The Elephant In The Room

A girl can only unpack so many boxes - regular breaks are important. We decided we would go out on Monday and have a Proper Walk. Having loaded backpacks with coffee flasks and books [in case we found a seat and decided to have a read] we set off. Two stops en route - to pick up a couple of bits from the garden centre, and drop off a bag of tins at the foodbank on behalf of a neighbour["Can you find a good home for these, Angela? I was sure you'd know where to take them"] Then on to West Runton.

West Runton is a small village between the more well known resorts of Cromer and Sheringham. Here you will find Beacon Hill - the highest point in Norfolk, it is part of West Runton and Beeston Regis Heath, and maintained by the National Trust. There is a car park, and a circular walk

The NT walk starts by a stone cairn, in an area known as Roman Camp. Roman quern stones, used for milling grain, have been found on the heath Because of its height, this spot was a brilliant lookout, to watch for invaders- and a beacon was first sited here 700 years ago! There was a fortified lookout point during the time of the Napoleonic Wars.

The view across to the sea is gorgeous. We walked part of the route, then stopped and drank some coffee. 

We didn't bother to do any reading, we just enjoyed the view. When we got down to point 5 and the Animal Sanctuary, we skipped the left hand loop, and just returned to the car to go into Cromer for lunch. We can come back to complete the walk another time!

The weather was sunny, but 'fresh', when we sat down outside the King's Head in Cromer.There's been a hostelry on this site for centuries. Bob had a steak sandwich, I had a fish finger one [well, cod goujons to be precise] The side salads were beautifully fresh and the buckets of chips were very generously filled [tbh I think we will share one-between-two another time] Staff were friendly, and the covid-10 protocols were good, the toilets clean and pleasant. ***** All in all a superb day out, relaxing and enjoying the fresh air and Norfolk countryside.

And the elephant? you thought I'd forgotten. Well, little old West Runton's greatest claim to fame [even more important than a visit of the Sex Pistols to do a gig in 1976] is the discovery of the skeleton of a prehistoric elephant in 1990 by a couple going for a walk.

Read the full story here. Basically, this is the most complete set of bones of a steppe mammoth dating back around 700,000 years!

We didn't find anything like that on our walk - maybe next time...