While back in the UK to visit family I had made arrangements with some new friends to visit them for a few days at their home near Cambridge in the region of the UK known as East Anglia.
I had hired a car, so left my family’s home in Sussex soon after 9 am in the morning and drove the just over 2 hour drive north to Brian and Janine’s home just north of Cambridge. This involved driving anticlockwise around the M25 motorway and through the Dartford Tunnel which can often be a headache with bad traffic congestion, but thankfully I had paid my toll for the tunnel online before I left, and I had a smooth journey and made good time.
I arrived around lunchtime, so after getting settled in Janine kindly had a little lunch ready for us. They knew I hadn’t visited the area before, so over lunch they explained that they had a plan for the 2 days to visit a few places if I was open to it – which I very much was!
Ely
To get the plan started, that afternoon they kindly took me to Ely Cathedral as I had previously mentioned that I was interested in seeing it. We drove the approximately 20 minutes south east to Ely in Brian’s car and parked easily right by the Cathedral.
Ely Cathedral is a wonderful Anglican Cathedral with a mixture of architectures including Romanesque and English Gothic and has it’s origin in AD 672 when St Etheldreda built an abbey church on the site.
Ely Cathedral
We started to go into the Cathedral, but were told that a private service was about to start and we couldn’t enter, but that if we came back in about 45 minutes we would be allowed access. So we walked down to the Great Ouse River and visited the Cutter Inn on the bank of the river for a drink at the bar.
The Great Ouse River in Ely.
After a nice chat while we enjoyed our drinks, we walked back up through Jubilee Gardens and across Cherry Hill Park from where there was a lovey view across the fields to the Cathedral beyond.
On our return to the Cathedral we could indeed enter through the beautiful large wooden doors and venture inside to look around.
The first thing that struck me as I entered was the beautiful ceiling on the long Nave and the central section – just fabulous!
Looking straight up at the central part of Ely Cathedral ceiling.
King’s Lynn
After enjoying our time in Ely, we drove about 40 minutes north to King’s Lynn near the coast and where the Great Ouse River enters the North Sea. King’s Lynn is a seaport and also a market town with some nice historic buildings. We parked in a public car park near the Market Place and King’s Lynn Minster, and walked through that area and across part of the town to the edge of the river. From there we walked past the old Customs House which is now a visitors centre, and then back to the Market Place.
The Town Hall, King’s Lynn.
A good part of the town of King’s Lynn is modern and for me, fairly uninteresting, but I enjoyed the more historic parts of town and the buildings there. I wish we had time to look around the Minster, but by now it was getting late and so we headed home to Brian and Janine’s house for a delicious homemade dinner and to recoup for our next day of adventure together.
King’s Lynn Minster and Market Place.
Sandringham Estate
For the second day of my visit, we were headed north east to the Royal Sandringham Estate. (Just over an hour from Cambridge). This is the Queen’s Estate that she spends every Christmas at, and the royal family attends the church on the grounds, St Mary Magdalene, when they are in residence. The church was our first stop once we arrived.
St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham Estate.
The church is not terribly big, but is beautiful inside. It has a lovely ornate ceiling over the altar end.
There is also a beautiful silver altar, pulpit and processional cross that were presented to Queen Alexandra by the American Department store owner, Rodman Wanamaker, as a tribute to Edward VII.
Inside the church.
After seeing the church we decided that we were OK with spending the £15 each to go in and look around the Estate house and gardens, (there is a reduced fee if you only want to visit the museum and garden). After entering we walked through some of the gardens to the house, then on round to the back where there was a lovely statue of one of the Queen’s beloved racehorses, Estimate.
Cream Tea for lunch at Sandringham.
After taking a few photos of the house, we headed for the Stable block where there was a restaurant to grab some lunch. I enjoy a cream tea as often as I can when back in England, so when I get the chance I will sometimes replace lunch with it. So I took this opportunity to indulge and slather those scones with all that clotted cream deliciousness!
Sandringham House
1968 MGC-GT owned by Prince of Wales.
After lunch we toured the Museum which was also in the Stable block, this was interesting with child sized cars that the royal children had driven around, to a range of vintage cars used over the years including a 1968 MGC-GT owned by the Prince of Wales, and even the Estate Fire Engine!
From there we went to the house to take the tour which includes many of the rooms that the Royal family uses all the time when they are at home. There were guides in all the rooms telling stories of when the family are in residence, from pointing out where Prince Phillip likes to sit in the Saloon, to the history and meaning of much of the tableware in the Dining room. The tour was a bit abbreviated when we were there as some renovations were going on, but I still enjoyed it.
We then walked more of the gardens which were still lovely despite it being late in the season. There were lots of Autumn Crocus flowering, and I just love this wonderful ancient old Oak tree that we came across on the walk, I have a bit of a thing about lovely old trees and just thinking about how the world has changed around them.
Old Oak tree at Sandringham.
On our way out we visited the lovely shop at the entrance/exit area and made a few purchases, for me that included an ornament for my British themed Christmas tree. It had been a really nice day so we then headed back to Brian and Janine’s house for another wonderful homemade dinner and some relaxation.
Cambridge
For my third, and final day, the plan was to drive both my car and Brian and Janine’s cars into the outskirts of Cambridge and park in a large public car park. From there we left my car, and Brian drove us into the middle of Cambridge where we parked in a smaller multistory car park. We walked into the centre of the city, first to find some toilets, then we had coffee at a little coffee shop right on the Market Square by Great St Mary’s Church. The market was in progress and it had some lovely stalls.
Coffee spot in the market place in Cambridge.
After our coffee, we moved on and Brian and Janine showed me some of the other lovely sights in Cambridge as we had a nice walk around.
These included Kings College Chapel and College, St Catherine’s College, the Mathematical Bridge over the River Cam and the Punts that go along the river. Mathematical bridge is a Grade II listed wooden footbridge that connects two parts of Queen’s College. It appears to be an arch, but is composed entirely of straight timbers built to an unusually sophisticated engineering design, hence the name. The original bridge dates back to 1749, but it has been rebuilt twice, in 1866 and 1905.
It’s all within easy walking distance, so once you are parked it is very simple to explore the city.
Mathematical Bridge.
King’s College Chapel.
By now it was lunchtime, so we stopped in at The Mitre Pub on Bridge Street for a drink and bite to eat. I ordered the starter/appetizer size of Bubble and Squeak, a traditional English recipe made up of shallow fried left over vegetables from a roast dinner. It came with a soft poached egg, and bacon, something else that I just love, which made it even better than it already was!
Bubble and Squeak at the Mitre Pub.
The Mitre Pub, Cambridge.
By now it was time for me to hit the road back down south to Sussex, so after we had finished lunch we walked back to the car and Brian and Janine drove me back to the outskirts of the city to collect my car from the car park there. We said our goodbyes and I was so grateful to them both for looking after me so beautifully and be such kind and generous hosts. I hope it won’t be too long before I get to see them again, it’s always hard when we live thousands of miles apart.
And thankfully my return journey to Sussex was just as smooth as it had been on the way up and I was back with family in time for dinner. It had been a busy, but really wonderful few days exploring a new area for me, and enjoying the company of new friends too.
Date of visit was September 2016.
Punters on the River Cam.