North Norfolk

A little bit about North Norfolk

http://www.visitnorthnorfolk.com/

Situated on the east coast of England, north Norfolk has 45 miles of stunning coastline, beaches, big skies and breath-taking countryside.

From the unspoilt beaches at Wells-next-the-Sea, 2016 Beach of the Year, to the family friendly sands of Hunstanton and Cromer and the Blue Flag beaches in Sheringham & Mundesley, north Norfolk's coastline offers something for everyone.

Head inland to the countryside with its rich agricultural roots & you will discover market towns & villages, home to eateries, shops & artisans, as well as museums, stately homes & places of cultural & historical interest. And as Norfolk is the driest county in the UK, it's perfect to visit all year round.

Set in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, north Norfolk is home to much of The Broads National Park, Britain's largest protected wetland, as well as several nature reserves of international importance, making north Norfolk a haven for wildlife & birds, and great for walking. North Norfolk is also renowned for its great local produce, which can be enjoyed at the many pubs, restaurants & cafes across the area.

Nature Reserves

Pensthorpe: 01328 851465

Owned by Bill and Deb Jordan and a wonderful day out for nature lovers. Set in 500 acres of beautiful North Norfolk countryside, there are miles of nature trails for visitors to explore through fen meadows, woods and lakelands. Most recently the location for the BBC’s Springwatch TV programme.

Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve: 01328 856788

The moor (an ancient word for fen) has been leased by the Hawk and Owl Trust as a nature reserve, the newest in Norfolk. Sculthorpe is a vibrant , working, living fen incorporating the crafts that keep the fen habitat open and vigorous-reed and sedge cutting, woodland coppicing and hurdle-making to name but a few.

Tourist Information Centre: 01485 210256

In praise of the Norfolk coast: big skies, sandy beaches and subtle beauty   

Patrick Barkham - The Guardian Newspaper 03/02/2016

The north Norfolk coast is feted for its big skies and generous sandy beaches but this young coastline – still coming to terms with the last ice age – is also home to the most ancient of human traces. To the east, the rapidly eroding cliffs at Happisburgh recently revealed 850,000-year-old human footprints, the oldest yet found beyond Africa. To the west, erosion on the beach at Holme at the turn of the century uncovered Seahenge, a cryptic circle of oaks erected in the bronze age, possibly for funereal rites. These ancient marks, and the uncertainty around them, challenge and thrill us.

If you arrive on the Norfolk coast fresh from the bombastic cliffs of Dorset or the pounding Atlantic of Cornwall, then this land and its brown-grey North Sea (“Bronze, darling,” I was told by the artist Maggie Hambling) can appear underwhelming. There is rarely a grand collision of wave and rock in Norfolk; sea and land seep into each other via intricate, impenetrable grey-green salt marshes, and this landscape seeps into you, too, its space and subtle colours taking up residence.

The north Norfolk coast is the cradle of British conservation: Blakeney Point was the first coastal nature reserve in Britain. Seal-watching is a popular excursion and witnessing great skeins of pink-footed geese honking as they descend on Holkham marshes at dusk in winter is one of the natural wonders of the world.

Norfolk’s fresh air and subtle beauty would be enough but this coast also bequeaths us space, freedom, autonomy and community; four precious things that money cannot easily acquire. When these experiences combine, we can find ourselves momentarily liberated on that indeterminate line between land and sea.