My daughter's have been taking it in turns to pick places to visit over the holidays. Yesterday's trip out was picked by the eldest so we jumped in the car and headed back to north Norfolk to visit Cromer. I've been once before that I remember although we drive through it earlier in the week when returning from The Muchleburgh Collection. We jumped in the car reasonably early as it's carnival time and the town would be heaving with people during the afternoon.
We parked a short walk west of the town in the first carpark we found. We were on the seafront within about 5 minutes and one of the first things we saw was Cromer Pier. The current pier was opened in 1901 I believe but there are records of there being a pier/jetty in place as early as 1391. The building on the end with the ramp is where the life boat launches from.
Like may towns in Norfolk, I though it was looking a little tired but it did have a certain charm. There was a good mixture of charity shops, independent stores and bakeries with the occasional high street brand. As a family we're fans of charity shops so enjoyed having a good poke about. The first purchases were made in a wonderful little second hand book shop that was on the right of the street below. It was an absolute treasure trove and great value. I personally didn't buy anything as I've a loft full of books that I need to get rid of.
The church of St Peter and St Paul towers above the town centre. It dates back to the 14th century but was rebuilt in the 19th century after falling into disrepair. The bell tower is the tallest in the county at 158ft (48m).
After a poke about the shops and a bacon baguette as big as my arm (I skipped breakfast), we took a stroll along the pier. The town is quite colourful when you look back at it. There were dozens and dozens of people crabbing from the pier for the famous Cromer crabs. It looked as if lots of people were successful although they were too small to be eaten.
After the colourful view of the town I fancied trying some B&W photos of the pier.
There is a visitor centre for the lifeboat so you can go in and take a look. It's a massively impressive machine and very different to our local independent lifeboat (Cromer is run by the RNLI). The boat is HUGE when you're stood next to it. Unfortunately it's difficult to get a decent photo when stood next to it in the shed.
The boat "Lester" is an RNLI Tamar class lifeboat, the Tamar class was introduced in 2005. The boat has two Caterpillar 18L inline 6 turbocharged (and intercooled) diesel engines which produce 1,050hp (each). It weighs 32 tonnes and has a top speed of 25 knots (28mph). It's an all weather lifeboat and is fitted with special seats with their own suspension to protect the crew of 7. It also has belted seating for 10 survivors below the wheelhouse but can carry 118 survivors. It's self-righting should it capsize.
After visiting the pier we took a slow walk back towards the car along the esplanade. Sod's law that's when the sun decided to start showing it's face!
We barely scratched the surface of the town so it'll certainly be visited again. Unfortunately we can't leave the dog too long and at the moment she can't join us on trips due to her bad leg.
