Sharnbrook Model Railway Show 2/12/17

Today (2/12/17) I visited a Model Railway Show that was held in the village hall of the village next to ours. I don't know too much about railway modelling but this was a very interesting show. It was quite a small show but the exhibits were beautifully made and amazingly realistic. I don't think that I would have the patience for the painstaking work that people put into the great layouts but I do enjoy looking at the detail and seeing the models in operation. Anyway, this is some of what I saw...

The caravan site we use in Norfolk

When we stay in Norfolk we use a Caravan and Motor home club certified location near Ludham. In October 2017 it cost £14 per night which is probably a little above the average that we pay but we think that it's worth it for its position (close to a number of Broads) and the peace. For this stay we were the only caravan on site.

The site is on a working farm and we enjoy feeding some of the animals. In the paddock next to our van is a 'retired' horse, Opal, and a rather naughty ram who was constantly try to get through the fences to be with his 'wives'. They both love carrots and will follow you to get their teeth into one.

On the other side of the farm is a horse called Clyde who has a reputation for biting but for a long time he was seriously ill with amongst other things asthma.  He has now recovered and his temperament has improved considerably.  Like the other two he is very partial to carrots and we must have almost bought out the supply from the local Tescos to feed his habit. Anyway we both have soft spot for Clyde and have been delighted to see the improvement in his health.

I must admit that apart from the scenery, the animals, the boats etc. we also like the eating out, one of our favouriteplace being a pub called the Lighthouse, they serve food all day and in particular their Sunday lunch should not be missed.

Incidentally if all this seems a bit quiet then Great Yarmouth isn't too far away although when we visited this October the town may have been bursting at the seams with people, you could virtually have the beaches to yourself. 

Southwold October 2017

As part of one of our regular visits to Norfolk we took a ride south down the coast to Southwold in Suffolk. I'd never been there before and as our time was limited we limited our visit to the pier and coast, we'll have to visit the town another time.

I was impressed with the pier which in some ways was a typical UK seaside pier but it had a number of unique features. For example there was a selection of bizarre homemade amusements.  On one you were dared to put your hand into a cage with a model dog that dripped saliva over your hand an lunged towards you. The idea was to prove your bravery  by keeping your hand in place for as long as possible. In another a model doctor offered you a stethoscope and when you placed it on you chest wrote you out a 'prescription'. Then there was climbing a moving ladder as fast as you could. As I said, totally unique and bizarre.

Next to the pier there was a row of gaily painted beach huts, straight from a picture postcard of a traditional UK seaside.

Bearing in mind this was October the sea itself was less than inviting and was beginning to show its power, flinging shingle up over the sea defences and among the beach huts.

We will no doubt get to Southwold again and have a better look round as this was just a taster. This part of the blog is also an experiment as I'm sending from my tablet. In the past I've used a desktop PC but if I can use the tablet it will be much more convenient as I'll be able to prepare the items whilst we are actually on a trip.

Huge gap in posts!

I must apologise for having posted nothing for a huge amount of time. It's not that we haven't been away because in the gap in posting we have visited places like Scotland, Wales and the Scilly Isles. I must get back to posting what we get up to. Today, for instance, the Pub in our village (Souldrop) didn't just have the usual Fords, Honda;s etc in the car park. We also had a couple of visitors from a bygone age....