Michael and Pam's Travels Our European Motorhome Adventures and other Travels
Michael and Pam's Travels

Sandringham, England 2016 🇬🇧

by |Published |3 Comments

Travelled : 165 kilometres from Folkstone to Boreham in Essex.

Visited : Just in transit.

Stayed : Carpark of the Six Bells Hotel, Boreham.  Free but no services.  N51.76459 E0.54746

Travelled : 152 kilometres from Boreham in Essex to King’s Lynn in Norfolk.

Visited : Lavenham in East Anglia, Sandringham and Castle Rising in Norfolk.

Stayed : Dedicated motorhome parking in King’s Lynn, ÂŁ1 no services but Lidl across the road.  N52.75695 E0.40039

Budget : 110 days @ €75.98 per day

After a stressful day of crossing the channel with a faulty alternator behind us we focus on resuming our short trip to the midlands.  First things first we need a place to stay the night.  After our day no one wants to cook so a pub stay looks like the go.

The Brit-Stop book recommends a pub near Chelmsford.  Situated on a huge round-a-bout on the A12 a good sleep appears unlikely. So we continue at nearby Boreham we spot the Six Bells with a large carpark, well off the road.  I go in and chat with the Publican and we settle in for the evening.

The Six Bells Hotel. Nice food and a free overnight stay. It’s probably true to assume most traditional pubs are happy for you to stay overnight in the carpark if your have dinner or a couple of drinks and ask politely first.

We are heading up to the Midlands to visit Pam’s cousins at Radcliffe-on-Trent, but we have a day to spare.  Over breakfast we look for inspiration and decide Lavenham sounds like it’s worth a visit, so we continue north on the A12 then the A134.  In Lavenham for a morning coffee we find the carpark is free, we feel an affection for Lavenham almost immediately.

Sudbury CO10, UK
We like an information board, especially in the corner of a free carpark.
Lavenham is full of half-timber houses, lots of thatched roofs all defying gravity as they lean this way and that.  Virtually untouched since the 15th century, if you like a straight line and a level building, it may not be the town for you.
Threw this in for Mike Baird, he loves the ‘Dish Lickers’ !
The most celebrated building in Lavenham, the Guild Hall, circa 1530.
The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Lavenham. Another lovely English church from the 15th century.
Had to include this image in the blog. Note the tapestry covered kneeing pads sitting on the pews in the Church in Lavenham. The tapestries detail local crafts, trades and history.  What dedication !

Back in the Hymer we check the Lonely Planet, do some calculations, distance Vs time and continue heading north.  If we get a reasonable run to King’s Lynn we should be able to fit in a visit to The Queen’s residence at Sandringham.

UK
The A134 proves to be narrow, wet with no overtaking lane for about 30 miles. But we arrive in King’s Lynn safely and continue on the short distance to Sandringham.  Love the English round-a-bouts.  The GPS tells the story, we are sitting in a queue for 1.6 miles to turn onto the A47.  A good GPS is a wonderful thing, note the icons.  LPG available up on the left, a Tesco Supermarket straight up.  The A and W on the right are camping spots.
Pam stands on the west lawn, Sandringham House in the background.
The grounds are beautifully maintained as you can imagine. Lots of paths going here and there. Admittedly we arrived in the late afternoon, but there was hardly anybody about.
The front entrance to Sandringham House. Shame about the small red van, somehow it doesn’t enhance the photo.
This statue of ‘Estimate’ stands at the head of the entrance drive. Obviously HRH has some significant affection for this horse.
Much better view of the front of the Sandringham, the hedge hides the red van.
The old stables and livery have been turned into a museum. My favourite was this Daimler ‘shooting brake’ with gun racks.
However I was also impressed with this stretched Zephyr woody wagon !

We say goodbye to Sandringham and drive back into King’s Lynn, there is couple of dedicated motorhome parking spots in the corner of the long term car park.  Not particularly interesting but at ÂŁ1 for overnight, the price was right.

Looking through our English Heritage book we noted an ancient castle only about 4 miles away.  So we decide to breakfast at Castle Rising and escape from the carpark which is filling quickly.

King's Lynn PE31, UK
It’s only a short drive from King’s Lynn to Castle Rising. Considered one of the most complete Norman castle in England.  The stone keep was built in 1138 by William d’Albini.  At one time it was a luxurious prison for Queen Isabella widow and alleged murderer of Edward II.  Very Interesting.
The earth works around the castle rise an amazing 12-15 metres.  All this earth moved by hand is an amazing feat.
An example of what remains inside the keep. There are however a couple of rooms that have been preserved in a fashion.

Castle Rising makes for an interesting start to the day.  By late morning we are heading west toward Nottingham and a visit with David and Iris.

As our remaining time in the UK will be spent visiting relatives, then preparing the Hymer for it’s long winter sleep this will be our final blog for 2016.  That is unless something very interesting happens before where back safely in Sydney.  Either way I will update the maps and add some additional information about the Hymer at home.

Thank you for taking the time and having the patience to go through some or all of the 61 blogs we have posted this year.

Michael and Pam

How interesting was this post?

Click on a star to rate it!

You may also like

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

3 thoughts on “Sandringham, England 2016 🇬🇧”