Sunday 23 January 2011

"Holly Lane" mince pies

King Canape was not walking this week, and King Can was not feeling too well. Fearing that we would not have a quorum to judge a pork pie, the Pie Master provided the canapés and mince pies. The Walk Master had devised a walk slightly less than usual six miles starting from Neatherd Moor, East Dereham. From here we took a footpath north, emerging to a great view of the 1964 Water Tower. Continuing our way north to Northall Green, we then headed west. During this leg of the walk we took a couple of wrong turns and had to walk back, so we ended up doing our six miles. After walking through Humbletoft, the walk became very undulating before we emerged on to Rush Meadow, where we followed the river Wensum south, passing the sewage works. We made our way east towards East Dereham, emerging from a footpath by “Ted Ellis Walk”. Lunch was taken on the west facing seats in the churchyard, as St. Nicolas church porch was locked. Checking that the church did not have a scratch dial, we headed into town, pausing to admire the pargeting on Bishop Bonner's Cottage. On our search for liquid refreshments we came upon the old Hollywood cinema, now the “Plough & Furrow” and boasting a “vast selection of bottled & draft beers” - we found it to have no real ale. Another pub too failed to provide this elusive commodity. Finally we came upon the King’s Head Hotelwhere we sampled Black Panther from the new Panther brewery that has risen from the ashes of the former Reepham Brewery. Refreshed, we headed east out of town passing the Victorian railway station complete with its water tower and water engine. On reaching Neatherd High School, we took the footpath north to Neatherd Moor. We headed west back to the cars, passing the duck pond. The Canapés were J Sainsbury’s Spicy red lentil dip and their Onion and garlic dip with Oatcakes. The “Holly Lane” mince pies were the second course – a bargain from Aldi at 29p for a pack of six! The Führer provided the Shortbreads, but these were not to the high standards of the Walk Master.