Norfolk - Friday 25th April - Bure Valley Railway and Bickling Hall

Today we are off on a trip on the Bure Valley Railway which takes 

45  minutes between Aylsham and Wroxham. Here we are (above) in our carriage.

 But as we were early we took a look around Aylsham.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aylsham

 

The church is St Michael and All Angels, so we had a look inside and it was a ladies coffee morning and I always like to see churches still in use by the community.

 This pair on a tomb were a bit spooky.

 The pigeon is making use of the tombstones.

 

 Then it was time to catch the train.

 

https://www.bvrw.co.uk/

 We stopped for lunch at Wroxham where we met some swans...

 

He's not going to let me through the gate without payment an I've got nothing to feed him!

The swan I mean not Graham...

 

He was huge and luckily he was only interested in the contents of my handbag and not biting me on the bum!

 The Norfolk Broads.

 

Time for the return journey, this time on the spitfire.

 And then it was a mad dash to get to Bickling Hall before it closed (we were the last one in for the day).

 https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/norfolk/blickling-estate/history-of-the-blickling-estate

The family coat of arms has a bull, so there are toy bulls for the kids to find. (Still look like cows to me).

 This was the birthplace of Anne Boleyn so if you've read any of those Phillipa Gregory books you will be familar with it.

 

Then for dinner we went across the road from the motel to the Whiffler Pub, which was pumping and packed. The menu wasn't much different from the hotel, burgers, fish and chips, etc, lots of chips!