Day 127 – Cley next the Sea to Cromer: 13.0m: 4.7h

Before opening the pub, the landlord has to open his Holt fish shop, so breakfast won’t be available until 8:15 earliest. This is slightly later than our customary breakfast window, but there should still be more than sufficient time to reach Cromer well before our scheduled train departure at 3:57. After brekker and check-out, we get back to Cley’s main street at 9:20 and set off through the town, around the windmill and then north along the eastern side of the Cley Channel to regain the coast. There now begins what proves to be a long walk along a shingle beach. The Norfolk Coast Path Guide describes this as an “enervating” 4 miles, but the adjective which springs more readily to mind, despite the very occasional relief of short sand/grass sections in the dunes, is “knackering”. If Batten had been with us today, his trainers wouldn’t have survived. Just before 11 o’clock John, Ben and Gary are tempted to cast purity aside and divert onto a path on the landward side of the dunes which seemingly goes around a military installation at Muckleburgh, but it soon transpires that the path simply goes inland, and it is decided to retrace steps and follow Mike who has continued along the shingle. Fortunately this soon, and at long last, gives way to some relatively low cliffs at Weyboune Hope and we’re reunited around 11:30 at the top of the first climb up from the shingle where Mike is waiting. Buoyed by comfortable underfoot conditions, we have a couple of short ascents/descents before arriving alongside Sheringham Golf Course where it looks as though it’s ladies’ day. A gentle climb brings us to a point next to the ninth tee from where there are glorious views both along the coast and across the course. Out at sea there’s a kite surfer who, to four inexpert pairs of eyes, is exercising incredible strength and balance by keeping his kite under control and staying on his board. And on the far side of the course there’s the North Norfolk Railway and a steam train wending its way towards Weybourne and Holt. We actually spend a little bit of time taking in the views (although this does coincide with the day’s hour 3 loggage) before continuing downhill, with the golf club house away to our right, and arriving on the promenade in Sheringham itself. Gazing beyond the town, it seems that the route to Cromer is going to involve at least one more quite steep climb to the top of Beeston Hill. However, towards the end of the promenade, it looks as though we’ve struck lucky with the tides again and that we’ll be able to stay on the beach for most, if not all, of our final three miles or so. And indeed we are. Firm sand on a warm early afternoon at the bottom of the cliffs past West and East Runton, all the way to the pier at Cromer. A cracking way to end the day and our 2019 walks. In fact we finish a little way beyond the pier at the Lifeboat Café. The sign outside proclaims that it serves “the best hand cut Cromer crab sandwiches” and it would be churlish not to try them. Of course we have nothing against which to compare them, but they are very good. There’s still a good hour before our train leaves, but The White Horse pub on the way to the station is an agreeable place to while away the time. John and Ben both have a bit of a snooze on the train from Cromer which arrives on schedule at Norwich, from where Mike catches a connection to Nottingham and the other three of us one to London.