Dunes River Cafe,
Acle,
Most days (weather dependent) 09:00-5:00
It was a very bleak and windy looking day and coincidentally we were going to be heading into the bleakest and windiest part of Norfolk on yesterday’s cafe cycle ride. I had planned a tour of Norfolk rivers and Broads with a stop at the Dune River Cafe at Acle Bridge.
The cafe at Acle Bridge has been on my cafes to visit list longer than any other as it is difficult to get to on a bike and has often been seasonal. It has also changed hands more than once and is now run by the same people who had the Dune cafe at Winterton beach before it sadly fell onto the beach.
I met with Andrew(who is notoriously hard to please) at Hard to Please House in Aylsham and as always spent sometime discussing the best clothing options for a bleak and windy, but still warm, trip into Broadland. Once cycling attire faffing was complete we set off and headed to our first river crossing at Potter Heigham.
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| River action from Potter Heigham Bridge |
Because of all the rivers in this part of the county there are less roads to choose from and the ones there are are often very busy. It also seemed to be international “drive on the smallest road you can” day as even the little lanes were full of cars.
Our next river crossing was at Acle Bridge where we found today’s cafe. Unfortunately there is a long stretch of busy road to get there so we were rather relived to make it in one piece although surprisingly we weren’t the only cyclists there today. Although we did at least remove our helmets whilst at the cafe.
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| Outside the Dune River Cafe. See if you can spot some other cyclists |
It was reasonably busy with most people opting to sit outside. There is a bit of room inside plus an overflow shed seating area which was also in use.
A prime outdoor table had just become free so Andrew settled in there whilst I checked out the cake selection and placed our order.
The cake selection was mainly tray bake and pastries in nature. I couldn’t resist the giant cherry Danish pastry whilst Andrew had a cheese sandwich (which is not cake). I wasn’t optimistic about the hot drinks as they came from a push button machine but for the sake of research I still opted for a Hot Chocolate but Andrew decided a cup of tea was the safest bet.
It was very relaxing sitting by the river watching the broads cruisers go by although it was still rather bleak.
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| Still looking bleak, even by the river. |
Our refreshments arrived and sadly, as predicted, the hot chocolate was poor. However the giant cherry Danish pastry didn’t disappoint and scored well.
I toted up the scores and incredibly it got the same rating as the Dune Cafe at Winterton (before it fell down). Proving once again what a thorough and consistent Cafe rating system I had invented.
We were also surrounded by ducks and Andrew wanted to know if I thought he should give them so e grated cheese from his sandwich. I didn’t think that many animals made cheese in the wild so it probably wasn’t part of a ducks regular diet and probably best avoided. Anyway there wasn’t time for Animal petting as we had more rivers and broads to visit.
Our next stop was Ranworth broad. Presumably as it was half term, then the whole of the Ranworth broad marina complex was full with all moorings taken. It wasn’t the tranquil stop I had hoped for so we pushed to our final river crossing at Wroxham.
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| The only bit of Ranworth broad with no boats |
This was the busiest of all with a traffic queue all the way through town and lots of river boat action.
With all river crossings now complete it was a final push back to Aylsham with our 50 mile bleak Broadland adventure complete and although it made a nice change it was a good reminder why I don’t often cycle out that way.
Scores
Guest Hot Drink Quality | Effective Cake Selection | Cake Quality | Ambiance and Atmosphere | Café Rating | |
5.1 | 7 | 6.8 | 8 | 7 | 6.78 |
Route to be published shortly
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