Tag Archives: chip shop

Reading, Quizzes and Chocolate

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Julia went to the chip shop to get tea. I made dessert. It was fruit and nut chocolate served with a cup of tea. In other words, cooking was minimalist tonight.

watched Tenable tonight. It’s back on at a better time and as I slept through Pointless I needed some quiz input. I was awful on Wham! songs and European football. Pop music and sport aren’t my best subjects. Fortunately I redeemed myself on Dogs. I was pretty good on Kings of England (I still thing the question setters were wrong to exclude Edgar the Aetheling, as he was elected, even if he wasn’t crowned. However, on a quiz where a contestant can only name two of the first ten Kings after 1066, this is probably a step too far). My work on US states is paying off and I was able to name the ten that begin with T or N. I can do the English ones that begin with N. but completely forgot Tyne and Wear. Probably because I don’t see it a s a proper county.

Don’t ask me about Scottish, Welsh and Irish counties – I am even worse on them.

After that I sat at the computer with the intention of writing classic literature. I ended up reading blogs, playing games and thinking deep thoughts.

All this took so long that I am only just finishing the blog post for the day. I did think about ending with a joke about procrastination, but that will have to wait.

Full Speed Ahead, and Damn the Cholesterol!

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The first life-threatening dietary experience of the holiday was fish and chips in Sheringham. We started the day with bran flakes in the hotel room and, after a long, hot walk round Strumpshaw Fen decided it was time to head off in search of a pier.

I think it’s time to reveal that we have set ourselves the target of visiting every pleasure pier on mainland Britain. This may expand to encompass Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Isle of Wight, but then again, it may not. There are about 65 of them and based on the events of this week I may run out of cash and stamina before I see them all.

We tried Cromer pier, but couldn’t find anywhere to park. They seem to have obtained a large supply of No Entry signs since last time we visited, about 15 years ago. What with the one way system and the road works we tried three different ways to get round and failed each time. Eventually, after a seven point turn in a narrow street, I broke the cycle and parked behind the church, only to find out that all the space was reserved for disabled drivers and taxis. One of the reasons I hadn’t noticed this before parking was that the painted signs were faded. The other was that there were no disabled drivers or taxis using the spaces. This was to become a familiar pattern of the holiday.

That effectively broke my spirit and I decided to call it a day and head for Sheringham. You can park in Sheringham, next to the station with a preserved steam railway and a Victorian Penfold letter box (originally in use 1866-79). They seem rather more welcoming in Sheringham.

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We eventually ended up in the Sheringham Trawler, a bright and cheery fish and chip restaurant. I was going to link to an information site – visitsheringham.co.uk – but they have a notice on the page telling me not to link to them without permission. While I can understand them having a problem with me stealing content I’m not sure why it’s a problem for me to link to them. They are, after all, a site that you would think would want exposure for Sheringham.

The establishment was, as I said, bright and cheery. They have pictures of local scenes on the walls and a programme of local events in the menu. The staff were great and the menu was good, though as long as they have haddock and chips with mushy peas all menus are good for me.

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When the meal arrived it lived up to our hopes, being very tasty, generous in the portion department ans accompanied by a good-sized lemon wedge and a plastic container of tartare sauce. I suppose we shouldn’t be using so much plastic but that and the fact that they don’t tell you where the fish comes from, were the only two negative points that I can think of.

The batter was light and crisp too, which I forgot to mention earlier.

Another nice touch was the use of beef dripping for frying. It’s supposed to be healthier than more fashionable fats and why just upset vegetarians when you can also offend pescatarians and Hindus too.

I have a low opinion of pescatarians, so this is a plus point.