All cheer the beer.
Yes, it is the time of the year when I head up to the fine county of Norfolk for the annual and very wonderful beer festival. And this year it was the 35th festival, which probably doesn’t mean that the beer was going to be any better, but now in its 35th year, it is one of the oldest beer festival in the country.
But before then there was the weekend to get through. Saturday, as we have come to expect, poured with rain. And poured pretty much all day. So, after heading to Tesco first thing we got our chores done, and then I settled down to listen to Norwich on the radio. I won’t go into detail the animosity between City and Aston Villa now that the once King of Norfolk has moved to Villa Park. What is done is done, and we move on. City only managed a draw, which was a disappointment, which was the game which I saw described in one of the broadsheets as a desperate match between two desperate teams; sounded about right.
Sunday morning we headed out early on to visit Samphire Hoe; we were hoping to go to Richmond Park, but the BBC promised us it was going to rain. Hard. And so with the 15 minutes of sunshine forecast we thought we would go for a walk along the base of the cliffs. We saw various birds, but nothing rare as we had hoped. It was cold, but dry at least. And we can say that we did something with our extra hour instead of just laying in bed.
So, with the clocking going back, it is nearly light on my morning commute, but getting dark soon after five. It seems a long way until spring……
Monday morning, and before it was time to leave I managed to arrange my physio session at a private hospital for later this week, and get permission for my insurer to actually pay for it. Which is nice.
Jools came to collect me at just gone nine and dropped me off at the station, in plenty of time. I sneaked on an earlier train, so I could have time in London to get some lunch. Once at Stratford, I walked through the shopping centre, stopping off at Subway for a bite for lunch, and at WH Smith for a book to read. I chose The Great Gatsby, which I did try to read many moons ago. With that I walked to the platform to wait for the train to Norwich. NR did try to confuse me by having a platform 10 and 10A; which I thought would be one and the same thing. Just as well I noticed a load of people waiting on the next platform, I began to panic, went over via the subway, and just made it in time as the train arrived.
So, as we sped through the Essex countryside in the sunshine, I munched on my roll; I won’t call it a sub as that is clearly a submarine. Through Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich, Stowemarket and into Norfolk. And only a few minutes late we rumbled into Norwich. I had a couple of hours to kill before my friend, Matt, turned up. SO I walked up Prince of Wales Road hoping to get a haircut where I used to go when I was in the RAF. It was closed, but I found another place just up the road and had a trim. I then thought that there was just enough time to have a walk round the cathedral and take a few shots.
It is only a few minutes up the road, along the edge of Tombland and through the cathedral gate. The cathedral is spectacular, and well worth a revisit for me. I took many shots, and the fact here were so few other visitors meant it was all very pleasant. I got many shots which I will have to sift through and post in due course.
I walked back down to the station and went into Costa for a brew and to wait for Matt. Once he arrived we walked to the hotel and checked in. Clearly, Travelodge have been doing some cost-cutting, as all items of furniture, apart from the bed had been removed; curtains have been replace by blinds, there is no gel or shampoo in the bathroom and as expected the twin room requested was a double room, Now I like Matt……
The staff couldn't have been more helpful in providing us with spare duvets and towels; as they had supplied just the one hand and bath towel for two guests. It did all seem rather basic, and someone we met described it as being like a barracks. I’ll agree with that. Anyway, at just gone four we headed out to the festival to queue so we could be amongst the first inside. As we walked up Prince of Wales Road, the sky darkened above as clouds rolled in; it looked like we would get wet. We had about an hour and a half to wait, but time passed fairly quickly, and once the programs were handed out, we could plan our first drinks.
Half five came round and we were let in, and once be bought our glass and tokens we found somewhere to sit and went to get our first drinks. I decided on the best beer we had at last year’s; a blackberry porter which was just as good. And that is what we did the rest of the evening; drink, choose another beer, go and get it and drink. Repeat until your legs don’t work.
Not really, but we had a few for sure, and interspersed the drinks with healthy food like pork scratchings or pork pies. It all got a bit hazy, I do remember sampling a newly-opened barrel just after half ten, and then it was time to head back to the hotel. And try to get some sleep.
Next morning I was laying awake waiting for dawn, whilst Matt slept on. I got up at half six for a wander and so I could take more shots. I let Matt sleep on. I walked up the hill and back into Tombland. There was hardly any other people around, so I got lots of shots of empty cobbled streets, which is not a bad thing. At St Andrew’s Hall, supplies for the next drinking session were already being unloaded.
At the market, most stalls were still closed, but the greasy spoons were open, and so I chose one and ordered a tea and a bacon sandwich. I walked round some more before heading into Costa to wait for Matt to wake up. He called after a while, and after meeting up we did a quick tour of the sights before heading to the Hall once more and queuing up for some more beer.
And why not?
More beer, pasties, chips, more beer.
And it was time to head for the station and go home.
We poured ourselves onto the train, slumped into a seat and waited for departure time. And so as we dozed, the Norfolk and Suffolk countryside slipped by as the sun got lower in the west. By the time we got to Stratford, it was dark and I had 15 minutes to the International platforms to catch the train to Dover. I made it with five minutes to spare, and thanks to it being 12 cars long, I even got a seat.
Once back in Dover, Jools was waiting; on the way home we stopped off at the chippy for fish and chips, and that was the weekend over and done with, and the detox to begin…..
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