21 December. A walk from Sheringham to Beeston Hill, a fish and chip lunch

We decided to spend the day in Sheringham, just a couple of km east of Blakeney. There was no appetite in me to travel far away in a stormy weather and brave the pitch dark roads back.

So Sheringham it was. And we were not disappointed.

We parked at the Sheringham boating lake at the beach front. High winds were whipping from north to south at 70kmph, making it a extremely windy day. Storm Pia had struck that day in the north of the country and we could feel its effects all the way at Norfolk.

9.30am. We walked along the Norfolk Coast Path towards Beeston Hill, stopping every few moments to admire the low dark storm clouds, the gulls in the storm gusts and the crashing waves. The sky was full of furry that morning.

10am. The Met Office assured that the weather will lighten up from 10am, which it did! After walking the entire length of the beach promenade, we decided to walk up Beeston Hill or Beeston Bump as locals call it. 

It was an easy climb up, with soft sand and some kind of steps built in. The view from the hilltop was amazing, Sheringham on our left and the ferocious sea on our right. We even got to take wefies beside the trig point, demarking all 63m above sea level. Small feat but satisfying!

We went down, popped by town just at the foot of the hill. Dave's seafood bar was not ready for business so we filled that 15 min with decadent ice cream from Pungleperry's  Jaffa cake and biscoff flavor, 4.40 GBP. H and I spoilt our lunch eating the huge ice cream but we did not regret it!

12nn. Exactly on the dot, we made a beeline for Dave's. We had cod/haddock and chips which was decadent, very affordable (10 GBP!) served by a cheerful girl. It was pretty good lunch (40 gbp)

Then it was Tesco time near the train station, a short walk away. We loaded up with almost 20 gbp worth of groceries; fruits, cakes, spices, sausage, pies.. Eating never lets up even if it were the last day in Blakeney.

Armed with shopping, we headed back to the seafront, where our car was parked. The wind was still as strong as earlier. We set off carefully, windscreen sprayed and crusted with the salt of the ocean.

2.30pm. Back at Blakeney, we had the biggest surprise. Before us down the road, the sea level has risen so much that the boats will bobbing beside the pavement and seawater has overflowed to the walkway. Cars parked near the quay has their tires partially submerged in the seawater. It was terrifying yet fascinating to see.

We went out to check out the anemometer out at the pier. It was registering gusts of 60 mph wind. On the levee, we fought with the wind as we made our back 'home'.

It was best to be back in the safety and warmth of the house, The Brancaster. The normalising thing would be to cook up a storm as we wait for the storm outside to abate.