Now Goin' To Winterton

On the north coast of Norfolk there are seaside towns like Hunstanton and Cromer, while on the east-facing coast there's the resort of Great Yarmouth. These places capitalised on our desire for sea-air and added such attractions as fairground rides, crazy golf, bowling alleys, bingo, end-of-the-pier shows, Sea Life, Jurassic Journey and The World's Biggest Joke Shop. But we're not going anywhere like that; today we're off to Winterton-on-Sea. 

Here, along the more remote, north-eastern shoreline they still have some tourists, but the local people are content with being beside the sea, wandering through the dunes, enjoying a pint in the pub and talking to each other (especially talking to each other) and assumed that any visitors would also find these simple attractions sufficient to their needs.

We drove down the beach road to the car park, where a man sat in a small, wooden kiosk to greet us - no ticket machine here and you can forget about paying with a card or a phone app, you'll need real money. It was here too that we encountered that rare survival, the Norfolk "now". Whereas most of us would say "I'm going down the road" or "I'm going down the road now", here it's "I'm NOW going down the road". But if you think the emphasis on "now" implies urgency then think again. So when the car park attendant told us "I'm NOW getting your change" we understood that he meant that once he'd finished his phone call, he'd do his best to fish out some coins for us. 

A few fishermen still work from the beach and there is a rumour, not backed up by any solid research, that Winterton was long ago a seasonal settlement; farming people moving here during winter to make a living from the sea during a slack time of year. Hence it was Winter-town, or Winterton. To add weight to this idea just a little way inland you can find the village of Somerton - the Summer-town.

We're NOW going to stroll along the beach. I hope that will suit you too.

I had hoped we might find some seals on the beach, but this was our closest view of the friends whose company we'd enjoyed during our recent visit to Horsey Gap. It didn't matter at all, like the local people we were happy to wander along the endless golden sands with just the gently lapping waves to entertain us.

Not that the waves are always so placid; they can destroy cliffs or dump extensive dune systems along this stretch of coast, when whipped into a frenzy by winter storms. Huge rocks have been used to form breakwaters to try to control the sea's worst excesses.

Other smaller stones and pebbles add interest to the sands as we wander along looking for the path leading inland.

Just behind the beach there's a wide expanse of dunes and heathland, intersected by a network of rough, sandy paths. We can make our way back towards Winterton through this maze of heather, gorse and stunted trees.

Here we met a woman who was, I kid you not, searching for early butterflies. She was also interested to hear that we'd seen two pairs of Stonechats. She thought there were less of these smart little birds around these days, perhaps because there were more birds of prey, she suggested. She also told us that seals didn't come ashore at this time of year. I thought she was wrong there, but didn't say so.

The gorse continues to look more golden every day as we made our way back.

The mighty, seven-stage tower of Holy Trinity And All Saints church began to show above the dunes. Although the village doesn't make too many concessions to tourists it does have a small fish and chip shop, which was where we intended to get our lunch. We arrived a few minutes early, but saw the lady who runs the shop with her husband, "We're just NOW opening!" she announced. 

And sure enough fifteen minutes later they did. We ordered our fish and chips and were told it would be ready in another quarter of an hour, "so we could have a nice little walk around", which we were happy to do. We found a sunny bench in a neat little public garden where we could come to eat our lunch.

We're NOW going to Horsey Gap to see if there are any seals there - just as soon as we've eaten this freshly cooked cod and chips, had a chat with a man with a dog (neither of whom appeared to have any particularly pressing engagements), wandered back to the car park and changed our boots. See you there.

Take care.