Norfolk walk Day 1

 We are starting our walk along the Weavers Way in Norfolk today. Four of us arrived at the hotel yesterday in glorious sunshine.

This is was the view from my hotel windows yesterday.

This is the weather this morning. It's absolutely throwing it down. We have decided to delay our start until 10am, hoping the worst of the weather will have moved on by then.

Today we are walking 12 miles from Cromer to Wolterton.

Usually there are six of us but S broke his arm yesterday and has been advised not to do the walk. His sister, my room mate, decided to spend a couple of days with him to make sure he was OK before joining us on Sat eve. So our numbers are a little depleted. Thankfully the rain had stopped by the time we took our customary morning photo.

We left the hotel and walked the two miles into the town of Cromer where the Weavers Way began.

Just above the pier we found the sign post.

We are not going all the way to Great Yarmouth but will be turning back to finish our walk back here in Cromer. A giant loop so to speak. The walk will take us 7 days and 70+miles.

It wasn't long before the sun came out and we enjoyed a warm sunny day. Very pleasant conditions for walking.

We past a few stately homes. I think this one is Cromer Hall. Not as old as it looks.  Built in 1829 but still an impressive looking building.

Removing the layers. The weather forecast had warned us of a cold breeze coming in from the North Sea but that wasn't correct and we all had too many layers on.

 

The bright yellow of the rape fields looked good in the sunshine.

Crossed a couple of fields full of spring lambs.

Lunchtime at Felbrigg Hall, a National Trust property.  Timing was perfect. We didn't realise we would be walking past here just when we needed a sit down with the added bonus of a cafe and toilets!

Some beautiful scenery on the way.

The farmer has very kindly made sure that walkers keep to the correct footpath across his field.

Walking through the tiny hamlet of Sustead we chatted to this group of teenagers who were doing their Duke of Edinburgh Award. They were not walking as far as us but they did have to carry all their camping equipment on their backs. It was a case of 'been there, done that'. Nowadays on these long walks we have our luggage transported from place to place making the walk much more enjoyable.

Bird boxes everywhere outside this house. I think perhaps the owner was selling them.

Lots of places were selling various fresh goods. You just helped yourself and left the money in an honesty box.

We were making good progress and checked our mileage on this common. We had walked 9 miles so should be at our home for the night in just over an hour.

A very typical thatched cottage.

Over an hour later we reached the small village of Aldborough. It was obvious by now that the distance we thought we would be walking was wrong. We set off this morning with a 12 mile walk ahead of us according to P who had planned our route. We had now covered 12 miles but were nowhere near our destination. Expectations are everything. By now our feet were aching and we were longing for a sit down.

It was another 3 miles before we reached the Saracen's Head where we were staying the night. P came in for a lot of stick over that miscalculation.

However after a long soak in the bath and a delicious meal in the pub we have almost forgiven him. Let's hope tomorrow's mileage is more accurate.