This was my eagerly awaited first time to see my girlfriend’s cousin’s lovely little house by the seaside in the sleepy little town of Eccles-on-Sea, Norfolk on the east coast of England. Home to Jessie Buckley also! A short hop from Ireland you’d think but it’s an epic journey since they cut flights to Norwich airport! We flew from Dublin to London Stanstead then got a coach to Norwich where Kim met us then a bus to somewhere else I can’t even remember then a drive to Kim’s house which is literally about a 5min walk to a stunning, very long beach. You can hear the sea roar from her house. She used to live in Happisburgh Lighthouse so considering my childhood love for the Famous Five books and my great desire to live by the sea one day, this was a magical trip for me!
To be honest, the long winded trip across England was kinda cool. I wouldn’t want to be doing it on too regular a basis but it was nice to just sit and just look out at the English countryside passing by, including Cambridge town and university, Thetford and Norwich. On arrival we didn’t waste too much time before hopping in the sea! We had to walk down to a calmer spot quite a distance away as it’s a bit wild on the main beach. Something that I stupidly didn’t pay attention to towards the end of the trip when I braved some rather large waves as I love to do but I got picked up and tossed around like a twig and got covered in cuts. It’s the North Sea so I didn’t expect it to be warm exactly but I have to say it was a lot warmer than the Wild Atlantic Way. We seen some seals swimming too on occasion which was class.
The rest of our trip was spent walking on the beach, visiting the local town of Happisburgh with it’s lighthouse and church, a town that is well known as the scene of some major coastal erosion that has taken people’s entire homes. We climbed up St Mary’s church for the views and I was unpleasantly reminded of my anxiety when climbing narrow, windy staircases of ancient buildings! We also went charity shop browsing in a further local town called North Walsham where I got myself a lovely pair of shorts and a cool rugby top.
On the final night we went ghost hunting at The Witches’ Leg, St Mary’s Church, East Somerton – “A witch wreaks ruinous revenge on this ancient church with her enchanted leg.”!
