Travel

Malcolm Ginsberg, Jewish Weekly Travel Editor, is the Editor-in-Chief of Business Travel News, a member of the International Travel Writers Alliance, a noted analyst on aviation matters. Over the years he has been hosted by Jewish communities as varied as Hong Kong; Hobart, Australia; Quito, Ecuador and Cape Town, a very Jewish city at the tip of South Africa. Travel organisers please contact malcolm. ginsberg@btnews.co.uk www.btnews.co.uk

Fancy a short family holiday between now and the end of the year, or perhaps planning for 2022. The pandemic has changed everything. Think staycation and consider Great Yarmouth, perhaps the best venue for self-catering anywhere in the United Kingdom.

The county of Norfolk is flat, making it ideal for caravan parks, on offer usually of a quality semi-permanent nature accommodating up to eight with en-suite facilities. The better ones are attached to leisure complexes with evening entertainment. It’s 150 miles from London and 200 miles from Manchester. Fresh vegetables galore, but don’t expect a kosher food counter in the local Tesco.

As with most UK holiday areas Norfolk and Great Yarmouth have experienced both boom and bust with the pandemic. Summer 2021 has been wonderful, and with major investment under way 2022 promises even more.

The railway came to Great Yarmouth in 1844 and the one-time fishing village has not looked back, offering one of the longest and safest sandy beaches in the UK.

With a review of this nature it is impossible to detail all that Great Yarmouth offers, its Golden Mile sea front best described as a classic England seaside holiday resort with amusement arcades galore on one side, and a fine sandy beach on the other, facing the North Sea. The Hippodrome Circus is a must, a world class entertainment centre (no clowns and no animals).

The Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach (£13.50 for those over three), with Covid-19 in mind, it has introduced new opening times to cut down close proximity queuing. In a three-hour session it is quite possible to try those of the 25 rides suitable for each age group, ten minutes being the longest waiting time, unlike another theme park not dissimilar (and much more expensive) just outside Windsor, where up to one hour can be the norm.

Two other nearby attractions worth mentioning are the Slingshot ride, a 45m tower that propels two brave patrons into the sky, causing an escalating adrenaline rush (£10 each in a capsule), or giving similar views but at a much slower pace, a Great Yarmouth version of the London Eye, 38 six-person pods (£8). It offers views up to ten miles.

The Yarmouth Wheel and promenade

Great times at Great Yarmouth

And then there is the fabulous Hippodrome Circus. Think Hugh Jackman and the marvellous 2018 film hit, but this is much more English. Forget Barnum and his antics.

Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers may be recalled by some as a backing group for the Beatles (and many others) on tour in the 1960s. Together with his late father Jack, an established showman and entrepreneur in Great Yarmouth, Peter purchased the legendary (built 1903) Hippodrome Circus in 1978 with its amazing, concealed swimming pool and started the unending task of renovation, refurbishment, keeping up with the latest from Health & Safety. It is a magnificent circular auditorium seating up to 1,000 and with the new Backstage Museum worth a visit regardless of the show. Still very much a family business with Peter (now 78) very much involved, Son Jack is the compare whilst elder brother Ben is the General Manager. The Jay ladies look just about everything else in what is a complex operation. During the school holidays the grandchildren help too.

The ‘Jay’ Hippodrome reopened in 1981, last year winning the race for the first British theatre to come back to life. And what a life for its 40th anniversary. The full riot of colour, magic, amazing acts, beautiful acrobatics, illusion, fire, water and joyful entertainment with the opening, as one would expect, The Greatest Showman, the music, and the man himself in the guise of acrobat Billy George later to astonish us performing on a 7ft Cyr Wheel. It’s a proper 20th century circus with some extraordinary performers. No animals and a fast-moving very well-choreographed show.

Just where do you start. Juggling by Roberto Carlos is fabulous. He only needs to wear one hat, but he manages seven in the air, all at one time. Taylor Morgan is an illusionist par excellence, Pedro Franco and Fabio Santos on the Wheel of Death running around the outside high up in the air blindfolded. Sarah Jane Macaggi from Spain would probably get a ‘10’ in the Olympic gymnastics as she performs her routine to music.

In their own cage four motorcycle riders keep up the revs in a dramatic and spectacular full power demonstration of what you can do on two wheels.

Great Yarmouth is noisy, one can’t escape that. For something quieter there is always the Norfolk Broads, a good starting point Saint Olves less than ten miles away; also Reedham, but book your hire boat or tour in advance.

Malcolm and family on the Great Yarmouth Waltzer

www.great-yarmouth.co.uk https://www.hippodromecircus.co.uk

“ The holiday was a dream from start to finish.”

MRS SILVER, LONDON

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Rest assured, knowing you will have access to good quality kosher meals for the duration of your trip. A dedicated team of travel experts, are themselves passionate and experienced kosher travellers, will ensure you receive the best service throughout your holiday.

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