Zambia World Wide

Shortly after this I took up ballroom dancing lessons at a local dancing school which apart from the lessons also had a social side. This is where I was to meet my future wife although at the time I had no idea that this would happen. The dancing that I learnt at the school was to prove a great asset in years to come. I cannot remember the exact year but it was sometime in the mid. 1960’s that an American fighter jet crashed into the river bank at Gorleston-on-sea which is just south of Great Yarmouth. At the time I was at work in the power station and can remember the noise as it came in low over the power station before crashing into the river bank, fortunately no one was hurt. The pilot had taken the plane out to sea, set it on auto-pilot and then ejected. For some unknown reason the plane turned a full 180 degree’s and came back towards the shore losing height all the time, that is until it crashed.

At this time I was about nineteen and well into motorcycling, most weekends touring, attending race meetings or doing the necessary repairs which seemed to be an ongoing exercise for motorcycles of that era. This is not to say we didn’t have fun riding the machines we had at the time but you soon learnt to repair them as well. During this period I with my brothers or friends travelled to many place around the country. Once again back to the Lake District and Yorkshire which I have already said I love to visit. It was much more fun to return on the motorcycles, the country is made for it. One summer my brothers and I toured around Darbyshire and I was amazed at the scenery we encountered. It was the first time I had visited that part of the country and could not believe how beautiful it was. Although I enjoyed travelling to different parts of the country, I would not like to give the impression that Norfolk and Suffolk do not have areas of outstanding beauty also. There are so many places around the coast that I have always enjoyed visiting even though most of them are only a short ride away from Great Yarmouth. Some of them I will try to describe before going any further. First we will take a tour of a few places north of Great Yarmouth and in fact still do. There are some very old world villages north of Great Yarmouth and they all have their own individual character and in many cases buildings. There are also some great beaches in and between the villages, one village that I often visited was Sea Palling, I can give no reason for this accept that it was a very pleasant and relaxing place to spend an afternoon or a day out. I would wander for hours along the beach and around the village and enjoy the surroundings and view from the beach. Happisburg is another place I remember well, with its Lighthouse and quaint houses. I also remember Horsey Staithe very well with it’s renovated wind- pump and great picnic area plus the walks around the broad and of course the staithe itself. As we go slightly further north we come to Cley Bird Sanctuary which I remember well from my schooldays where I spent many summer days in the school holidays roaming and bird watching and last but not least we come to Cromer which is famous for it’s crabs also it’s high cliffs and pier plus the very narrow streets and the lifeboat station which has a long history and is very well known.

One place I have not yet mention is Brancaster where we once went on holiday with our parents. That trip will never be forgotten as on the way there we had about sixteen punctures all of which had to be repaired at the roadside. It must have been the shortest journey we ever made and taken the longest time that I can remember. I will say that once we arrived it proved to be one of the best holidays we had enjoyed up till then. There were other places that I enjoyed in Norfolk which were further inland and among these were Cockly Cley which is a replica of an Iceni village and also Walsingham the village where time seems to stand still. It is also the place where the church to our Lady of Walsingham is situated, also where people from all over the come on an annual pilgrimage, I believe it takes place at Easter but am not too sure. Another place I feel I should mention is Burgh Castle which is an old Roman Castle situated just outside of Great Yarmouth. Many happy days were spent there as a child, it is a cycle ride from the town which probably was the attraction as in the school holidays we were always looking for somewhere to go where we could have fun. The castle was built with its rear towards the river which meant the Romans only had to build three walls, they used the river as the fourth barrier. Any attack from the river would be seen and easily defended.