Sand dunes at the nature reserve at Holme

It's a wonderfully convenient thing to be able to walk along the coast then catch a bus back to base. That's what the Coasthopper Bus Service enables. It's regular, frequent, friendly and covers the coast the full length of this walk. Use it instead of your car - you know it makes sense!

So we strode forth from Hunstanton through Holme nature reserve with its pines and dappled shade, to The Lifeboat at Thornham for lunch, which we had in their outside courtyard in the sun.

From Thornham we follow the approved inland route (not as dull as the guide book suggests) to return to the coast at Brancaster church, now housing a little shop to replace the local shop which has been sold as living accommodation.

After a rest for our sore feet we eat at The Orange Tree at Thornham, a rather pretentious square-plate-drizzled-with-jus establishment with stiff prices and some braying second-homers up from London to make their city presence felt by all. A delightful young waitress offset the worst the place could do (ants in the salt, hideous paintings, hard surfaces causing echoes from the braying diners) but could not lessen the cost of a very expensive meal. Maybe that's inevitable for a multi-rosetted highly acclaimed restaurant.

Popped in to the White Horse at Holme for a final pint. Sadly unpopulated though with the potential to be busier and more friendly later in the season.

A basic menu along the refrain of sausage egg and chips but I'd be happy to drop in for a bite that wouldn't break the bank.

The most important thing is that this is a local pub, not a boasting station for second-homers. We worry about the way north Norfolk has been taken over by them, leaving the very communities they came to see stranded and empty. We note that in the same month the local shop at Brancaster has closed, The Ship at Brancaster reopens as a gastro-pub.