Dom Davis (The Blog)

Recently I’ve been walking too and from the gym. This has nothing to do with laughing at people who drive to the gym (we live far enough away that it’s quite acceptable to drive) and everything to do with me worrying about getting a parking space when I get back. Hopefully now that peak season is over and the kids are back at school parking will no longer be an issue, however, I may still walk too and from the gym on occasion as it’s quite a pleasant journey.

My way there is normal enough. Through town, up the hill and up the steep path to the Country Club (yes, yes, oooh, get me and all that). It’s a walk of about 20 minutes, maybe 25 and is quite useful for warming up before throwing myself into the gym session.

Cromer Lighthouse, next to the Country Club

The way home, however, I choose the scenic route. Up the road just a few hundred meters and out here, at the lighthouse.

The view from the lighthouse over Cromer and the sea

From the front of the lighthouse you get quite a good view of the sea and of Cromer (to the left). You’ll note the church spire. That used to be the old lighthouse (hence it being so tall) and is roughly where I’m headed on this journey to meet the parents.

A steep set of steps from the top of the cliff to the beach

From the lighthouse it’s down a little path to the cliff edge and then down a pretty steep set of steps. If you didn’t know they were there you’d probably not find them as they’re not very well marked from the top.

A view of the beach from halfway down the stairs

It’s well worth locating them though as the view is pretty good from them.

The church and the pier

Once on the beach it’s a left turn and walk until we get to the pier. You can see the pier and the church here which should give you a rough idea of where I’ve walked too in the second picture above.

Cromer Pier

I’m headed for the end of the pier where there is a little theatre (that I’ve yet to go to) and a little bar/coffee shop. On the weekends that my mother is down and not too busy with her jigsaws we meet up here and have a coffee and a chat before heading into town and then home.

My walk to and from work is a not unpleasant affair of a riverside walk with a short hop over a road to get to the station. I get to see green, wild fowl and endless people walking their dogs. The downside is midges. The little buggers hover at mouth height just waiting for you to ingest, or worse, inhale them. Keeping ones mouth shut mitigates the ingestion problem, but not the inhalation one.

I only mention this because today the bug threat was stepped up a level from passive annoyance to direct assault. I was just starting my walk, trying to remember what the hell I was going to blog about (I did have a topic this morning, buggered if I can remember what it is now though) when: *smack*. Some large flying insect (possibly a bumble bee, if not Mothra himself) hits me in the side of the face and proceeds to get tangled in my headphones. Bearing in mind I’m not good with wasps and this could quite easily be a wasp (or hornet, or killer bee) I instantly adopt the “Argh! Get it off!” position, flailing wildly with my free hand (iPhone in the other, remember?) in order to extricate whatever just dive bombed me without being stung to death. Not a good look, especially since I managed to pull my headphones out and end up with them dangling from the phone.

Thankfully the people from the office who seemed to be having a lovely picnic on the river bank (alright for some) were just a bit too far away to witness me at my finest. It was just the dog walkers who got a good chuckle.