Photographing Scalpaigh & Norfolk: January 2014

Norfolk - land and sea

January 2014

Storm surge, Cromer

Since the last posting we've experienced the largest storm surge on the Norfolk coast since the infamous floods of 1953. We went up to Cromer on the north coast where it was safe to look down on the sea from the promenade and it was an astonishing sight, with the sea level rising to just below the decking of Cromer Pier. It was also in the middle of the night so photography was not easy.

I'm aware that the stormy weather has also been having an impact in the Hebrides - I hope to visit again before long.

In the last month I've returned to two locations in Norfolk which I always find stimulating, for quite different reasons. Great Yarmouth has a huge variety of buildings and public spaces, ranging from commercial dockland to visitor attractions mainly on the sea front - I never come back empty-handed.

By contrast, the village of Walsingham is a whole community dedicated to religious observance, of many types and denominations. The Anglican and Catholic Shrines attract thousands of pilgrims each year, with Methodist and Orthodox chapels also open to visitors. In 1061 the lady of the manor had a series of visions of the Virgin Mary and this history, along with modern events and rituals bring 350,000 people to the small village every year.

As before, click on any individual picture to see an enlarged version, and feel free to email me with any comments or corrections relating to my project. I reckon I'm about half way through, although it pays to remember John Major's comment about why Kinnock couldn't stop talking - 'having nothing to say, he had no idea when he'd finished saying it'.