Month: May 2025

Pensthorpe 2025 4: The Trailer Ride

The penultimate post in my series about Saturday’s West Norfolk Autism Group outing to Pensthorpe on Saturday, looking at the trauker ride.

Welcome to the penultimate post of my mini-series about the West Norfolk Autism Group outing to Pensthorpe which took place on Saturday. So far there has been an introductory post, a post covering the Discovery Centre and those general pictures not shared in the opener and a post dedicated to the Cranes and Flamingos. This post zeroes in on the trailer ride, for me an essential part of the Pensthorpe experience.

SEEING THE BITS THAT ARE NOT WALKABLE

Pensthorpe is a very large site (from Anglo-Saxon times until the 14th century Pensthorpe was a town, larger than nearby Fakenham), and there are some parts that cannot be accessed on foot, which is where the trailer ride comes in. On this occasion there was a small delay on the stated start time of the ride. As well as a natural park/ nature reserve, Pensthorpe owns farm and grazing land, and generates all its own electricity, mainly via solar panels. Among the beasts that are taken to graze here in the appropriate season are sheep, Aberdeen Angus cattle and longhorn cattle. There is both old and new growth woodland, with one section having started life as a classic intensive conifer plantation, now being thinned out to allow more sunlight to reach the forest floor. One also gets distant views of some of the lakes, including ones equipped with nesting platforms for Common Tern. There are two sections of the route that were once parts of railways, both closed in the early 1960s, and the infrastructure destroyed. At one stage there is a direct view of a ‘maltings’ building (making malted barley is the first stage of the process of beer making). There were dragonflies about, though I was unable to capture any on camera – strictures regarding moving targets when you yourself are in motion apply as much to the only kind of shooting I am interested in as to the other kind. There are many kinds of bird and bat box to be seen. Also reminders of the natural history of the area in the form of small lakes where water has filled holes originally gouged out by glaciers. These are important habitats for creatures such as frogs. The site’s single most important asset is the river Wensum, a chalk stream, and a such heavily protected. I enjoyed my journey on the trailer, and having remembered that I travelled on the non-drivers side on previous occasions I sat on the driver’s side this time round.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are the pictures from the trailer ride…

Crossing the Wensum.
A place for hedgehogs to hibernate in the winter.
Bat boxes, circling the tee so that bats using them can always position themselves as far from the sun as possible.
Rhododendrons
A Greylag Goose family.

Pensthorpe 2025 3: Cranes and Flamingos

The third post in my series about the West Norfolk Autism Group trip to Pensthorpe.

This is third post in my series about the West Norfolk Autism Group outing to Pensthorpe (see here and here). This post is devoted to the cranes and flamingos. I made two visits to that part of Pensthorpe in the course of the day, one near the start, and one just after eating lunch.

THE CRANE AND FLAMINGO AREA

The Crane and Flamingo Area has two ways in and out, both in between the Flamingo pond and the Crane hide. It is close to the wetland area, and also close to the Monet inspired bridge. Pensthorpe is very well equipped with signage, so finding one’s way there is not difficult, but it is not on the way to or from anywhere else, so it requires a conscious decision to give it your attention. There are four different crane species to be seen, each viewable from a different window of the hide.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here is the full crane/ flamingo photo gallery…

Pensthorpe 2025 2: The Discovery Centre and General

The second post in my Pensthorpe series: A look at the Discovery Centre and the rest of my general photos,

This is the next post in my series about the West Norfolk Autism Group outing to Pensthorpe Nature Reserve (68 of us went in total). It features the Discovery Centre and those of the general photos that I have not already shared.

THE DISCOVERY CENTRE

The Discovery Centre at Pensthorpe is a small museum featuring exhibits about the natural history and evolution of birds, stuff about bees, stuff about the area through the ages, and a couple of mini-habitats – a fish tank and specially created habitat tank for harvest mice (as well as being tiny – an adult harvest mouse weighs 4-6 grammes – these creatures are exceedingly shy, and they did not show themselves while I was in there). Though I would recommend visiting it at least once when at Pensthorpe there is no need fit such a visit into any kind of plan for exploring the site – it is located close to the main entrance and can be fitted in any time you fancy.

OUT AND ABOUT AT PENSTHORPE

As well as the specific locations of interest there is an enormous amount to be seen just walking around the site – huge numbers of water birds of a wide variety, sculptures, art works of various kinds, a great variety of habitats, and lots of information boards all of which merit attention.

PHOTOGRAPHS

This the second half of the general photo gallery…

This is at the entrance/ exit of Pensthorpe. Mammoth bones have been found in the course excavations in this part of the world – 10,500 years ago or thereabouts this was at the southern edge of a vast ice sheet, and beyond the ice sheet would have been tundra, where the mammoths would have roamed.

