Cromer #2 - being there

I took a walk up to the lighthouse hills in the morning - windy and wanting to rain. Then I headed down the wild-and-woolly steps to the east beach, and as I walked along the beach I saw the lifeboat go out.

When I got to the Gangway the ILB tractor was coming out - it turns out that flares had been seen off East Runton so the ILB had gone out, but being too rough the big boat went out to escort it back and continue the search.

The no.1 lifeboat returned about 4pm, but it took a long time to rehouse - the sea was pretty rough (due to the north-westerly wind, I was reliably informed) so the boat kept drifting sideways beyond the slipway.

I stepped off the end of the prom on the west beach (where I arrived yesterday) and as I was watching the boat finally being pulled up the slipway, I turned to see a puff of smoke further down the beach, followed by the sound (WHUMP!) of the explosion that had caused it - it was the RAF bomb disposal unit 'disposing' of one of those flares, which turned out to be 25 years old and had just turned up.

Eventually I returned to the pier to watch the waves, the birds, the sunset, a parglider floating in the twilight and finally the Norfolk moon at dusk.

Cromer is a calm and restful place. By the end of the day I was exhausted.