Steve's World Blog Information and articles on cities, towns and villages around the world.

December 19, 2017

Norfolk

Filed under: England,Holidays,United Kingdom — Tags: , , — needahand @ 12:32 pm

Norfolk – A popular holiday destination located in East Anglia in the United Kingdom, Norfolk is perhaps most famous for its Norfolk Broads. The county of Norfolk has an area of 2,074 square miles, a population of around 900,000 and has seven districts: Breckland, King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, Broadland, North Norfolk, South Norfolk, Great Yarmouth and Norwich. Norfolk is low-lying and flat and has been settled since Pre-Roman times. Norfolk has some popular seaside resorts among the best known being Great Yarmouth, Cromer, Hunstanton and Sheringham, but is best known for its Broads National Park which is a popular destination for boating holidays, fishing and the observation of wildlife. The Broads National Park covers an area of around 117 square miles with about 120 miles of waterways suitable for navigation, there are sixty three broads and 7 rivers, mostly within the county of Norfolk but some within Suffolk. Norfolk has just one city and that is Norwich which today has a population of over 200,000 people and during the time of the Normans was one of England’s largest settlements. The second largest settlement is King’s Lynn with over 42,000 residents.

See maps of places in Norfolk here: http://www.norfolkmaps.uk/

February 27, 2015

Kings Lynn Norfolk Review

Filed under: England,Facts,History,United Kingdom — Tags: , , — needahand @ 10:31 am

King’s Lynn Norfolk Review – The Georgian age endures in most of King’s Lynn in East Anglia, in a range of smart facades everywhere in the old heart of the town. And yet King’s Lynn, or ‘Lynn’ as it is most often called by natives, is far more olden than the eighteenth century. Lying on the east bank of the River Great Ouse, it was already a harbour by the time of the 1086 Domesday Book, at which time it was known as Luna or Lena It was granted a charter in 1204 by King John, and by thirteen forty seven it was prosperous enough to supply nineteen ships for the English fleet, at a time that London supplied twenty four.

In the Dark Ages the town was referred to as Bishop’s Lynn in fifteen thirty seven the title was altered to King’s Lynn by order of King Henry VIII. The church of St Margaret’s was originally constructed in around 1100, and it is an assortment of architectural styles, it has a ‘Gothic’ nave put up in the mid-18th century, as a storm sent the spire crashing down across the earlier nave. The Town Hall, near the church, was at first the Holy Trinity Guildhall, erected in the early 15th century.

King’s Lynn’s treasure is presented in the Regalia RoomsRooms in the medieval undercroft. The St George’s Guildhall, in King Street, was constructed in the early 14th century and is proclaimed to be the greatest medieval guildhall in the country to have survived undamaged. It is owned by the National Trust and serves as the HQ of Lynn’s annual summer time fair. The theatre in the upper area of the Guildhall carries on an ancient theatrical tradition, and it’s claimed that Shakespeare himself had performances there. Both the Guildhall and Town Hall are built of flint in an outstanding black and white chequer pattern.

Map of Norfolk East Anglia

March 6, 2012

Wells-Next-the-Sea Norfolk

Filed under: England,United Kingdom — Tags: , , , , , — needahand @ 5:01 pm

Wells-Next-the-Sea Norfolk – A seaside town, port and resort on the north coast of Norfolk in East Anglia, United Kingdom, Wells-Next-the-Sea, or simply Wells as the locals call it, has a population of about two and a half thousand inhabitants, and is located to the east of Hunstanton (some fifteen miles distant) and to the north of Fakenham. Wells no doubt gets its name from the large number of springs to be found around the town. Wells-Next-the-Sea is well known for its lifeboat, though disaster struck in 1880 when 11 of the crew were lost in a great storm.

Wells-Next-the-Sea Norfolk Map.

View a map of Norfolk county here: http://www.my-towns.co.uk/norfolk-map.html

July 9, 2010

Cromer Sheringham and North Walsham

Filed under: England,Travel,United Kingdom — Tags: , , , , — needahand @ 5:30 pm

A Norfolk seaside town which is especially renowned for its crab fishing industry, Cromer has a population of 7,749 and a history stretching back many centuries. Though not named as such in the Domesday Book (1086), Cromer was most likely the settlement which was named as Shipden Juxta Felbrigg, another Shipden named in the Domesday Book now lies under the sea about a quarter of a mile from the present Cromer Pier.  The lifeboat station in Cromer was first installed in 1804 and a new one at the end of the pier was built in the 1920’s. These days Cromer is a lively holiday resort with a busy pier and a nice sandy beach, when the weather is good it has the appearance of a typical British seaside resort, though the North Sea coastal resorts can experience some inclement weather, as those who have visited will know. Area of interest around Cromer include the market town of North Walsham, which was a bustling settlement even back in Anglo Saxon times and Sheringham, another of Norfolk’s north coast seaside resorts.

October 13, 2009

Great Yarmouth Norfolk

Filed under: England,Holidays,United Kingdom — Tags: , , , — needahand @ 5:39 pm

For over two centuries one of the United Kingdom’s most popular seaside resorts, Great Yarmouth is situated on the coast of Norfolk in East Anglia about 20 miles from Norwich. Located at the mouth of the River Yare, present day Great Yarmouth lies near the site of a Roman fort, constructed during their invasion of Britain. For hundreds of years a significant fishing town, renowned for its catches of herring, Great Yarmouth developed as a holiday destination during the mid-18th century. Great Yarmouth seafront, known as “The Golden Mile” has 2 piers, the Wellington Pier and the Brittania Pier, both major attractions for the town, the seafront is lined with amusement arcades, restaurants and gift shops and it runs along the resorts fine sandy beaches. Attractions in and around Great Yarmouth include the Winter Gardens, Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach, Joyland, the Sealife Centre, Karting 2000 and the Marina Leisure and Fitness Centre. Great Yarmouth Map.

August 27, 2009

Bury St Edmunds Sudbury and Mildenhall Suffolk

One of East Anglia’s most historic towns, Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk was considered a royal town by the Saxons and would certainly have been known by the Romans long before this. A monastery was built in Bury St Edmunds in around 633 by order of the King of the East Angles (Sigebert) and it was here that King Edmund was buried in 903 AD. The town grew around the abbey which later became the meeting place of the Barons of England as they formulated the Magna Carta. Much later during the 17th century the infamous Bury St Edmunds witch trials were held there. There are still remains of the abbey close to the town centre, though it was mostly destroyed during the 16th century. To the south of Bury St Edmunds, sitting beside the River Stour, Sudbury is another historic Saxon town, recorded in the Saxon Chronicles of 799 AD. Sudbury later grew prosperous through the wool and silk trade, it was also a well known haunt of famous artists such as John Constable who painted scenes of the area. A village which also benefited from the wool trade is Long Melford (located to the north of Sudbury), the proportions of its Holy Trinity Church attest to this, built with ‘wool’ money, it appears more like a cathedral. Two stately homes in the village of Long Melford, also built with ‘wool’ money, are Melford Hall and Kentwell Hall. To the north-west of Bury St Edmunds is the small market town of Mildenhall, which has held a regular market since the 15th century, Mildenhall made big news in the nineteen forties when a large haul of Roman silver was found there, it is probably best known as the home of the air base RAF Mildenhall. Suffolk Map.

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