Page 128 - 2022-08-01 RiDE

BRITAIN’S BEST RIDE-OUTS SEASIDE

and thousands of tonnes of Norwegian rock groynes
piled in sections along the beach, creating havens for sea
life and turning the beach into a series of scalloped bays.
From Sea Palling we nip to Happisburgh, past the
barber’s shop lighthouse, for a quick peek at the
disappearing shoreline as the cliff crumbles back, year
after year, into the waves. It’s one of the least permanent
coastlines in the world and a few years ago a whole
street of houses was being eaten, one by one. They’re
gone now, washed into the sea, and the rest of the village
will go the same way unless the coastline is protected.
Onwards, past one of the UK’s major gas terminals at
Bacton with its forest of policed pipes and high security
fencing – you can bet that’s protected from the waves –
then we roll into Mundesley with its chunky concrete
WWII gun emplacements perched on the clifftop
proving the perfect spot for an impromptu sit-down in
the sun looking out across the wide sands and flat sea
down below. I could stay here all day, but we have to
move on – away again, flashing past typical flint-clad
cottages and into the bustle of Cromer. The town is
always rammed with tourists and traffic, popular beyond The twists on harbour more famous for its broad sweep of sands
its means to cope, but we take a quick walk down by the the A149 are a stretching into the fading blue distance.
definite highlight
pier to watch kids hauling nets stuffed with crabs from With the Tiger Sport 660 parked up and looking
of the trip
the water. Maybe they’re the same crabs every time. immaculate among stacked fishing nets, we take out a
As the coast bevels round the northern edge of East mortgage and grab a box of fish and chips. Of a weekend,
There’s variety
Anglia, past Sheringham and Weybourne, on through in the landscape plenty of other bikers stop here for fish and chips, too. It
Salthouse and Cley-next-the-Sea, the landscape along the coast isn’t cheap, but it is good. Soon it’s time to get underway
changes character – marshier, fewer trees, salt flats again and we’re drawn to the quiet beauty and twists of
behind the sand dunes. the salt flats. It’s a world away glitzy Great Yarmouth.
Get a clear run on an We bop away into the low sun dropping across the
evening and the road is Wash, the light golden upping the contrast like an old
a joy. The Tiger Sport Hollywood movie. The final few miles into Hunstanton
feels alive as it darts reel by and we get to the prom, scattered with bikes, in
between the hedges. We time to grab a last coffee of the ride from Kay’s Donuts
roll into Wells-next- and have a quick go in the amusement arcade. Oh, we
the-Sea, a small fishing do like to be beside the seaside.

BIKE FEATURED

Wells-next-the-
Sea has great
harbour-side fish TRIUMPH TIGER
and chip shops SPORT 660
Price £8845
Power 80bhp
Weight 206kg
Triumph’s Tiger 660 Sport is
that rarest of beasts: a
nicely-priced middleweight
sports tourer, equally happy on
short Sunday blasts or
week-long tours — and wrapped
in Triumph’s excellent build
quality and finish.

20 | BRITAIN’S BEST RIDE-OUTS