Anyone here with Norfolk connections?

[Kay]

"Normal for Norfolk" is apparently a derogatory term.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-36082307

I've visited Norwich a few times and liked it. It never occurred to me that there was anything odd about it. Maybe that's because I'm odd too. I once attended a summer school at UEA and the campus was excellent. It seemed like a pretty good place to me.
https://www.uea.ac.uk/study/undergradua ... in-norwich

[ruggie]

As a student, I spent a superb sailing holiday on the Broads, but didn't see that part of the world again until after I got married, when we paid several visits to a colonial couple from our youth, who lived in Suffolk. Now my son and his family live in Norwich, and I have learned a lot about the city, which I have grown very fond of. I didn't realise that until the industrial revolution it was the second largest city in England, and a major trading centre. My daughter-in-law (who was brought up in Lowestoft, but spent most of her adult life in London) got so fed up with the image of Norwich created by Alan Partridge that she launched a Facebook page to show off the real Norwich...

[Kay]

When Jack Scott and his husband repatriated from Turkey, they set up home in Norwich, but I think that was because of family connections. Even so, I got the impression from him that they like the city.

http://britishexpat.com/asia/turkey/tak ... tt-author/

And I've just noticed in our interview with him he mentions that Norwich is England's only UNESCO City of Literature.

[Kay]

PS: I've never seen anything by Alan Partridge. It never appealed to me. Presumably I've not missed anything?

And PPS: Oops. I've just noticed that I posted this in the Picture House forum. Moving to Chinwags...

[gozomark]

Norwich, and it pains me to say anything nice about it given I come from Cambridge, has possibly the best pubs in the whole of England

[ruggie]

...so much so that I even feature one of them - the Rush Cutters - in my latest little book.

[Kay]

Oh, yes, so you did!

[ruggie]

But since it's a kids' book, I didn't mention that they serve some quite pleasant beers.

[DavidH]

Chris and I lived and worked in Cromer - The Gem of the Norfolk Coast - for 16 years when we owned and ran the Cinema there. We were brought up in Surrey and Sussex so were used to the Downs and found Norfolk too flat for our liking, too much sky. We used to say that although Cromer wasn't the end of the world you could see it from there!
It also took a long time for us to be accepted as we were considered 'outsiders' but now have many friends in the town and my sister still lives there. I try to visit once a year and a friend in Norwich comes out here at least twice a year. So I know what's going on there, even though we sold the business some years back, and I occasionally watch 'Look East' on the BBC.
The main thing I don't miss, of course, is the weather, there's nothing between Cromer and the North Pole.
Having said that there are, of course, many beautiful parts of Norfolk and a great many places of interest, including nature reserves, gardens, Stately Homes, quaint villages and pubs. One house in particular on the edge of Cromer, Felbrigg Hall, I'm particularly fond of and it has a lovely tea room.
Norfolk does have a reputation for it's eccentrics, mainly due to in-breeding!

P.S Alan Partridge is an acquired taste, I can take him in small doses.

[ruggie]

I've done the Overstrand to Cromer walk (and back) a couple of times. First time it was difficult to stand up. Both times we had lunch in the pub near the top of the steps (the Lion, or Red Lion?). First time, we were accompanied by my pyrennean mountain dog as well as two young granddaughters, so they put us in the room at the back. There was a steady stream of people ostensibly going to the loo, all popping in to chat to the dog...

[Dave]

I spent three years of my childhood at RAF Marham and started school there - so I was too young to actually absorb much of what Norfolk is all about, not least because we were living in the camp married quarters so didn't have much contact with the locals.

It also took a long time for us to be accepted as we were considered 'outsiders'

One of my university friends lived in Sprowston on the outskirts of Norwich from the late Sixties onwards. Her dad used to go to the same stalls in Norwich market every week. Twenty years later the stallholders had only just started to reply when he said hello to them.

[gozomark]

back in the mid 1980's I had a summer job installng ventillation equipment, and one of the jobs was at RAF Marham, at either end of the runway in the bunkers. First time I drove a vehicle, up and down the runway, straight and very wide so ideal to learn on, just as long as avoided the Tornados taking off and landing