Walsingham and Wells

The two places I wanted to visit today were connected by a miniature railway. The Wells and Walsingham Miniature Railway runs the four miles between the towns. The railway holds the Guinness World Record for being the narrowest gauge railway in public service.  So I left the car behind and got the Coasthopper bus to Wells station.

The station cafe is in an old signal box but I didn't have time to look as the train was about to leave.

The railway has different types of carriages, enclosed, semi open and fully open. I chose this semi open one and off we went. In all honesty I couldn't wait to get off. Firstly, being in an open carriage on a cold day was not a clever move. The other problem was that a lot of the journey was between high hedging and embankments.

Not the most scenic of routes.

It wasn't all obscured and I was able to see some of the countryside. For me the 30 minute journey was about 25 minutes too long.

As soon as we alighted at Walsingham I was off in search for a cafe!

A few minutes from the station and I was cosily ensconced in this small tea shop/bookshop.

I chose a seat by the window to enjoy a cream tea ( fruit scone with jam and clotted cream and a pot of tea). It was perfect. I had a couple of hours in the town before the train left to take me back to Wells -next-the-sea. It seemed a long time at first as I wasn't sure there was much to see. However, my reluctance to leave the tea shop left me rushing to see everything.

As my visit to this part of Norfolk was very last minute due to the postponement of the long distance walk. which I should have been doing this week, I didn't have time to plan this trip. Each evening I decided on a couple of places I might want to visit the next day. When I saw on the map I was near Walsingham I decided to have a look as I remember my Mum doing a coach trip here from Manchester with a friend and how she thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Walsingham has a long history of pilgrimage which dates back to the 11th century. It was claimed that in 1061 Lady Walsingham, Richeldis de Faverches saw the Virgin Mary, who showed her the house in Nazareth where the Angel Gabriel appeared. Mary is said to have asked that a similar house be built in Walsingham. In the Middle Ages Walsingham became a major pilgrimage site. In 1226 King Henry III made his first of many visits and was a great supporter of Walsingham. Following on from his devotion nearly all the Kings and Queens of England came on pilgrimage up to and including Henry VIII and Queen Katherine of Aragon until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538. My first stop was to see the remains of Walsingham Abbey.

This is the 14th century East window of the priory church which stands alone surrounded by lawn . About 20 metres in front of it was the site of the original Saxon chapel and Holy House

Legend has it that Sir Ralph Boutetout was admitted on horseback through a tiny door to the sanctuary of the Priory, miraculously escaping his pursuers. This crenellated feature was added in the 19th century so the legend could live on.

The packhorse bridge was built in the 19th century using masonry from the ruined Priory. It sits on the path of the old road to Norwich and now marks the end of the lake.

There are extensive grounds to the Abbey which are beautifully laid out with lots of spring flowers.

This 12th century doorway leads to two wells that were here in the time of the Priory and were said to have healing powers.

This was the west window of the refectory built around 1300.

The cloister connected the refectory to the south wall of the church.

I left the Abbey through the 14th century gatehouse. The niches would have held statues.

This is the gateway from the street side which has the shields with the arms of the founders above the arch.

The streets are narrow and were amazingly quiet today. Many of the houses have religious names and quite a few are pilgrims' hostels.

Catholic church of the Annunciation (2007)

This is where the pilgrims head to now.

I walked back to the station past this building. Not sure what the building is used for today but the medieval looking chimneys are impressive.

The miniature train took me back to Wells-next-the-sea and I walked what should have been a mile to the harbour. I couldn't find any signposts but did ask a man who was sitting in his garden for directions. He didn't say much but smiled and pointed along the road. I must have walked a couple of miles before finding a dog walker who I could again ask for directions. She was amused that I thought I was walking towards the sea when in fact I was going in the completely opposite direction. When I said that a gentlemen had directed me this way. She said I had probably asked someone from the care home who most likely had dementia and wouldn't have been able to help!

Eventually I found the harbour and walked another mile to the beach.

It was a lovely beach but there was a cold north wind blowing so I didn't fancy sitting around. I also realised I needed to get a move on to catch the Coasthopper bus back as the last one was at 4.30 and it was already 3.30. If I missed the bus it wouldn't be the end of the world but it would have meant another 5 miles of walking to get back to where I was staying.

I still had about 1.5 miles to get to the bus stop so I couldn't dawdle but it was too windy to do that anyway.