Situated outside the Church of St Mary Magdalene, Sandringham is  an interesting ancient Greek marble font.

This was brought from the Island of Rhodes in 1886 by the Duke of Edinburgh for his brother, the Prince of Wales, and is very probably of the ninth century. There is a Greek inscription around the upper rim which, translated, reads: ‘In the treasureship of Cyriacus, a deacon and Calvinus (the) humble this work was executed; and may the Lord preserve those that erect it. Amen‘*

*From the Church of St Mary Magdalene, Sandringham guide book

The parish church of St Mary Magdalene, Sandringham, has held memorials to many members and relations of the Royal Family from Queen Victoria onwards. It is used regularly as a place of worship by the Royal Family and Estate staff.

Sandringham Church is considered to be one of the finest carrstone buildings in existence and dates back in its present form to the 16th-century. The sumptuously decorated chancel with its carved angels frames the silver altar and reredos presented to Queen Alexandra by the American Rodman Wanamaker as a tribute to King Edward VII. He also presented her with the silver pulpit and a silver 17th-century Spanish processional cross.

Other notable features include a Florentine marble font, a Greek 9th-century font and stained glass from the 16th-century onwards.

Some special moments and memories from 2022, one from each month of the year. The photographs are taken from a calendar that I created for myself and due to the printing deadline, December’s photograph is also from November.

1. The Inclined Plane, Coalport, 2. Lichfield Cathedral, 3. Local Pathway, 4. Llangollen Canal Nr Chirk Aqueduct, 5. violet’s Tea Room Bridgnorth, 6. Waddesden Manor, 7. Tewkesbury, 8. Sandringham Church, 9. Attingham Park, 10. The Long Walk, Windsor, 11. The Guild Chapel, Stratford-upon-Avon, 12. Stratford-upon-Avon

Breakfast was excellent quality with standard ‘Full English’ and other cooked options on offer. There were cereals and toast but no continental options. After breakfast Mr C readdressed sorting out the windscreen repair. This involved a lengthy 30 minute online chat procedure where a five minute phone call would have achieved the same result with a lot less stress. Sadly a phone conversation is not an option. The reason that Autoglass had not phoned back on the previous day was due to the booking showing up for Monday 22nd August rather than Monday 15th August. Autoglass offer a 3-hour callout window which didn’t fit with our itinerary meant we had to book the car into the Norwich repair centre in a couple of days time.

With that loose end out of the way we were able to set off for our destination of the day, Sandringham. We enjoyed a walk around the gardens and visited the Fire Engine house before having lunch in the stable tearooms. I was plagued by wasps buzzing around my head causing me to stand up to eat my lunch so it was not an entirely relaxing experience. Afterwards, we visited the formal garden before entering the house ahead of our timed slot. The house is lovely and homely. Paddington was sitting at the tea table waiting for the Queen to arrive, although her handbag was rather neatly placed on the table with her emergency marmalade sandwich ‘for later’.

Before leaving Sandringham Estate we took time to visit Sandringham church before enjoying a refreshing drink and visiting the shop even though the skies were darkening and threatening rain. As we neared the car park the heavens opened and there was a torrential downpour. Mr C left me in a sheltered place whilst he dashed to fetch the car and bring it closer. My inner child caused me to laugh as I got soaked dashing the short distance to the car in torrential rain. The rain was so heavy that it ran off the fields onto the roads causing them to flood. Luckily we were following a bus that displaced the standing water off the road leaving the road relatively water free for us. Eventually we emerged from under the rain cloud to see the water evaporating off the warm fields.

Back at the hotel, Mr C struggled to find a restaurant for what would be his birthday meal, eventually settling on The Ivy in Norwich.  The food was delicious, although mine went cold quite quickly due to the fierce air-conditioning blowing in my direction. The waitress was excellent and kept our wine in a cooler rather risk it warming up on the table. Mr C was treated to a mini birthday cake profiterole which was a nice surprise for him; he had wanted to order profiteroles for dessert but they were only served in a pyramid for four people.

To round off the day, we had a nightcap on the hotel terrace which was quieter than it had been the previous evening. We were accompanied by another couple who had taken chairs and placed them next to the window to their room to keep an eye (or ear) on their young  girls who were sleeping inside.