Canary colours for my latest blogpost header, and a big thank you to Norwich City for letting us tonk them 5 – 0 and win the Premier League on goals scored tonight.
1 City 102 goals
2 Liverpool 85 goals
I’m already nearly a week behind with the blog, but I can’t rush Dereham.

Dereham means one thing, top toper Curry Charles.
We hadn’t met up since a proper night out in Leicester in November. It’s entirely coincidental that the pubs we visited in Oadby and Wigston back then are at the centre of the Leicester Lockdown*.
At least the Lockdown has provided business for the folk who make those banners that bring joy to our pub trips now.

I parked my campervan at Charles Mansions on Tuesday for a preemptive tick at The Cock, and one of the UK’s top curries (Dick and Dave take note).
But first I did a 90 minute walk from the inevitable new edge-of-town Marston’s diner,

to some Breckland border towns villages hamlets I’d never heard of.

It’s more fun to walk to places you haven’t a clue about than plod the same tracks day after day. In theory.



It really was a struggle. OK, I know there’s no pubs, open or closed. This WhatPub extract covers an area the size of Belgium, possibly.

But you expect something, anything, don’t you ?

Westfield and Yaxham deliver no surprises, but not in a quirky Radiohead way.
Though the attempted spelling of “Sausages” is a delight.


If you want pubs, you’ll need the Mid Norfolk Line from Yaxham to Fakenham, which needs a braver blogger than me.
I met Charles at 5, and stepped into town to face the delights of Dereham on a Tuesday evening.
As stoically as this unnamed fellow.

If I’d known the “unspoilt” Cherry Tree was as basic as Paul Bailey advises me now, I’d have started there. But Charles gave me a convincing reason not to thaat he’s saving for his own memoirs of debauchery and Internal Audit.

Not much debauchery in the GBG pre-emptive coming next.
*It’s doubtful if folk in Dereham even noticed there was a Lockdown.
The further you go from the large metro areas the less the shut down shows. BRAPA fact i think.
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I am prepared to overlook the fact there are no pubs …if you play the full Dexys album “Searching for the young soul rebels” in its entirety!
There there my dear is a classic
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These are desperate times for pub bloggers as the obvious blog titles have been bought up by Russia.
I do love “Searching…”. Only heard “There, there my dear” the other day, a real classic.
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Burn it down!!
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It’s that sax, isn’t it ? Sounds as fresh today as 40 years ago. It’s like flat Bass, and Don’t Stand Me Down is banked Bass.
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I read somewhere that Rowland made them play sax till their lips bled!! Just a magnificent album…I’m about to put it on!
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That sign looks as if a mother handed a marker and a scrap of paper to her 6 year old: “Lizzy, Mummy’s busy right now, go write these words on the sign out front.” 🙂
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I think you’re right !
Charming in its way. Perhaps they did it just for me to have something to notice in the Dereham suburbs.
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“the inevitable new edge-of-town Marston’s” pub probably with a sudden 40p a pint price increase.
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The lad and I ate at the Greenstone one evening, several years ago, but only because both pubs in Swanton Morley had stopped serving food. It had all the atmosphere you’d expect (sarcasm alert!), but it filled a need at the time. 🙂
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