Visiting Cromer in the Rain: The Jewel of the North Norfolk Coast, Even When Wet!

Cromer is a little further afield for us, compared to the local beaches we visit: it is a 40 minute drive from home. We left home in glorious sunshine on what was the first warm and sunny day in weeks, hoping to hunt in the famous Cromer rock pools and eat ice cream. When we arrived it was gloomy, and within 3 minutes of our arrival the heavens opened! Inside I was crying, but on the outside I persuaded the boys to dance in the rain with me!

We headed to the pier, which was surprisingly busy, given the weather. The boys loved looking at the sea beneath their feet between the cracks in the boards, and were also fascinated by all the people crabbing. Cromer pier is very famous for its crabbing, with people placing pieces of bacon into crabbing nets and then dropping their lines from the pier to see what they could find. All along the pier were clear buckets with crabs inside, and it was lovely to see them up close: very odd-looking creatures! You can buy a crabbing line and bucket on the pier, for a relatively small sum (less than £5 for both) if you want to give it a go and catch your own dinner!

At this point the rain grew heavier so we went to the Ice Cream Shop on the Corner (our favourite ice cream in Cromer) which offers whipped ice cream in a variety of colours and flavours: the boys had strawberry, I had black cherry, and Mike opted for butter pecan. Other options were mint, blue raspberry, chocolate, banana, and coffee. We stood under the veranda of a local closed pub to eat our treats. Our plan was to go to No 1 for a fish and chip supper, (the best fish and chips not only in Cromer but in Norfolk!) but the queue was snaking down the street and the idea of standing in it in the rain was massively unappealing, so we continued to walk along the promenade, watching the sea. The tide was completely in, meaning there was very little beach (and even fewer rock pools) so we called it and day and headed back to the car looking like drowned rats.

It was a long drive just to get an ice cream, but we all agreed it was still a fun trip out and we loved spending time on the pier. Because of Covid restrictions no inside venues were open, but usually we wouldn’t be prohibited by the rain: No 1 has a very nice indoors restaurant where we would stop for dinner, we could let the boys play on the 2p machines in the small arcade, and there are a host of cafes and tea rooms to duck into for a cup of tea (and a sneaky slice of cake) whilst you wait for the rainy weather to pass. Today just wasn’t our day! But we love Cromer, and we will be back again soon.