go and get through the day. We went on a coach and were looked after by the person who ran the Sunday School and I assume a helper! We had to sit on the beach and ‘play’ and then eat a prepared sandwich lunch! Eventually it was time to go home! Cromer held similar horrors for me as some elder girls, daughters of my parents ‘friends’ were bouncing me over the waves in the sea which I hated and dropped me! Eventually with the help of others on the beach I was ‘found’! I can remember it to this day spluttering out salt water and being very frightened.
It was only when we moved back to Norfolk recently that I came to really appreciate both places. The reasons I love them are not ‘new’ reasons and I suspect would have endeared me to both places as a child….if only I had known about them.
Perhaps I can tempt you to like these wonderful towns too. Both places are now along what has been coined ‘The Deep History Coast’ and recently more has been made of this important aspect of our our history. This 36 km section of the Norfolk coast extending from Weyborne to Cart Gap juts out into the a North Sea. Until about 6000BC (although there seems to now be some ‘discussion about that date) Britain was joined to Europe and if you ever listen to the shipping forecast you will have heard conditions given for Dogger Bank. In the past ‘Dogger Bank’ had inhabitants and was on the path travelled by many from Europe to Great Britain. Given the position of Sheringham and Cromer the coast is constantly being eroded and although a big storm destroys more of the cliffs, it is often after a big storm that fresh evidence for our past is uncovered. Writing about this is beyond the scope of this short post, but two significant finds were the fossilised steppe mammoth discovered at West Runton in 1990 and the Happisburgh fossilised hominid footprints dating back over 800,000 years ago to the early Pleistocene discovered in 2013.
Erosion such as this:
It is always fascinating to walk along the coast here and keep an eye on the beach hoping to make a find! For anyone who does visit there are now interpretation boards along the coast, some great art work and an app to help you on your way. I hope all this is now taught in local schools! How cool is that, being so close to real history. (1) link to Deep History coast.
Another reason to visit Sheringham is the steam railway.
This is not my photo and I would like to credit the photographer but unfortunately do not have a name.
‘The Poppy Line’ (2) travels west along the coast to Holt, another delightful place to visit. Be warned however, it is a long walk from Holt station to the town, particularly on a hot day. If you are interested, do look up train times and type of train. If is is particularly hot the steam train may have to be swapped for a diesel. Sparks from the steam engine can cause a fire on the heathland the track goes though. Many years back we had a trip for a Father’s Day treat. 2 courses of lunch going from Sheringham to Holt and 2 course including cream with the puddling picked up a station on route. Another great trip is a Santa special. As adults we were given Sherry and mince pies by Santa’s kind elves….but then this was many years pre Covid! It is a delightful journey. You can still travel to these two places by train. I am sure some years ago you could get on a train in Liverpool and get off the same train in Sheringham. When I checked this it seems that you can travel direct from Manchester to Norwich and would need to change there for Cromer or Sheringham. You would need to devote a day for the journey but it must be more appealing than the M1 or the M6!
Both Sheringham and Cromer are famous for their fishing Heritage and Sheringham (3) in particular has some wonderful art work along the front along from the Museum, in terms of murals depicting this. If you are lucky enough to visit the Museum it is well worth allowing time to potter round outside to look at these.
Making the most of a concrete see wall
This is an Anglian Water Building and if you look up the history of the museum called The Mo, you will find some interesting facts about the link between the museum and Anglian Water. Also it is good to read that Sheringham is a Blue Flag beach. I rather liked the use of art here!
..and adjacent to the Museum
In Cromer Museum (4) you can see some bits of the famous West Runton Mammoth. What a pity it is deemed too big to recreate. In my mind it is another Norfolk jewel that could be boasted about! I have spent hours trying to find my photos of the bones! I think a winter project will be to sort the many digital photos I have. So this is a link to some photos of the bones. If you press visit, you can see an article written pre 2015. Alas Norwich Castle Museum is now involved in a massive project to recreate the Norman Keep and sadly I fear seeing a reconstruction of the West Runton Mammoth has been pushed far into the future! (5)
However, it was the advent of the railway that brought Sheringham and Cromer their beginnings as Tourist Resorts in Victorian times. Trains full of people would come from the Midlands and for the first time many workers could appreciate the bracing air. Much building happened in both towns and there is some stunning architecture in both Sheringham and Cromer.
Taken from the top of the cliff where I took the first photo:
I was pleased to see these adverts along the route of the zigzag climb from the beach in the resting spots at the corners of the climb. (Michael searching his bag for his inhaler!)
The pier dates from 1901 and has been renovated recently to restore it to something like it’s former glory. There is still an end of the Pier show if this is to your liking. It is also a brilliant place to go to photograph sunsets!
Notes.
- The app for the Deep History Coast https://www.visitnorthnorfolk.com/Deep-History-Coast/deep_history_coast_app.aspx
- The Poppy Line https://www.nnrailway.co.uk/
- Sheringham Museum https://www.sheringhammuseum.co.uk/
- Cromer Museum https://www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk/cromer-museum
- The West Runton Elephanthttps://images.app.goo.gl/3njSagVCiUS6Xjey8
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