Pensthorpe 2025 1: Setting the Scene

The opening post in what wiull be a series about the annual West Norfolk Autism Group outing to Pensthorpe Nature Reserve.

Yesterday saw the annual West Norfolk Autism Group outing to Pensthorpe, a nature reserve near the town of Fakenham in Norfolk. This post lays out the day and introduces areas of the reserve that I will be covering in more detail, before ending with some general Pensthorpe pictures that don’t belong in any particular post. Please note for both this and subsequent posts in the series: a gallery can be opened by clicking on the first picture there in, and viewing pictures as a gallery enables them to be seen at larger size.

THE DAY IN BRIEF

Some of those coming on this trip had chosen to make their own way to Pensthorpe and meet us there, but for those who either did not wish to do this or had no option of doing so a coach had been hired. Departure from the parking area near Gaywood Library (King’s Lynn and its environs are not massively equipped with places where a coach can park up) was scheduled for 9:30AM, meaning that to ensure a prompt departure we had to get there a bit before that to take our places. As it happens other than the driver and his young son who was also along for the day I was the first to arrive and board the coach. We set off exactly at the appointed hour, and pulled into the coach parking area at Pensthorpe at approximately 10:15 (Pensthorpe when approached from King’s Lynn is a little further than Fakenham, and a road diversion forced us closer to the centre of Fakenham than would have been normal for a journey to Pensthorpe). After a group photograph using the coach as a backdrop we were ready to start the day in earnest. Equipped with brightly coloured paper wristbands by way of indicating that our admission was paid we set off. The only absolutely fixed points of the day were the trailer rides (I was booked on the second of the two we had organized, due to depart at noon) and the return journey, scheduled for 3:15PM (and we departed exactly on time, arriving back at Gaywood just after 4PM). The rest was up to us. There is a huge amount to see and to do at Pensthorpe, and the next section briefly introduces some of things I did, with photographic highlights.

SOME HIGHLIGHTS

One of my favoured areas at Pensthorpe is the Waders Aviary, to which I made several visits (it is centrally located, so on the way to or from almost anywhere on the site).

Not all of the birds in the Waders Aviary are actually Waders.

Also ideally located for dipping in and out of as and when is the Discovery Centre.

The Trailer Ride is as far as I am concerned an essential part of the Pensthorpe experience:

My other great favourite, which I visited twice in the course of the day, is the Crane and Flamingo area.

These are neither crane nor flamingo, but were to be seen in between the Flamingo pool and the Crane hide.
This shot of a flamingo taking to the air justified my second visit to that area all on its own.

GENERAL PHOTOGRAPHS

I end with photos from non-specific parts of Pensthorpe:

A nesting coot (moorhens also build floating nests).
The Monet inspired bridge.
The first of a number of shots of a coot family – my first ever sighting of coot chicks.

James and Sons April Auction

A look back at James and Sons’ April Auction, a brief mention of County Championship action and a photo gallery.

On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week James and Sons had its April auction, 1,000 stamp and postal history lots across the two days. On day one I was at work, one floor above where the auction was taking place, but had left bids on two lots, the fate of which would decide my approach to day two where I would be following from home.

A MODESTLY SUCCESSFUL AUCTION

The opening day of the auction went well overall for the company, and well for me personally – I got both lots I had left bids on, and both sufficiently cheaply that I was still in a position to bid on more items on day two. Lot 193 was the first of my lots:

Lot 398 was five pages of Russian steam locomotive stamps:

DAY TWO

This could have been a very quiet day, but fortunately it wasn’t completely so. The biggest success of the day was lot 762, which went for £140. My first bid of the day was on lot 701, and I was successful:

Lot 728 was my next success…

Lots 785 and 840 also went to me…

COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP

Another round of County Championship fixtures got underway today. Due to a meeting this morning I missed the first session of play, and I will be missing most of tomorrow as it is the West Norfolk Autism Group’s annual outing to Pensthorpe. However I have got to enjoy Somerset having superb afternoon and evening against Essex at Taunton. Essex were 115-2 at the high water mark of their innings, but since then it has been one-way traffic – they are now 180-9 with Noah Thain having just gone for 41, caught Rew bowled Pretorius. I am not entirely sure about Kasun Rajitha;s batting credentials, though the fact that he is below Sam Cook, sometimes adhesive (as indeed he was today) but unquestionably a tail ender, tells one something, but Jamie Porter is an absolutely blown in the glass genuine number 11.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

These coasters (seven images in total) are an early birthday present from my boss.
The Trevithick/ Pen-y-Darren £2