Detour #154: Electrifying the Norfolk coast, UK
Photo Nik Berg
Our first fully electric Detour takes Nik Berg on a shore-hugging tour of Norfolk. Will the battery end up as flat as the landscape?
It’s an EV-friendly 100-odd miles from Hunstanton to Southwold, wiggling along the North Sea coast on a mix of A and B-roads. It’s also delightfully free of range-sapping hills and higher speeds that deplete batteries. Even better, it’s a pleasantly-warm Spring day and there’s no need to turn on the power-hungry heating. All in all this is set to be a perfect electric adventure.
There is, however, one slight problem. It’s 150 miles from home to Hunstanton (including a small detour to one of England’s straightest roads) and although we start the day fully juiced-up, half the battery has gone by the time we reach the home of kiss-me-quick hats, static caravans and amusements that really don’t look very amusing at all. Hunstanton is one of those seaside towns that has definitely had its heyday, but is still determinately living in the past. Nostalgic or just naff? As we drive through in our futuristic Kia EV6 I’m minded to think it’s the latter.
Nothing need ever change about the Old Hunstanton Beach which is just minutes away and offers miles of unspoilt sand, however. It also happens to be the only beach in Norfolk to face west, making it the perfect spot for a sunset. If I only I’d realised that before I set off.
The A149 take us inland a little passing through Holme-next-the-Sea, which is famous for its fabulous sand dunes, and the pretty village of Thornham. It’s a pleasant run through the hedgerows, but don’t expect to see much of the sea itself. In good news the meandering road allows the Kia to put a fair bit of energy back into its battery through regenerative braking.
As we enter Brancaster in a silent blur of modern automotive technology we pause for a reminder of motoring’s past. Just outside the village is Norfolk’s oldest surviving AA box. Over 1,000 of these boxes were built to provide shelter for patrolmen and members, but only a handful remain today and this one is Grade II listed and locked. Wouldn’t it be great if they installed a fast charger to future proof this spot and give drivers a reason to visit for years to come?
Should you need another incentive to drop into Brancaster then I can heartily recommend The Crab Hut in the village’s pretty harbour. The crayfish and sweet chilli roll is especially excellent. We sit and scoff in the open tailgate of the car watching boats bob up and down.
Energised again, we carry on through Burnham Market, a truly delightful village that dates to the 17th Century. It may be rather over-run with not-entirely-necessary-but-attractive-to-tourists shops, but it remains quaintly quintessential and worth exploring.
We e-motor on past more beautiful beaches and then suddenly find ourselves driving into a cloud of steam, as we run briefly parallel with the Wells & Walsingham Light Railway, and are reminded that our travel today is emissions-free. Cromer and its splendid Victorian pier is our next stop. We’re too early (or too late) for the bi-annual End-of-the-Pier variety shows, so off we whirr towards Winterton-on-Sea for some seal spotting.
Today they’re not basking on the beach, but we do see the fluid fellows frolicking about in the water and dip our toes in briefly ourselves. Putting the heated seats on to warm up afterwards doesn’t rob the Kia’s range at all, but despite a significant amount of energy recuperation on the winding coastal route it’s clear we’ll need to find a charger. Unfortunately that means taking a detour away from the coast towards Norwich and missing out on nearby California beach (yes really). Improving as the EV infrastructure is there are no rapid chargers nearby. The fancy Gridserve Electric Forecourt hasn’t quite been finished yet when we arrive (it’s open now) so we seek out an Ionity at Cringleford and in 20 minutes we’re back up to 80 per cent on the battery.
Even though it’s hardly on the way home to London, we decide to complete our coastal odyssey with a run to Southwold. Geographers will note that means we end our journey in Suffolk, but we’re too charmed to care. Residents describe it as “almost an island” because there’s just one road in and out and the village is sandwiched between the North Sea, the River Blyth and Buss Creek. We park up alongside rows of £50,000 beach huts waiting to be lifted over the sea wall for the summer season, and wander along the beach, the pier, and then into the town itself where George Orwell once lived, passing the Adnam’s brewery and drinking in the smell, but sadly not the final product, as we still need to wind our way home.
This is a tour that would be best done in a week rather than a day, but the fact that we could cover the distance without difficulty on electricity alone in such a short time is a promising start. More ambitious electric adventures are definitely on the way.