The Royal Norfolk Show was always in my plans for this holiday, and indeed I'd booked and printed my tickets before I came (it saves quite a bit of money). Despite the fact I snuck off the site, quietly, at 7 this morning after a brief breakfast there was still a 2 mile queue for the showground. It would have helped if people bothered to read the signs and had taken the left filter to the car park. Entry was simple though, in fact overall I was very impressed with the organisation. I know they've been doing it for a lot of years but it still takes effort to get it right. The litter pickers and toilet cleaners were on duty right from the start of the day which always helps keep things clean and tidy.
First stop was a bacon butty stall to complete my breakfast then, as it was there, I wandered through the Adnams sponsored food hall. If I'd been able to bring half what I'd have liked home I would have needed a second mortgage - loads of lovely looking food from rare breeds meat, pies and pasties through to more exotic Indian and Chinese meals. The pudding stand was particularly attractive, various sweet and savoury suet puddings, but it just wasn't practical to buy any.
After that I had a good wander around the show and the various stalls. I did take time out to watch various animal classes but to be honest I couldn't tell a good Hereford cow from a bad one. As I'd found a shady seat by their ring I watched some of the horse drawn gigs and phaetons. I must say they looked very elegant. I also got some pictures of the heavy horse teams as they made their way to the main show ring. They had a few minutes to wait so all parked in the shade of the trees and one of the lady stewards brought cups of water for the drivers and grooms. The first team were the CoOp Funeral Care team, but at least they had a cart not a hearse. Their colours were shades of purple, with the ribbons not only woven into the horses' manes but also into their (male) head groom's pony tail!
By the time I'd had lunch of a pie and a pint whilst watching some pig judging I felt I'd seen about enough. I'd been right round the site and whilst there was stuff I'd have liked to buy there was nothing I could realistically manage to take home.
Rather than just come straight back to site I decided to drive via Reedham to get some pictures of the railway swing bridge, which I duly did. It did swing open shortly after I arrived as there was a yacht coming through. From there I went through the outskirts of Great Yarmouth. There were some interesting looking vessels in the port so I stopped for a quick look and more photos. They were 3 oil exploration vessels.
The final stop was a bit more brown sign following, this time to Horsey Wind Pump. It's National Trust owned now and was interesting enough. Being built in the early 20th Century it was probably about the peak of windmill technology, with self regulating and self directing sails. The sails, etc. are long gone but the internal mechanism is still there. I managed the climb up to the top this time as although they were open stairs each section wasn't too high, but I did wimp out on going onto the balcony which had a slat floor. The pump was owned by the Horsey Estate and they still control the moorings in the outlet stream. Slightly strangely their bailiff just sits in his car by the entrance to the NT car park - you would have thought they'd give him a hut.
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