Today we had lots of train rides, which we love. We caught a train from Norwich to Sheringham, which is a seaside resort town and an hour in the train, from Norwich. Our mission was to catch the steam and diesel heritage trains on the Sheringham - Holt line which is a vintage line mostly run by volunteers. We caught a very old diesel train to Weybourne station. This station has been restored, keeping all the original features from when it was first opened in 1904. This staton was used in the Dad's Army episode 'The Royal Train' which is very funny. The station had a display of photos from the actual filming of the episode plus some funny stories about what happened during filming (which was just as hilarious as the episode!). There was lots of memorabilia which was very interesting. One book which was I display was written by Bill Pertwee, who played Warden Hodges. In the book, there were some comments from Nigel Hawthorne (of Yes Minister fame) who said he was initially very sceptical of how a series based on the home guard could possibly be funny. He ate his words later, when the series became so successful. He even played a bit part in one episode, with one line to say!
We caught the steam train with a beautiful 4-6-0 steam loco done up with LNER green livery. The train took us to Holt station through very scenic countryside and looking down to the coast. At holt station we stood on the platform and watched while the steam engine was disconnected from the train and shunted away, then shunted back to the other end of the train for the return journey to Sheringham. There were several train buffs at each station and on the trains, and all the volunteer workers loved what they were doing.
After a spot of lunch in a nice warm cafe on a cold wet day, we caught the train back to Norwich.
We had originally thought we would go to Evensong at the Cathedral but the rain came down heavily and we didn't relish the thought of the long walk from our hotel to the Cathedral, getting rather wet. We will have to come back another time to do this. We were also thinking of taking a boat trip today, on the Broads (internal waterways) but the rain deterred us from this as well (and the boat trips are dependent upon the weather anyway). Another thing to do in the future.
Tomorrow we are off to London for two nights.
