Destination: Norwich
Norfolk’s capital city will absolutely blow your mind
Really? Are you sure...? Err, no. But it’s got free wi-fi in the city centre, so that’s a start. Even without such municipal munificence though, it would be well worth a visit. Norwich may be seen as a bit of a backwater these days but it was once one of England’s richest and most-important cities. Admittedly that was five centuries ago but if it was good enough for Queen Elizabeth I (who spent a week there in 1578, even though they hadn’t finished installing the wi-fi then), it’s probably good enough for you.
Any nice bits from Lizzie’s time still standing? Surprisingly, yes. Norwich Cathedral, for a start, which goes back even further, to the Norman conquest (there’s another cathedral on the other side of town if your ecclesiastical tastes run more to Victorian Gothic than Medieval Romanesque). But Tombland, the district around the cathedral, is very pretty — all cobbled streets and ancient timbered buildings, little shops and plenty of cafés and bars. So you’re saying I can leave the other half there while I head off on my bike? Yep. Plenty to keep them occupied while you go off and have some fun on two wheels. There’s some great roads within easy reach. Try a loop out west towards Thetford (see p34), Dereham and Swaffham, out to the coast at Cromer or Yarmouth, or down south towards Suffolk. Lovely gentle countryside.
Sounds good. Is there anything more exciting to do? Fancy a trackday? If so, Snetterton’s just down the road, off the A11 to the south-west. There’s usually at least one bike trackday a week there throughout most of the year. Or if you prefer to watch, there’s plenty of club and national racing to watch most weekends, as well as classic events. And even some car racing, if you really must.
No thanks, I’ll stick to two wheels. Quite right too. If the weather’s a bit iffy, you could do a lot worse than take a look at the Norfolk Motorcycle Museum at North Walsham. Concentrating on bikes from the 1920s to the 1960s, with around 150 exhibits, it’s not so much a conventional museum as a big collection of slightly dusty bikes crammed into a big shed. Works for us.