Mundesley Maritime Museum

The sea wall at Mundesley has always drawn me in - that particular Norfolk light, the way the shingle beach runs flat and endless. The Maritime Museum sits right there among the beach huts and coastal charm, a small but genuine collection that tells you something real about how people lived off these waters. You'll find lifeboat history, fishing kit from centuries past, and the sort of artefacts that actually belonged to local fishermen rather than museum committee donations.

It's the kind of place that rewards a proper wander rather than a quick tick-box visit. If you're into maritime history or your kids are the type to care about how a trawler engine works, you'll spend a solid hour here. Fair warning though - it's modest in scale, so don't expect anything grand. This isn't the National Maritime Museum; it's a community effort that knows exactly what it is.

The free admission helps. Allow an hour, maybe ninety minutes if you chat with any volunteers on duty - they tend to know the stories behind the bits in the cases. Mundesley itself is a proper seaside village, the kind with a decent chippy and a working pier, so combining this with beach time makes sense. It's about twenty minutes east of Norwich, well positioned if you're based at Woodland Holiday Park or any of the caravan sites dotted along this stretch. Go on a quieter weekday if possible; summer weekends see families en masse, which rather defeats the purpose of somewhere this intimate.