Holt is a small Georgian market town a few miles inland from the north Norfolk coast. Most of it was rebuilt after a fire in 1708 destroyed much of the medieval town, which is why the high street is lined with handsome brick and flint houses of a fairly uniform age. It has an air of quiet prosperity, with independent shops, delis, bookshops and cafés, and it makes a very civilised lunch stop.
The town is home to Gresham's School, founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham, which counts the poet W. H. Auden and the composer Benjamin Britten among its former pupils. Just outside town, the North Norfolk Railway, a heritage steam line known as the Poppy Line, runs from Holt to Sheringham on the coast through heathland and past the sea. On summer days you might hear the whistle across the fields.
The coast here is very different from the cliffs of the south. Between Holt and the sea lie salt marshes, shingle banks and small villages like Cley-next-the-Sea, with its famous windmill, and Blakeney, where boats leave to see the seals on Blakeney Point. Inland, the Glaven valley and the heathlands of Holt Country Park and Kelling Heath offer quiet woods and heather. Birdwatchers flock here, especially in spring and autumn, when migrating birds stop on the marshes.
Riding around Holt is a pleasure if you like small roads. The A148 and A149 are the main routes, and the coast road can be busy in summer, but the lanes between the villages are narrow, often sunken between hedges or flint walls, with tight corners and blind crests. Gravel and mud from farm vehicles are common, so ride with a margin. Holt is small, so for fuel and bigger supermarkets you might need to head to Sheringham, about nine kilometres away, or to Fakenham. In early summer, when the poppies are out in the fields and the light is clear and long, this corner of Norfolk is lovely.