Pages

Tuesday 24 April 2012

Birthday at Blakeney

Sunday was Andrew's birthday so we downed tools for the day and went out exploring. First however was Mortimer's walk where he,reluctantly,posed with the birthday boy. Very uncool.

Doesn't look a day older

One of the reasons that we moved away from the south coast was to explore areas of England that were unfamiliar to us and so I thought that Andrew's birthday was a perfect opportunity to go somewhere new. So with the starting point of finding a restaurant  I decided on the north Norfolk coast and lunch at The Moorings in Blakeney.

This part of Norfolk has some gorgeous scenery and is popular as a place for holiday homes. Blakeney High Street was immaculate with every shade of Farrow & Ball paint visible on the front doors.

Beautiful brick & pebble house
Secret courtyards
There were lots of little lanes and small courtyards to peer at.


At the end of the high street you arrive at the quayside and a footpath to Blakeney Point where you can see seals. It wasn't the weather for that so we will go back again, we also noticed boat trips to see the marine life as well.

Low tide


Peace



Back in medieval times there had been a guildhall in a merchant's house, sadly only the basement remains but the brickwork is stunning.

Blakeney Guildhall

Lunch was a relaxed affair, great food locally produced. Andrew opted for an asparagus & crab salad followed by a beef roast. I had leek & tomato soup and then asparagus & goats cheese salad. We both finished with lemon tart and an espresso. Delicious!

By now the rain clouds were well and truly gathering so we headed back up the High Street to the safety of the car.

Beautiful brickwork
Back home we drank champagne and ate birthday cake. Andrew had requested a chocolate cake and so I used this recipe, one I've used several times before as it is so good.  I did have a bit of a disaster as I cut it while it was still a bit warm so it somewhat fell apart. Fortunately the ganache glued it together and it still tasted good. Doesn't look quite the same as the recipe though!

T
The ultimate chocolate cake



Until next time





Sharon

7 comments:

  1. When I see photos like these, I 'get' the attraction of this flat landscape. Lovely skies and coastal views, charming villages. Glad you had a good day and ladled on the calories at the end!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Margaret - glad you made it back ! That part of Norfolk is beautiful but I do love your mountains........

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, Sharon, what a walk down memory lane! We were in Cley, the next village, just a couple of minutes by car. Know the Moorings well - in fact the owners wanted to buy our house/resto (but we sold it to someone else. Oops). I must show you a picture of our old house - it had an amazing decorated facade, made from 4 types of flint mixed with bones and horses' teeth!
    Could you just send me over a piece of that chocolate cake, please?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kalba - if only you had asked half an hour ago! We ate the last of the cake with a large espresso for afternoon tea. And now I feel sick :-(

      We drove through Cley on the way home, I would have stopped if it were not for the rain. I'd love to see a house with horses teeth in the wall (or send me the postcode and I'll Google streetwalk).

      Delete
    2. It's called Whalebone House - postcode is NR25 7RN. There's quite a good view of it on street view. Built by an idiosyncratic Georgian gentleman, apparently .....

      Delete
    3. Google map can be so frustrating - I want to walk up the alley by the side of the house! Looks a beautiful home.

      Delete
  4. Yes, it's a shame you can't. It's a beautiful loke, full of hollyhocks growing wild in summer. And yes, it was a good home, though I do think Cley and Blakeney et al are probably best reserved for holidays rather than full time living. The population drops by more than half in winter. Sadly, although we tried not to sell to a second homer, we ended up doing just that and so after 275 years of being lived in, Whalebone House is now yet another holiday cottage :-(

    ReplyDelete