Postcard from Norfolk – Sheringham

A rare rainy day in North Norfolk. The principal attractions of North Norfolk are, if you like vast expanses of beach and waves, to be found outdoors. Indoor activities such as drinking are of course great fun, but can't be sustained beyond a few hours and are best enjoyed after a good walk. So when the rain came on, the alternative to soaking up the weather on a beach was to head for Sheringham for a trawl along the Hugh street.

Sheringham is the home of some rather excellent shops, although the second hand bookshop and the little grocers has gone, the former I don't know why and the latter probably a victim of the Sainsbury's that has opened up on the high street.

The town is also home to one end of the North Norfolk Railway. This is run by enthusiasts and runs steam trains up and down a length of line from Sheringham to Holt, although now that it is connected to the national network again, there is the delicious prospect of one day just steaming to Scotland for the hell of it. Certainly steam was up today, meeting with the low cloud. Despite the rain the sight of a steam train always gladdens the heart and the platform was crowded with, if I am honest mainly men, taking pictures of the train, the engine, the carriages and each other.

The NNR run specials, such as the Santa special and the Halloween special. Wheat I'd really love to see is the dinner special, where there is fine dining on a train rather than the usual grimly microwaved snack, or the thriller killer murder mystery specials here the whole train is a rolling whodunit mystery theatre. And what I'd really like to see happen is occasionally switching evenings around, so that half way through the soup course the diners are confronted with a body, and a selection of character suspects including a mysterious oriental gentleman, a femme fatal, an aristocratic big game hunter and a vicar. In the absence of a butler of course, the conductor would have to have done it.