Ludham

"Town centre" watch out for horse and carts.

It was a rare and lovely afternoon, much too hot to work on the

allotment, so I decided to skive off to Ludham, a village just eight miles

or so from Acle and only ten minutes away by car down windy country lanes.

The hammer beamed roof in all it's glory.

It stands at the end of a dyke leading to Womack Water and, although small

in size, it has a history dating back over a thousand years to the days of

King Canute (the one who wanted to control the tide - and failed) circa 1016.

The hanging - zoom in, the detail is quite something.

The first place to begin any exploration is the church.  St Catherines is

full of wonderful, historical stuff - a fifteenth century font, an oak

hammer beam roof with the wheel of St Catherine carved into every

second spandrel, a magnificent painted rood screen and a rather special

crucifixion painting above the nave.

All very standard fayre for one of the hundreds of mediaeval churches

scattered across the region but what did if for me was the Ludham hanging

- a map of the village recently made from a patchwork of scraps of material,

wools, felt, sparkles and the love of the present day villagers who

stitched it all together.

Look - there's the windmill

They even remembered the cows

The detail is quite amazing - fields and pastures, woods and waterways,

tiny cottages exact in every detail, there's even a three dimensional

windmill that stands out at a jaunty angle in gravity-defying majesty.

Milk and two sugars please

Then just a quick hop and a skip saw me over the road and into the

Alfresco Tea Room with it's bone china cups and saucers, sugar tongs,

tea strainers (which I forgot to use), dainty table cloths and best of all

- home made cakes and scones.  

The perfect end to a delightful afternoon playing hookey!