Merry in Nelson County

It was time to book a few days away and after really getting into the naturist lifestyle last year, it’s just so difficult for us,to really think seriously of going on a clothed holiday. For all the reasons found elsewhere in this blog we looked around for a naturist venue we hadn’t yet visited. We didn’t have enough time to go abroad, so England it would have to be. The decision on where to go, lay between Merryhill,near Honingham in Norfolk (Nelson’s County) and Broadlands in Stoke Holy Cross, near Norwich also in Norfolk. The decision was made solely on looking at the two websites and deciding which looked best. We went for Merryhill and left our visit to Broadlands for another time. Once we’d loaded up the van, which has so far been to both the Download and Bloodstock festivals we set off, hoping that we’d got everything for our first naturist camping trip of the summer. We headed up the A12, out of Essex and into Suffolk, before talking the A14 north, passing by Ipswich, before heading onto the A140 towards Norwich. Last year while on the A14 heading for Bolding Way, we missed the A140 turn off and ended up nearly in Newmarket, so this time we made sure to take the right road. After 45 minutes we were almost in Norwich and moved on by taking the A47 west which goes past the Norfolk Showground. Another 20 minutes we were at the entrance to Merryhill by their Indoor swimming pool. A quick phone call to alert the duty host, we then paid our dues and were let in through the main mechanical security gate. Impressive just doesn’t really describe the site, it is so well appointed and definitely the best venue we’ve visited so far on the naturist trail .[url=http://freewilluk.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/26082012747.jpg][/url][url=http://freewilluk.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/28082012755.jpg][/url]After a false start, we found the right place to pitch our tent, parked the van, then off came our clothes. After an hour in the van, it was good to feel cool again and also warm work lugging all the camping gear out of the van. Having a rather large tent and also a lot of cooking/general equipment, it took us around and hour to get the tent up and all the gear into place. We then took a tour of the grounds, which had around 50 mobile homes, 10 bungalows, as well as an overflow camping field, Woodland walk, Clubhouse with bar, an outdoor swimming pool, Children’s play area, Large grass area for ball games, All weather Miniten Courts (1 Floodlit) and Petanque courts. For further details see merryhill [url=http://freewilluk.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/28082012759.jpg][/url][url=http://freewilluk.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/100_1626.jpg][/url]Settling down outside the tent, we basked in the late afternoon sunshine and opened the first of the two bottles of red wine. That evening we went to the bar and had a few drinks and talked to other visitors as well as the regulars who live on site. With a pint at only 2.20 we walked slowly back to the tent and were soon sparko. Bank holiday Monday dawned cloudy, although not really unpleasant, so we went into Norwich, did a bit of shopping at the shops near to Norwich City Station and saw from a distance the the “Lets be havin you “ Norwich City football ground in Carrow road. Once back we went out for a walk to a local pub, stripped off had a barbecue before spending the rest of the evening in the Merrybar which opened at around 9pm.Tuesday dawned fine with us nursing sore heads, but after a hearty breakfast, we headed off for a shower before then heading to the pool area, for some swimming and some sunbathing to top up our all over tans. By late afternoon the clouds returned, so we headed out to the coast to visited Winterton beach, which is frequently frequented by naturists on a regular basis. We were amazed by the size of the beach and it was all sand,as the photos show and hardly a stone insight.[url=http://freewilluk.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/100_1648.jpg][/url][url=http://freewilluk.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/100_1653.jpg][/url]The sun returned briefly, so we took the opportunity to strip off and enjoy the wonderful beach and its scenery. We then walked up on to the sand dunes at the back of the beach (almost as high as a two story house) and took some wonderful photos of the beach and the surrounding countryside.We decided as we were close that we would spend the evening in Great Yarmouth and had a meal, before returning to Merryhill and spent the rest of the evening drinking wine outside the tent. Wednesday was our last day so we packed up all the camping gear, putting it nice and tidy in the van for next time, then headed off for a shower. We said a few good byes, got rid of the rubbish then put our clothes back on and rather sadly headed back towards Norwich. Merryhill is almost heaven on earth for a nature lover and a naturist, being far enough away from any outside noise,but near enough to the civilisation which people take for granted these days. We really didn’t want to leave and thought how nice it could be to live there one day.With still the whole day to kill we thought we’d head across to Corton and visit the slightly controversial Corton naturist beach. After a pint at the Corton Inn, we took turns to notice the changing weather and the approaching clouds. We then put on our walking boots and headed off to the beach.BN (British Naturism) describes the beach well, on its website BN website by saying :-“Gunton Sands (Corton Beach) – The beach is about a mile north of Britain’s most easterly point and it can be very windy so try to have enough hands free for a windbreak! An old local saying is “It’ll be a warm wind when the sun comes out”. Alas in recent years due to a combination of coastal erosion here and coastal defence works further along the coast we have seen stones replacing the sand. However, the beach is well used kept clean and is friendly. The access to the sea is steep and can be rough, but on a summers day it is an easy place to get to. This beach became ‘de-designated’ as a naturist beach on 1st November 2009. However, the byelaw requiring clothing to be worn on all beaches except Corton was revoked on 1st June 2009 therefore one can be unclothed on all beaches within the Waveney District without being in breach of the byelaws. To get there from Lowestoft heading out towards Great Yarmouth, after the Lowestoft lighthouse turn right onto Corton Road (B1385), this is the third road at a multiple choice junction. Continue past all the houses and at the Pitch and Putt course enter the FREE car park ample spaces and toilets so please do not park on the road. Cross the road and walk down the concrete path (Tramp’s Alley) and turn left walking for about 200 yards along the beach.[url=http://freewilluk.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/100_1678.jpg][/url][url=http://freewilluk.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/100_1677.jpg][/url]We walked all the way along the footpath at the bottom of the cliffs heading northwards and took photos of the sea and also of the cliffs that suffer the coastal erosion.We did stop and sit on the “naturist” beach noticing one or two naturists, but it was too windy and cold for us to strip off on this occasion, as the weather changed pleasantly for a while, before once again turning wet on our return to the van. The trip home was in rain nearly all the way, after which we unpacked our essentials, before putting the camping gear and the van in the garage ready for another day. Its Thursday morning right now and while I’m writing this passage, the weather outside is absolutely atrocious, so we just made it having mostly good weather on our trip to Norfolk