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I love Norfolk and find it hard not to set all my books there; with my latest one What It Takes, I succumbed once more. It's the most beautiful, peaceful place - most of it, anyway; maybe not Prince of Wales Road, Norwich, on a Saturday night, but I like the way it's remained very English, too, and a bit old-fashioned in the nicest possible way. I lived there for nine years and I miss it.
What It Takes is mostly set in a fictional village called Branningham and a fictional town called Aylsworth, but I've also written about Blakeney, Brancaster, Salthouse - and there is a whole chapter set in Cromer, where I used to live, as a tribute to it.
Mostly to amuse any of my readers who live there, but also for those who've read the book and might be interested, here's a run-down of the places mentioned in that chapter, so that they might become more real to you.
First of all, here's where I imagined the guest house to be - the one where Karen and Ava stayed. See the bigger of the yellow coloured buildings? I used to live in one of those flats! Just at the bottom of the page you can see the beach. It was lovely - instead of a water feature in my front garden I had the North Sea.
..."Mrs Flowers at the guest house had recommended the café as the best in Cromer, and even Ava untied the leash on her calorie count..." and here it is, Breakers Cafe, undoubtedly the best!
....with the welcoming staff to greet you - okay, yes, the owners are friends, and I worked there for a little while :)
Please note - there is no need for me to put the exact locations of any of these landmarks, as Cromer is roughly as big as Toy Town - you're never more than ten minutes walk away from anywhere, and usually less.
This is a shot of the old Victorian Hotel De Paris, which Karen could see as she sat on the pier, watching the world go by and drinking the coffee that she wished was a gin and tonic ~
".....she could see families relaxing on the right side of carefully situated windbreaks, lone walkers wandering along the soggy sand where sea met land, children splashing in the surf, joined by the occasional teenager in a bikini or mum wearing a t-shirt over a swimming costume to hide cellulite-ridden thighs..."
To leave Cromer for a moment, this is The Dun Cow at nearby Salthouse, where Danny wanted to take Karen for their reunion day out ... that never happened.
"....he’d read a leaflet about the birds that populated the marshes while he was in the pub on his own, once, and he was rather proud of knowing about them. He would tell Karen, point them out; spotting them might be something they could do together. Hey, perhaps they might even become ‘twitchers’! He laughed at the thought. Nah, perhaps not...
... and also nearby is Blakeney, where Karen went for that December walk with Sam, when suddenly everything became clear...
Photos by Jackie Rivett
I've been to Blakeney and Salthouse many times myself, as you can probably guess.
Back in Cromer, here's a lovely photo of the beach, another one taken by the very talented Jackie Rivett - on Christmas Day! ....where Karen looked out to sea and "...it made her feel as though nothing else mattered, none of the silly things she worried about, as though she could just keep wandering out into that shallow, warm water, become part of the sea and the land and the sky, and never think about anything else again..." That's how it used to make me feel, too!
and another one by Jackie...
one more... I think this one is terrific!
On a far more down to earth note and slightly less picturesque note (!) - here is Budgen, where Karen bumped into her lover Gavin, the morning after the night before, as one tends to do...! Down the road and just out of sight is the Kings Head pub.
A friend of mine used to have one of the flats above - a perfect view for the switching on of the Christmas lights in the churchyard over the road...one more... I think this one is terrific!
On a far more down to earth note and slightly less picturesque note (!) - here is Budgen, where Karen bumped into her lover Gavin, the morning after the night before, as one tends to do...! Down the road and just out of sight is the Kings Head pub.
.... where Karen sat, bemoaning her fate, before meeting Gavin!
"...She stopped for a moment and wished she still smoked; Danny used to stop on benches to have a cigarette, when they were walking through town. It was something to stop for, like people walking dogs instead of just going for a walk...." You can walk up the church tower and look out from the top; it's the highest in East Anglia I believe. The museum (on the right) is excellent, too.
I hope you've enjoyed your little tour around Cromer, and if you've never been there, I hope you will one day. In nine years, never a day went past when I didn't appreciate living there.
Me and my pal Sharon on the prom, 2009
Photo by Jackie Rivett
I've been to Cromer a few times, nice fish and chips too as I recall.
