Tanks for the Memory

Having breakfasted on orange juice, cereal bar and bacon butties I headed off, with a quick bit of shopping for kitchen roll in the sort of village shop that will sell you just one roll! I then headed up to the first visit of the day, the Muckleburgh Collection. Details are on line but it's more than just a heavy vehicle collection, although I think that's what it's mostly known for. There are plenty of other displays including a large section on the Norfolk Yeomanry. Everything available today was inside, they only have the moving vehicle stuff outside in school holidays, but it was a bit chilly in some of the sheds. I was glad of my "Do I come here often?" sweatshirt (which had been commented on earlier by one of the site wardens). Overall I spent nearly two hours looking round and was suffering a bit from information overload by the time I sat down for coffee and carrot cake. The only slight problem was the lack of photo opportunities, it's all so packed in that I just didn't bother.

The next stop was the Thursford Collection. I won't say I was disappointed by this, as I knew roughly what to expect. It's interesting, with some unusual traction engines, etc. but that's as far as it goes. The display is aimed more at showcasing the organs and stage than the engines themselves, and it really could do with a bit more light! I know they're trying to recreate a fair type atmosphere but it just doesn't work for me. I did have lunch there, a roast beef baguette, again OK but nothing special. Unfortunately I was too late to take the extra tour (another £3 on top of the £10 entrance fee) as it was fully booked, really though I wasn't bothered.

From there I decided to play a bit of Brown Sign Bingo or, as it was actually from the road atlas, Red Attraction Bingo. That's where you randomly follow the signs to an attraction to see what's there. In this case it was Baconsthorpe Castle. It's actually a fortified moated manor house, or at least the remains of one. It fell into disuse several centuries ago although the outer gatehouse remained as a residence until about 1920. I'm always interested in these places and it was a worthwhile diversion instead of driving straight back.

The radio has been playing up the last couple of days, having behaved perfectly before I came away. It's got a power problem again so when I got back I removed the dash and rechecked and tightened the connections. As it's an intermittent problem it's difficult to diagnose, I'll see what happens tomorrow. The only other problem is that the nearest toilet block was out of order when I got back - hope they've fixed it but I've not seen much activity. If they haven't it's quite a walk to the next one (assuming that's OK) or I may have to fall back on my own resources.

Back to railways for the next couple of days, bet you can't wait! 😀