January 2026. Watton. Norfolk.
I knew you’d want a proper post on Watton (pronounced Wotton) ahead of the holiday you’ve just booked on account of the NBSS 4 that I just gave Greene King IPA. Assuming you’re going, here’s some accommodation for next Friday;
Personally I would always go for a hotel with “Vibe” in it, and Dick will be able to confirm that £43 is cheaper than £90 or £144.
Quite what you’d do over a weekend, or what vibe you’d find in Watton, I’ve no idea. But besides three hotels I counted three Chinese takeaways, so perhaps you could try all three and send me reviews ? Or spend all night on the amusements.
Or you could look at old pub signs,
the Bull a particular favourite,
and admire the fontage of one-time GBG entry Breckland Wines, now a Lithuanian shop.
I got that last bit of clarification from the enthusiastic 75 year old tour guide at the excellent free town museum hidden behind the Cheese & Pie Man.
It’s a wonderfully eclectic social history museum packed into the actual town hall, and over half an hour I learn all you could possibly want to know, and much more, about Watton and its 12,000 souls (Wikipedia says it was 7,000 at the 2011 census , so you can guess the issue here).
Ah, the rectifier; always wondered.
Great town sign,
and a Scottish-style clock tower.
A thrilling hour and a half, capped by finding one of the most exciting ranges of ethnic food in the whole of Norfolk in the modest Tescos. I shall be dining on Buldak at Sunnyside for a while.
retiredmartin 
“January 2026. Watton. Norfolk.”
(looks up)
Handy that. Buy a baguette and dip it in your pie and mash.
“Personally I would always go for a hotel with “Vibe” in it, and Dick will be able to confirm that £43 is cheaper than £90 or £144.”
Sigh location really is everything innit? We’re off to Vancouver for most of next week and our hotel works out to about £140 per night (which took some cancelling and rebooking let me tell you!).
“Quite what you’d do over a weekend, or what vibe you’d find in Watton, I’ve no idea.”‘
Quite a bit to do in Vancouver.
“But besides three hotels I counted three Chinese takeaways, so perhaps you could try all three and send me reviews ?”
Would that I could, but we’ll be wining and dining (hopefully with some paid for by others) in all sorts of exotic restaurants (or a quick jumbo hot dog from 7/11 if I’m paying). 😎
“the Bull a particular favourite,”
(looks down)
Isn’t that the pic of a Best Bitter?
“I got that last bit of clarification from the enthusiastic 75 year old tour guide at the excellent free town museum hidden behind the Cheese & Pie Man.”
He’s been around long enough to know!
Also, that is most likely the van that supplies the Watton Pie and Mash in the first photo. 😊
“and over half an hour I learn all you could possibly want to know, and much more, about Watton and its 12,000 souls”
I’ll take your word for it.
“Ah, the rectifier; always wondered.”
I’ll take THEY’RE word for it!
“Great town sign,”
(looks down)
For some reason, all I can think of is one of the prayers from the Bruce Sketch by Monty Python:
“This here’s the wattle, the emblem of our land. You can stick it in a bottle or you can hold it in your hand. Amen.”
(obviously I confused Watton with wattle)
” I shall be dining on Buldak at Sunnyside for a while.”
(looks down)
Not only Carbonara flavour, but hot chicken as well; and it’s Halal! 👍😁
Cheers 🍻
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Those noodles were sensational. Just over a quid I think.
Your £140 room doesn’t surprise me at all. For context, you’d pay £70 for a Travelodge in London’s Covent Garden on Sunday, but £280 on the Saturday.
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Martin, Walking through Cuvent Garden ( as our History teacher pronounced it ) earlier this month reminded how it had changed since we knew it in the mid ‘seventies. Gone is the proper old fruit and vegetable market. Instead there are loud street entertainers, about as entertaining as seaside amusement arcades are amusing.
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My Dad used to deliver fruit and veg to London in the mid seventies; I joined him in the van down the A10 at least once though I’m surprised it was that central.
The commerce has largely gone from central London but it’s bringing in the tourist pound and that’s got the Nag’s Head into the GBG for the first time in years so not all bad !
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Yes, the tourist pound has averted dereliction but the wholesale markets, with their 5am to 9am licenses, were for me the best of London – especially Smithfield where I was in time for breakfast about fifty times.
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I was sorry I missed the pub crawl in Smithfield in late 2024. You’re right the pubs (in the City as well as the markets) have lost some of their particular feel in recent decades, though they’re invariably attractive and I think beer quality has improved of late. There were two new GBG entries (Fullers and Youngs owned) close to Trafalgar Square that I enjoyed a lot recently.
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Yes Martin, The wonderful Cock Tavern and mediocre Newmarket are gone but the Hope and the Fox and Anchor survive and as attractive pubs still worth a visit later in the day. And yes, I think beer quality might have improved in recent decades.
“Times change and you must learn to change with them” as my great grandmother said to my paternal grandmother.
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I remember going from Wapping to Charing Cross during COVID reopening and being struck by how friendly and chatty London pubs had become with less loud and sometimes boorish City boys waving tenners.
It may be a comment on Beer Guide selection in London but I’ve only had one duff pint in the capital this last year (Norwood).
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Your great grandmother was very wise.
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Yes Martin, very wise despite having a very challenging life from 1859 to 1939.
Not exactly “boorish City boys waving tenners” but I couldn’t help notice how very busy the Jamaica Wine House and Olde Cheshire Cheese were on a recent Wednesday afternoon and I doubted if a few hundred other City pubs were much different.
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