Norfolk weekend

Its almost 2 weeks ago now that I spent a lovely Norfolk weekend with my co-Stylecraft-blogstar Helen, AKA JosieKitten on Instagram and who blogs at The Woolly Adventures of  Knitting Kitty … I’ve just been putting all the photos I took of the weekend into some sort of order and reliving the lovely sights – and weather! Its all gone a bit pear shaped today as its grey and cold again.

We packed a lot, starting with a trip to Blickling Hall, a National Trust property that’s just a few miles from where Helen lives. Driving through the countryside in north Norfolk is a real pleasure. Its sort of undiscovered, with no industry, just rural delights. I’m sure its not so perfect if you live there but on a visit it seems idyllic.

We didn’t go in the house; it was the grounds we had come to see as the woods were alive with bluebells. This spring flower only blooms for a few weeks each year and when it gets established it produces an amazing carpet on the forest floor. My Norfolk weekend just wouldn’t have been complete without this…

Just before going home for lunch we popped in to look at the Hall itself and into the National Trust bookshop that’s just at the entrance. Unusually it was very well stocked with craft and textile books! It was probably hunger but we didn’t stay too long and I only bought one book – a very nice Liberty one with easy sewing patterns and projects.

A trip to Worstead

After a simple but delicious lunch of bread and hummus – which apparently has caused some controversy recently as supermarket hummus no longer tastes the same. Ours was fine and we finished off by having a giggle with the decorate-your-own gingerbread people that I’d brought with me as a bit of fun. Bloggers need to be creative at all times!!!

Our next destination was Worstead, a village only a few miles up the road that gives its name to worsted yarn. I’ll be rambling on about that in the next podcast and in a separate blog post as it was really interesting and the village has its own little history tour. For now, I’ll just show some of the highlights… including some fantastic medieval art in the church.

The rest of the village is very similar to how its been for hundreds of years and when it was a centre for worstead weaving…

Just as we were leaving we noticed two interesting signs – one the village sign, which was very ornate …

And then on the Road to Ruin!

After a lovely evening with a meal cooked by Helen, a glass of vino or three and some spinning (I’d taken my wheel), I slept very well after all that fresh air and walking.

The next day, we decided to head up to the coast and visit the small seaside town of…

Wells-Next-The-Sea

The weather on the Sunday morning was gorgeous. It was a bit breezy but very sunny and when we were in shelter, actually quite warm. Wells is a lovely place and the walk that we did started at the harbour and then down along towards the sea and the beach. Beach huts are a major feature on the beach and have more gentle tones than the really bright ones that I love at Scarborough up near where I live in Yorkshire.

As I’ve been joining in with the crochet along to do the Hotel of Bees Shawl, I really liked this one…

Once we’d walked a fair distance we turned up into some sand dunes and then into pinewoods and back to a really nice cafe that served coffee and cake. Which, of course, we resisted (not).

The time flew by and it was like I only only arrived and then I had to leave. I really like weekends like that though – you don’t feel as if you are a burden to the people who are hosting you and you are able to pack a lot in and come home feeling as if you’ve had a real break. I’ll definitely be back to Norfolk though – there is so much more to explore.

I’ll see you again soon with news on my Hotel of Bees shawl xxxxx