I normally visit Great Yarmouth once a year, usually staying at Haven Caister in a Prestige caravan, and this was my 12th visit as an adult. I was brought up on the other side of Norfolk, so I came twice as a tourist as a kid- once with my parents and another time with my summer youth group; and once more at the age of 15 for a very unsuccessful interview at the now-defunct Great Yarmouth College of Art. The less said about that the better, but on the plus side I based a story around my disastrous experience for one of my MA Creative Writing projects- and achieved good marks.😁😁
I have blogged about Great Yarmouth before. This is the link to a huge post containing details of the Tolhouse Gaol, the Nelson Museum (now sadly closed forever), Caister Lifeboat, the Waterways and the Pleasure Beach (amongst other things):-
Here is a smaller blog about Nelson's Monument, Anna Sewell's house and the Victoria Arches:-
I'll start my blog with a walk through the rose pergolas at the holiday camp...
I have to say, the gardens looked a tad unruly, but perhaps a wilderness was their intention...
We decided to walk down the beach to Caister Lifeboat (which we always try and support). These two stone lions at the end of Beach Road fascinate me- from the perspective of "why are they here?"
Do they have names? Shall I be unimaginative and christen them Lenny and Leo?!
A bit of Googly research reveals that they guard a gap in the concrete sea wall; built as a defence to tidal erosion in 1950. There is some dispute as to whether Great Yarmouth is gaining land from the sea, or the opposite.
Once the essential wall was complete, the Engineer to the Sea Defence Committee, Mr S W Mobbs, presented the two lions to adorn the entrance to the Gap at Beach Road. Lions are featured in Great Yarmouth's coat of arms.
We decided to go on the Great Yarmouth Observation Wheel. Originally this wouldn't have been possible, but this travelling wheel decided to extend its stay, and it coincided nicely with our visit.
All the pictures are taken through the glass (to try and stick a camera through the door gaps would have been sheer folly) so I apologise for any quality issues.
Here we are looking down on neighbouring Wellington Pier, with the remnants of the older section of pier, left alone during its 1971 restoration, clearly visible...
For £8 you get three revelations plus it stops near the top for a couple of minutes, to allow you to get a good view. Here's a similar angle, showing more of the road, and you can see Great Yarmouth Power Station to the centre right of the land line, and Great Yarmouth Outer Harbour jutting out to sea...
The 30 V80 turbines of Scroby Sands Wind Farm are visible to the right. The area is famous for its grey seals, and sometimes they can venture onto Caister Beach. We went looking, but sadly didn't see any.
The Britannia Pier is in the distance, and the nearby contraption is called the SlingShot ride and appears to be some kind of bungee bouncing thingumajig...
It was a very blue day, and you can just about make out a ship floating across the horizon. We enjoyed our one-off wheel experience...
The Great Yarmouth Tower is the oblong building that looks like it has square eyes to the right. It's a complex containing a number of tourist attractions. Great Yarmouth Minster is visible in the centre of the photograph.
Looking towards the River Yare. A word of warning- book via the wheel website as it costs less. If you do decide to use the machines underneath the wheel, then put in your pin number when using your card rather than just tapping. The SuperDean tried the latter, the payment was declined but ended up in his "pending transactions" for days- he had to ring his bank to sort it out. I mean, now difficult would it be to hire a person to sit in a ticket office, rather than being lazy skinflints and relying on (sometimes unreliable) machines?
I tried to crop SuperDean's big fat swede out of this photo, which shows the former Windmill Theatre (now used for indoor crazy golf) but for some reason my computer is not saving my endeavours. Oh well, he gets to be famous...😉
The lighting installation down Regent Road represents wind turbine blades, symbolising this local source of renewable energy- but some people thought they were Mercedes-Benz badges!😂
It was opened in May this year, and I rather like this photo peering the other way- up Regent Road from the seaside to the town. I love the way the lights disappear into the sunset.
We popped into the Sea Life Centre, and I didn't take much in the way of photos (I do want to actually observe things, and not see life (ha ha, see life, geddit?!😁) at one remove away.
But I just had to take a piccie of these adorable penguins.😊
I loved this display of hanging witches in Cobholm Miniatures, which is being used to promote a book.
Macabre little moi would....😈
Skull nail varnish courtesy of Belzart, a gothic/ witchcraft shop down in Great Yarmouth Rows, and £1 necklace a gift from the SuperDean from the charity shop section of Caister Lifeboat. The necklace was falling to bits (hence the reason it was in the cheap "tut" tray), had a weak link between two of the diamante emblems and when I tried to mend it it sheared- but I solved the problem by sewing it back together with a discreet application of cotton. Inventive, aren't I?!😁
How big can hoop earrings be before they're considered chavvy?! SuperDean treated me to these delights from Martyn's Walk Round Store and I love 'em!😁😁
Great Yarmouth, I will return...
Until then...
TTFN
The Miss Elaineous
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