Image Attribution:  Sandringham (Elwyn Thomas Roddick) CC2.0

Heritage Houses of Norfolk and Sandringham

28th September- Our coach was delayed by the A417 “missing Link “ roadworks so we were late leaving Cirencester, but a very smooth journey along the motorways meant we arrived in Ely on time.  After lunch we had a conducted tour of the Cathedral known as “the  Ship on the Fens” with its renowned Lantern and Octagonal towers and decorated Nave ceiling.  We continued to Norwich and disembarked at our centrally located 4* “Maids Head” hotel. It is reputedly the oldest hotel in England, dating from 1057. Dinner was enjoyed by all our party.

Tuesday 29th September- After breakfast we met Paul our Blue Badge Guide and taken on a coach tour around Norwich with it’s 31 churches and magnificent Cathedral. We then spent a couple of hours exploring Norwich Castle which was a goal for centuries before being re-purposed as an Arts and Heritage Museum thanks to a grant of £34M by the Heritage Lottery Fund. We then set off to Felbrigg Hall- a 17C country house now owned by the National Trust. We admired the collection of paintings and furniture and explored the wonderful walled garden before returning to Norwich.

Wednesday 30th September- the coach took us to Sandringham where we visited the Church and had a group photograph at the entrance gate pretending to be members of the Royal family on Christmas Day! We then walked through the ground floor rooms of the house built for Prince Edward in 1870 to” get him away from the temptations of London”.  After lunch we had a scenic drive along the North Norfolk coast ( without seeing much of the sea).

Thursday 1st October- another sunny morning with an early start to enable us to reach Holkham Hall the home of the Earls of Leicester- a large Palladian Mansion and estate even bigger than Sandringham. We had to use the coach to visit the walled garden as it was over half a mile from the house!. We were then driven to Blickling Hall-another NT house famed for its long Gallery, but rather spoilt by the temporary Textiles exhibition which detracted from admiring the interior furnishings and paintings.

Friday 2nd October- early breakfast, loaded cases and off to Cambridge where two Blue Badge Guides took us on a walking tour which included Pembroke College where the “Freshers “ were busy moving in for the start of their first term.  Contrasts were inevitably made between Oxford and Cambridge!   After lunch we sat back for the long ride home with the usual traffic jams on the M25. We were blessed with good weather all week and must thank Rachel Ward for arranging this memorable and enjoyable trip.