Gressenhall

~ beetleypete


All photos can be enlarged for detail.

With nice weather this afternoon, I decided to take Ollie somewhere new. Just west of Beetley is the village of Gressenhall. Although slightly smaller than Beetley, it does have a definite centre, with a small shop and assorted houses that are clustered around the village green. The brown building on the left is the community centre and children’s playgroup.
Ollie fans, please note. He flatly refused to be in a single photo today!

On the far side of that green is a duck pond. But there were no ducks in residence today.

Gressenhall is 2.5 miles from Beetley, and can be accessed via a safe footpath, away from the traffic. It is the place where we can find our nearest pub, The Swan. A reasonable walk of about twenty-five minutes.

Opposite the pub is our nearest shop and post office. This small shop keeps old-fashioned opening hours, and the post office inside is only open on Monday afternoons! It is something of a hub for the local community, and is usually full of people chatting to each other, as they buy their newspapers, wine, or fresh produce. The owners live above the shop, and manage to keep it going in these difficult times for small businesses.

Gressenhall is mainly known for the Farm and Workhouse museum. This museum is just at the end of the road where we live, so we prefer to think it is in Beetley. However, the main road is the dividing line, so it is really in Gressenhall.
http://www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk/Visit_Us/Gressenhall_Farm_and_Workhouse/index.htm

I hope that you enjoyed this snapshot of village life in central Norfolk.

44 thoughts on “Gressenhall”

  3. Photo Enlarger Guy (PEG) here!
    Photo #1: What’s the red box by the tree? (There’s a similar white one in the second photo…)
    Photo #2: I count seven cars.
    Photo #3: Any turtles in that pond?
    Photo #4: No ducks in the duck pond. Any swans in “The Swan” pub? Also, the windowsills are in need of repair. The paint is peeling something awful. Hey, that’s a nice Chevy Blazer! I can’t quite make out the words on the little white sign to the left of the window above the left-side picnic table. Also, I can’t read the little sign inside the doorway….
    Photo #5: “Ice Cream Sold Here!” There’s a vase in each of the two windows above the “No Parking Please” sign. Cool roof tiles. Aha! Security camera! “SLOW” written on the pavement. And a bird flying in the air! The right-side lamp on the post office sign is missing its top! And what is that in the upstairs window to the left–looks like a 1960’s era telephone receiver.

    Those are the details that got my attention. I’ll leave the others for someone else. 😉

    Oh, did I mention that’s a nice quaint village that I’d like to visit? (I just hope the ice cream is not “soft serve”–yuck!).

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks for enlarging the photos and enjoying the details, David. You know I appreciate that.

      The red box is for ‘dog waste only’. Sited near the green where people walk dogs.
      The white box is probably for cable TV. It has a door and keyhole, so not a waste bin.
      There are seven cars, correct!
      No turtles in Norfolk, and the ducks were off visiting somewhere else.
      No swans in the pub, despite a large garden at the rear.
      The little sign inside the doorway is a ‘no smoking’ sign.
      The ice cream is of the bar/packaged variety, sold from a freezer. No soft-scoop.
      That is an old telephone dumped behind that window, or deliberately left off the hook!
      The village is very quaint, but also small. You would have to have somewhere else to go on to.

      Best wishes, Pete.

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      Reply

  4. It looks lovely and a nice walk too. It’s nice to see that some small local businesses keep going. I’m sorry Ollie didn’t want to be in the pictures, but I sympathise. I don’t like my picture being taken either. Have a great week.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. The Post Office is at the back of the shop. It used to be open every day, but lots of privatisation in the postal services affected it.
      Glad you liked it. This area is very ‘English’.
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. What you would call a liquor store, Elizabeth. Bars and pubs here are licensed to sell alcohol to be consumed inside them. Shops are licensed to sell it for consumption ‘off’ the premises. Hence the name. It would not be legal to open a bottle sold in this shop, until you have stepped outside.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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      Reply

  9. That looks like a pretty little village and good that it still has a shop as most villages these days have nothing, one of the issues we had when trying to find a good location to move to. And then we ended up in a hamlet, which not only has nothing, but not on a bus route either! Oh, well. Good views compensate. I love the village signs you get in the eastern side of the country, I wonder why we don’t see them elsewhere?

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. I like the signs too. I always look out for them when we are driving around. That shop is OK for bits and pieces, but you couldn’t do a full shop there. And you have to remember to go to the Post Office between 3 and 5 pm on Mondays! Better than nothing though.
      Best wishes, Pete. x

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  12. Glad to hear that the shop/post office continues. Scenes like that are sure few and far between here! I’m disappointed there’s no Ollie, but I’ll respect his privacy. 🙂

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  15. I clicked on photo’s .. I love this quaint post office quite a lot. What a lovely time it must be walking into such a building to post a letter . You’re very lucky to live in such a wonderful place with the beauty of all the buildings. Most things are modernized here and don’t have such appeal.. Take care, Laura

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