ReplyDeleteAhhhh, then you may recognise some of these places, and will do more so when you read the book!!! :) I loved living there, as you can probably tell...
DeleteA great idea, Terry! I did something similar with a book talk, but I've never thought of putting it in a blog with quotes. Brilliant! If you love Norfolk, you'd love Zeeland too. come and visit me one day!
ReplyDeleteOh, I'd love to... I told my husband to get Watery Ways for me this morning - he seems to know how to get it with free delivery which I always get wrong!! (Wanted pprback not Kindle). Re the blog post, thought it would be nice for all my Cromer friends, especially the owners of Breakers Cafe who always read my books, and publicise on their FB page!!! I had the idea of putting the quotes in as I was doing it. Glad you like it! :)
DeleteI've just been looking through your photos again. They really are lovely, Terry! I've never been to Cromer either, but I think I would love it. In fact I've never been to Norfolk, but many people tell me it really is very like Zeeland where I spend my time when I'm not in Rotterdam teaching. I'll bet the Norfolk coastal towns are all prettier than the Dutch ones - although there are some beautiful places in Zeeland - just not many on the coast! I really loved this post!
DeleteI expect it's because much of East Anglia is reclaimed land, like Holland - some of the bits on the coast are very marshy, too. I used to know this Dutch chap in Cromer called Peter Van Poortvliet who had worked on land reclamation in the NL, and said it was a lot like it, too :) Thank you for looking again - I love Jackie's pictures, she has loads on FB and I could look at them over and over!
DeleteLooks like I'll have to visit one day - it's looks lovely.
ReplyDeleteMy brother ran a farm in Norkolk, many years ago and my abiding memory is of the cold. Nothing between us and Siberia, and there we were trying to be cheerful with cows.
Ha ha! Yes, I was always aware of it being rather 'exposed', as the wind rattled through the windows of my flat off the sea!!! Thanks for reading, Jo x
DeleteI remember one of the first pics I saw of you was standing outside the King's Head! Loving the book! Should have it finished by tonight....when's the next one out?
ReplyDeleteYes!!!! I am actually trying to find that photo to add to the post!! Yippee, glad you love book - and am 23K words into the next one.... thinking April... BUT might try agents with it, not sure yet!
DeleteI suspect it was during the MySpace days? *sighs*
DeleteNothing ventured, nothing gained, I guess. Good luck :-)
I think 'sigh' about MySpace, too - sadly missed! Think I might do a blog post about that, some time!
DeleteHa, and I'm still here - a lovely sunset out of my window as I write this, Terry!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely idea Terry to include pictures of the places featured in your book, makes it all more real.
ReplyDeleteYour previous comment, I'm thinking of trying agents with my next novel too, always worth a go. At least you've got all of your reviews to back you up this time. Good luck!
Sherrie xx
Thank you! I don't think reviews mean a great deal to agents, to be truthful, but they can't do any actual harm - glad you liked the post! x
DeleteLovely memories of our Saturday nights & of me being a lightweight & going to bed at 1am whilst you stayed up till 5am. Then spending Sunday trying to sober up so I could drive home. The photos by Jackie are lovely.
ReplyDeleteDid I really? Can't imagine! Yes, aren't Jackie's pics great!
DeleteHi Terry. Looking forward to reading the book. I've never been to Cromer but reading the book may be just as good. Can't quite believe the fish and chips are as good as in Yorkshire.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading, Jenny. Dare I say I'm not a big fan of fish and chips???!!
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ReplyDeleteI remember visiting Cromer as a child, the pier stands out most in my memory.. your photo bought back lovely memories of walking the pier with my (much loved) Aunt and Uncle (sadly no longer with me) but fondly remembered, and often remembered walking Cromer Pier. A happy childhood memory. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Terry.. I've a head full of choppy (it was windy that day) chippy, and special people now :) x
Thanks, Kimmie - it;s a lovely place. I so miss living there!
DeleteI did like What it Takes Terry and lovely to see all the places you wrote about. I've never been to Cromer but love Norfolk so perhaps one day.
ReplyDeleteThanks, G! I just had to dig this out when I saw that other post about it on Monday Blogs today - reminded me of it :)
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