However, the external is in stark
contrast to the internal environment where lavish finishes and colour abound.
The grandeur starts with the entrance hall which has borrowed some Italian
designs. The stonework though is not Italian marble, but pink and grey English
alabaster sourced from Staffordshire and Derbyshire.
An early attraction was this
unusual extending round dining table which was invented by Robert Jupe in 1835.
It is a masterpiece of Victorian engineering. The table is expanded using a
hand operated mechanism and then the resulting gaps are infilled with leaves. The
result is a range of settings from intimate to spacious, but you would need a
large room (and some £90,000)!
The 18th C wall
coverings to the red room were red velvet and crimson silk damask. Some worn
areas had been meticulously repaired by hand. The two settees were not just
worn but in many places threadbare. However, the owner had decreed they were not to be
repaired so visitors could appreciate how much they had been used (and were
presumably rather comfortable).
Meanwhile the royal suite was
lavish and remarkably well preserved. Fortunately, the lack of use and as a
result drapes being closed has substantially reduced sunlight damage. The
windows in all rooms now have a fine mesh covering to keep light levels low and
reduce damage.
An exception was the kitchen
which was well lit. The pulleys, rods and chains surrounding the fire were
imaginative. A large weight was pulled up and then gravity slowly drove the
mechanism (much like a grandfather clock) and ensured fowl and sheep/beef
slowly turned and cooked in their own juices and did not burn.
I would have thought venison would also be part of the menu.
Mind you these seem to be cooking all on their own in the heatwave conditions…
Holkham Hall adjoins Wells-next-the-sea. The town is
colourful and very active, not least due to the 2km (1 mile) walk to get out to
the sea!
Here is a large tidal range with
many signs warning not to get caught by swift incoming tides. They clearly get
quite high as the stilt construction of the beach houses attest.
In a free paper we spotted an
interesting three-part trip on the Southern broads comprising, a walk, pub
lunch and boat trip.
On the walk we had an unusual
encounter. This little pony was suffering the equivalent of diabetes and the resulting
bloated tummy meant daily walks were required.
The picturesque Lock Inn was at the end of a one km gravel
road (even the car park was a trek). It is a community owned pub with shares
still available.
After a sausage roll and shandy
we headed for the “Big Dog Ferry”. Here this electrically powered boat took us
back on a peaceful glide down the river Waveney to our start point in Beccles.
Beccles is a colourful town where flint is a common building material used to great effect but few were as eye catching as this house.
The church at the top of the hill is visible for miles but
unusually (and certainly not appreciated from this view) the tower is separate
to the church.
Norfolk has two river systems The
Northern broads arrive at the sea at Great Yarmouth and the Southern broads at
Lowestoft. The “Broads“ were formed through the removal of peat (for fire) hence
the rivers were widened (or in this case broadened). There are over 60 broads
and some form quite large lakes. Below the peat there was sand and gravel which
was also removed but the whole system remains very shallow.
The result – some very beautiful country and for the well-heeled prime location houses. We took a trip on a “paddle steamer” out of Wroxham. Here are two examples if you have a few million in change.
This was George Formby’s house which judging by its size was
probably the precipitator of “When I’m cleaning windows”.
Of course sailing has unique
challenges as the waterways are narrow and shallow so no large keels and the banks seemed to play a significant role in steering!
There are also some historical
boats called Wherrys. There are only a half dozen now in use. This is Solace
which was built in 1903 and is part of the National Historic fleet. It has
white sails and hence is a pleasure boat.
By comparison Albion (1898) was a
trading boat taking goods from the seaport inland. It is some 60ft in length,
constructed in oak and as a working boat has a black sail.
After a bit of emailing, we were allowed to go on board at
the end of a days outing. She is a heavy boat to manoeuvre!
Although we had left our enquiry too late to go on a trip we did get to see the mast being lowered. It is made of pine and is a carefully balanced arrangement.
It has a simple pin arrangement (at the top of this picture) with counterweights below.
As part of
our day trip we were also saw a WW2 vessel. This is a Whaleback MASB (Motor
Anti-Submarine Boat) S32. After being submerged for some 20 years she is now undergoing
a major restoration. She was originally a high-speed launch built in 1939, and used
for Air Sea Rescue missions to save ditched bomber aircrew.
Our use of the caravan was restricted
to a short two weeks so packing and cleaning were the goals on out last day.
Once the chores were finished we decided on a quick visit to a nearby RAF radar
museum. This is in the middle of nowhere and what quickly became clear was that the 1.5
hours we had allowed was not nearly enough. There was so much to see. We had a fascinating
talk in the ops room given by someone who was part of the cold war team.
This was leading edge technology in its day. Tracking planes using radar also required an
operations room where planes were plotted and decisions made as to where interceptions
should occur.
There was even the opportunity to
sit in a Jaguar fighter with a heads up display, however there was not the time
for me to squeeze into the cockpit let alone the considerable time I would have needed to extricate myself!
