Rations (Poppylands Cafe, Horsey)

Poppylands Cafe,

Horsey,

Wed-Mon 10-4,

Highly Recommended

After my recent trips to the Pyrenees and South coast the time had come to return to bread and butter cycle cafe reviewing with a trip nearer to home. To demonstrate my outdoor activity flexibility then next weekend I will be walking part of the Norfolk coast path with 8 rambling guests. I had recently put Mrs Crusader in charge of catering for this expedition but, despite not doing any research, claimed she was struggling to find an option for Saturday lunchtime. As Norfolk’s number one self appointed cafe expert I suggested that Poppylands at Horsey could be a good choice. The only problem was I had never actually been there to test out it’s suitability.

I therefore teamed up with Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) on a 50 mile round trip from Hard to Please House to check it out.

I can’t remember if I have mentioned that I had recently been on a 450 mile, 11 climb (4 of which on the current TdF) ride across the Pyrenees with Andrew. But I have and as such we were both feeling pretty fit so enjoyed our fastest ever ride until we found Poppylands cafe just pass Horsey Mill on the coast road.

Poppylands is 1940's themed

I hadn’t realised that Poppylands was 1940s themed and hoped that tea and cake won’t be rationed. I became less worried as there was a good cake selection which would have used up several ration books. I had lemon sponge and Andrew chocolate cake.

Sponge cake selection

Andrew was clearly worried about rationing to, so demanded that his tea was strong. We returned to the 1940s themed courtyard and waited for our refreshments. 

Refreshments

They soon turned up but as Andrew poured his tea I could see a rant brewing (pardon the pun) as it looked a bit on the weak side. Before he could get started another lady came haring out with extra tea bags, hot water and mug apologising that the tea had not been delivered to the necessary strength and he was welcome to make it up to his desired strength. Andrew was most impressed and we agreed Poppylands was an excellent stop. The cakes were also fabulous and we were both impressed that the chocolate one had retained its moistness. I would highly recommend a visit.

Now fuelled with cake and with the wind behind our return ride was even faster and we started to believe that we were actually good cyclists (we are not) as we started to plan next years over ambitious trip to ride all the big climbs in the Alps. To round off an excellent day then on my return to Crusader Towers I was able to submit a report to 'head of catering on long walks' that Poppylands would make an excellent stop for our forthcoming bike free adventure.

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.5	7	6.8	8.71	7.8	7.36

Route

Click her to download 52 mile Aylsham Hemsby loop gpx file to your GPS

Diet tips. (Horsey Mill, Horsey)

Horsey Mill,

Horsey,

Everyday 10:30-16:00 

It was very windy again today so I thought it would be appropriate to go to a cafe by a windmill. The nearest one that I could think of was the National Trust owned Horsey Mill. It would mean a nearly 60-mile round trip (half of which would be into the wind) but I was sure it would be worth it.

When today's cycling guest, Big George, arrived I told him of my plan. He was very excited to be going to a real windmill and readily agreed. Maybe I should have mentioned the 60-mile round trip part of the plan as well but I thought it best he didn't know about that bit as he may not have been so keen. 

On the way there Big George informed me he had decided to lose some weight and had installed a calorie counting app on his phone. He said he had already lost a few kilograms in the first couple of weeks. I know when someone tells you this you are meant to say 'oh, I thought it looked like you had lost a bit of weight' which I did, although it didn't.

Big George was very pleased so spent sometime telling me about his calorie counting strategy. After awhile he requested that I didn't tell anyone about our diet based chat as it wasn't in keeping with his hardman, beer drinking, rugby based image. I promised I would never speak of our conversation again.

After a long slog into the wind we arrived at the National Trust owned Horsey Mill. On arrival we discovered that the mill was having major repairs with little of it left and no sails. Big George was very disappointed to have come all this way without being able to go into the mill. I pointed out that he would have burnt a lot of calories getting here so at least his new calorie counting app would be happy.

Horsey Mill not looking very windmill like

However the tea room was in full working order so Horsey Mill currently just has a National Trust tea room as the only attraction there to visit. 

Outside the only attraction left that was the tea room

After locking our bikes and going inside we were greeted with more bad news as they only had a limited winter menu available so no cake or scones but only a few tray bakes and toasted teacakes available. The nice lady explained they only got a few visitors a day during the winter so it wasn't worth having things that go stale. This seemed fair enough although maybe if they had a proper attraction, like a working mill, then a few more people might turn up. I therefore decided to make a small donation to speed the work up.

Part of the limited winter cake selection

I had a toasted tea cake and some brownie. After Big George had checked his calorie counting app he decided he could have a toasted teacake with his coffee as long as he cycled another 30 miles today. Despite a toasted teacake having the word cake in it it is not a cake but a fruit based bread so does not qualify to be rated in may cake taste quality (CTQ) category.

Toasted tea cakes that are not actually cake

As with most NT properties these days our drinks were served in paper cups notwithstanding this our drinks were both good and scored well. 

Good drinks shame about the cups

The Brownie was excellent and I gave a good CTQ mark. But it wasn't all good news as it came served on it's serviette rendering it useless for crumb wiping purposes. I expected better from the National Trust and I will be writing to their staff training department shortly. Remember #Keepcakeoffserviettes.

#keepcakeoffserviettes

Apart from no attraction, no cakes or scones, drinks in paper cups and cake on serviettes it was actually a very pleasant stop and worth the long ride. Although I suggest you might like to wait for the mill to be repaired and the in-season menu to be in operation before you go.

On the way back Big George gave me today's cycling guest cycling top tip.

Cycling Guest Cycling top tip No 61. If you want to complete a 60 mile bike ride without running out of energy then make sure you have more than just a toasted teacake at your mid ride refreshment stop.

Big George was clearly starting to fade but fortunately I always carry some spare energy gels for just such emergencies and kindly let Big George have one (for only £5). He was reluctant as the extra calories were not part of today's calorie plan but needs must and he told his calorie counting app that he would go without an evening meal instead.

With his energy supply topped up and wind behind we soon got home. Big George was pleased as he would now have time to update his new 'Big George's Diet Tips for hardmen, beer drinking, rugby fans ' blog with today's update.

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
7.70	6.0	4.50	7.50	7.0	6.40

Route

Click here to download 56 mile Norwich Sea Palling loop Gpx file for your gps