Having visited North Norfolk many times the one thing that never seems to get better is the drive across from the East Midlands via the A52 and A17 to reach Kings Lynn which provides a gateway to this rather nice part of England.

We had booked accommodation at The Black Lion pub in Walsingham for two nights before Christmas primarily to see the Thursford Christmas Spectacular, but this break also gave us a chance to catch up with our good friends Tim & Georgie for Saturday lunch as well as explore the local area and coast.

Walsingham, it turns out, has a massive religious significance as it is a major centre of pilgrimage. In 1061, according to the Walsingham legend, a Saxon noblewoman, Richeldis de Faverches, had a vision of the Virgin Mary. Thousands of people visit the village each year and there are shrines and churches dotted throughout Walsingham as a result representing the Anglican, Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox branches of the church.

Walsingham is also dubbed the 'Nazareth of England' and amazingly neither Heather or myself knew of the historical importance of the village when making the hotel reservation, it just so happened to be four miles from Thursford. We are not religious but you certainly learn something new every day!

The show at Thursford on the Saturday evening lived up to the 'Christmas Spectacular' billing. It was a top notch show complete with comedy, singing, dancing and music spanning the ages but with a broadly Christmas theme set all in magical surroundings. Over 100 performers covered everything from Christmas Carols, Riverdance, Ballet, 1950s pop music, Gospel Choir, Dancing Penguins, through to 'Putting on the Ritz' during the three hour show. It really was very good and something that we would highly recommend seeing - but get in quick as it sells out well in advance.

Our return to the East Midlands gave us the opportunity to visit some other parts of the North Norfolk coast including Wells-next-the-Sea, Thornham and Hunstanton. The beaches, particularly of places likes Wells-next-the-Sea and Thornham are lovely and Hunstanton, even though a large holiday town, still retains some quaint charm and is not as big and brash as places like Blackpool, or as tacky and overgrown as Great Yarmouth.

It was really nice to spend some time on the beach and seeing the sea on Christmas Eve despite it being a little bit fresh before heading back to the land locked East Midlands . . . . . although as we were heading to Leicester, rather than Derby, the delight of the A47 lay ahead of us. That's not a much better road either but there are some dual-carriageway sections!