August? Advanced Autumn Alert.

Light showers were predicted today. What we got was a day of drizzle, interspersed with heavy rain, with a 'high' of 16 Celsius and only in the early evening were there any signs of blue sky. It must be the middle of the school holidays!

Not a great day to sell any BBQ, let alone one called 'God Grilla' that can cook 7 whole lambs or 2 cows at any one time.

Cotswold based Bespoke BBQ Company will make anything up to this £10,000 5m long, 1.9m wide and, with its twin chimneys which can be fitted with extractor fans, 3.5m tall example. 
The poshest BBQ in Norfolk must be the summertime menu from the court yard at The Victoria, Holkham.

With half lobsters and whole sea bass on offer, this is no glorified burger joint. Perhaps David Cameron would have popped in after his quick dip in the sea at nearby Holkham Beach, as he revealed on promoting 'traditional' values over Blair's 'Cool Britannia', had it not been April. He is more man than I thought, I won't go into the North Sea until May!

Naturists on Holkham Beach - Michael Smith

No news on whether he skinny dipped or not.

Recommended Rural Retreats

Congratulations to all the Norfolk beaches that manage to gain MCS Recommended status in the 2010 Marine Conservation Society Beach Guide. Joining the earlier accolade of having the best beach in Britain, Norfolk beaches are indeed special. The winds can be a little bracing, at times, so don't forget the wind break.

 © J Reed

The sand is so fine at Holkham you will be sweeping it up at home for the coming week, however careful you are to brush everything down. I find dogs especially good at storing sand for many a day following a romp on the beach. But it could be worse, a massive sand storm in the village of Golmud, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China, is a much more imposing prospect!

Picture: BARCROFT

Best British Beach Bestowal

© J Reed

It's official, Norfolk is better than Suffolk. Congratulations to Holkham for Coast magazine's Best British Beach award for the second year running whereas Southwold was only a runner up in the Best Family Holiday Destination category, well done anyway. At least, car parking aside, there is plenty of space for a few more visitors.

Normal For Norfolk 3

Sadly, this Holkham Gap NFN moment has disappeared with a revamp of the fencing towards Holkham Bay from the Hall's Lady Anne Drive.

But wait, we can always rely on those crazy foreigners to keep the signage laughter coming. We are laughing with them and not at them, right?