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Tuesday, 7 February 2012

Snow fun

Last Thursday my wife and I travelled up to Old Hunstanton, Norfolk to our favourite hotel to spend a few days there to celebrate my 62nd birthday ... which happens to be today. On the way up we paid a flying visit to King's Lynn for lunch a little bit of retail therapy for my wife, and on the Friday we went to Fakenham and King's Lynn to do some serious shopping!

Despite the possibility of snowfall at some time during Saturday, we went out during the day to visit Burnham Market, Holkam, and Well-next-the-Sea before returning to Hunstanton ... where I finally gave in to temptation and bought the Airfix 'Sink the Bismarck' set of 1:1200th-scale models!


These model kits have so much potential for use in naval wargames that I can see myself buying several other sets just for the spare parts!

By seven o'clock in the evening, the predicted snow had not begun to fall, but within half an hour a very light covering of snow was covering the hotel car park. By the time we went to bed the snow was heavier, but not so heavy that we had any concerns about driving home on Sunday morning.

How wrong we were.

By Sunday morning not only had over 6"/15cm of snow fallen, but the wind from the North Sea had caused it to form drifts that were several feet deep in places. The hotel's car park was almost impassable, and the access road to the hotel had been blocked by fallen snow and the snow that had been displaced by the snow plough that had tried to clear the nearby main road. It was quickly obvious that going home on Sunday was going to be difficult ... and then the local traffic reports indicated that several of the roads we were going to have to use were blocked by snow and abandoned or broken down vehicles. In the face of this ... and the desire to get home safely ... we decided to stay on for an extra day ... so we did.

We did not, however, remain inactive all day. We actually managed to make it down to the beach ... and I must admit I did find it a bit odd to be standing on a beach covered in snow!

Here are some of the photographs I took:



Unlike other areas along the coast, beach huts at Old Hunstanton are not all built to the same design and are not all set out in neat, straight lines. They are also located within the sand dunes to protect them from the prevailing cold wind that blows from the North sea and across The Wash.


Some intrepid youngsters actually built a snowman on the beach ... and might fine it looked!


Hunstanton lighthouse (now disused as such) sits atop the famous white and red cliffs ... although they look rather more white than red in the snow!


The beach at Old Hunstanton looking eastwards towards Holme-next-the-Sea.

We finally drove home yesterday, but the journey was far from easy in places due to the weather, the driving conditions, and the poor driving of a few other drivers.

It was nice to go away ... but oh so nice to get home again!

15 comments:

  1. Although here in the north-west we managed to miss the worst of the snow this weekend, seeing the car and steet covered in white on Saturday evening was a good excuse to stay over with my father till it thawed on Monday.

    Fortunately I've got a full painting-table setup at his house, so I've had a fantastically productive snowed-in weekend! Perhaps that should form the basis of every wargamer's Disaster Preparedness Kit. "In case of emergency... open paint pots."

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  2. Happy Birthday, Bob . . . and a great many happy returns too.


    -- Jeff

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  3. Dr Vesuvius,

    We could have driven home on Sunday ... but sometimes prudence is the best policy. It sounds like you made the best possible use of your 'enforced' stay with your father. In some ways it makes you wish for more snow soon, doesn't it?

    Although I did not have any wargames stuff with me, I did have my iPad ... on which I have a selection of my favourite films, books, and wargames rules!

    All the best,

    Bob

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  4. Bluebear Jeff,

    Many thanks for your best wishes ... and may I say that I hope that you are well on the road to making a full recovery.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  5. The 4th was our 34th wedding anniversary - spent the day at BayTree, then for a meal at a nice Thai restaurant in Holbeach. Then Sunday digging the car out ready for work Monday....

    Fun.

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  6. Hi Bob,

    Many happy returns! The Sink the Bismarck set has a huge amount of potential and as a source of 'bits' is a ready made spares box!

    I have a number of plans for mine - even building them are....;-)

    All the best,

    DC

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  7. What delightful pictures!

    After years of commuting through a Canadian winter, I find it a real pleasure to be in a position to be able to choose NOT to drive in snow.

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  8. Xaltotun of Python,

    Isn't snow fun!

    Congratulations on your anniversary. At least the snow did not ruin that!

    All the best,

    Bob

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  9. Bob

    Happy birthday (belated by this time I'm sure)! Give kids snows and they will produce a snowman.

    Cheers

    PD

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  10. David Crook,

    My latest blog entry crossed your comment in the ether.

    All I need to do now is to buy a few more sets ...

    All the best,

    Bob

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  11. Ross Mac,

    Thanks for both your comments about my photographs (the joy of being able to carry a digital camera with you at all times is being able to take photos like these) and your congratulations.

    My wife and I are just of for lunch at our golf club (we don't play; we are just social members) and hope to go out for a meal with some friends this evenings.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  12. Peter Douglas,

    Thank you very much for you congratulations.

    This was a very impressive-looking snowman that was well over six feet tall!

    All the best,

    Bob

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  13. *slaps forehead* Sorry Bob, I missed the opening sentence on the first read through.

    Happy Birthday, of course!

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  14. Dr Vesuvius,

    Many thanks for your congratulations. They may have been slightly late ... but that is not important ... it was a very kind thought.

    All the best,

    Bob

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