Monday September 8th 2014 - Stracey Arms windmill and Thurne

I woke to a warm sunny morning with blue sky and fluffy white clouds, and after a dog walk along the beach I breakfasted outside the tent while planning what to do with my day. As I'd only packed the barest of supplies to see me through my first day a shopping trip to Asda down in Yarmouth was a must, as was a visit to my friends Eileen and Ron out at Clippesby, so I decided to start at Asda and work my way up to Clippesby with a couple of stop-offs in between.

The Asda shopping didn't take long and I was soon on the A47, with that section being known locally as the Acle Straight - and it's definitely well-named as between Yarmouth and Acle it must be one of the straightest most boring sections of road I've ever travelled on. It's also extremely busy so I just hoped there would be no problem turning right into the car park at Stracey arms windmill, however there was a convenient gap in the oncoming traffic just at the right moment so I made it safely across. It was only last year that I'd made my previous visit to the mill but I hadn't thought to go in it and go up to the top, so that was the purpose of this second visit.

After paying the modest entrance fee of £2, which would contribute towards the upkeep of the mill, I started the climb to the top via two steep wooden ladders. The view from up there was good but the windows were really dirty and no amount of rubbing with my hand would remove the grime, however I found a couple of reasonably clear bits for my camera lens and managed to get a couple of shots which luckily didn't show up any spots of dirt.

Back at ground level I had a quick look round the gift shop and made a fuss of the owner's adorable scruffy little dog sitting behind the counter, then dicing with death and crossing the traffic for the second time I made my way via Acle and various country lanes to the staithe at Thurne. Parking the van under a tree to keep it cool I released the dogs from the back and went for a walk along the staithe and riverbank on the opposite side to where I'd been on a previous visit a couple of years ago. Even though it was late in the season the river itself was still reasonably busy, and the staithe looked very attractive in the sunshine with various boats moored up and its nearby cottages with their pretty gardens.

Although the dogs had to be kept on a lead along the staithe itself I was able to let them off when I got to the riverbank and I walked for quite a distance before turning and retracing my steps back to the van. Then it was on to Eileen and Ron's cottage, which was only a couple of miles away from Thurne, and with Sophie, Sugar and their dog Joe playing in the garden Ron made a brew and we settled down for a good catch-up of family and local news from the last twelve months. It was good to chat but all too soon it was time for me to go, though I promised I would see them again before I left for home the following week.

Back at the camp site I stowed away all my shopping, made myself something to eat, and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing with my book and an hour or so of tv, then when the day's dose of sea and country air decided it was time for me to go to sleep I took the dogs for their last walk round the site and settled into my bed with metaphorical fingers crossed for more good weather the following day.