Two Tall Ships for Great Yarmouth Maritime Festival

Visitors to the Great Yarmouth Maritime Festival, on Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 September, will be able to go aboard two fantastic tall ships the Dutch square-rigged two–masted Brig Mercedes and the Spanish tall ship Tres Hombres, as well as enjoying all the other entertainment on South Quay. The festival is organised annually by Greater Yarmouth Tourist Authority.


The 32-metre, two-masted square-rigged schooner, the brigantine Tres Hombres, was named after a collaborative project between three friends and began service in December 2009, pioneering the modern-day use of sailing ships as cargo vessels. She maintains a shipping route for cargo transport between Europe, Atlantic islands, the Caribbean and America. In addition to her capacity for 35 tons of cargo, she can accommodate a crew of five professional sailors and 10 trainees.

The massive brigantine Mercedes is a German registered Tall Ship, which was fitted out in Holland and began sailing in 2005. It combines the latest technology in a modern, yet very traditional tall ship, which can also welcome wheelchair users. It was designed to provide sailing in unashamed luxury with comfortable lounges, deck saloon and bar.

The Mercedes will also be offering 2-3 hour sailing trips from the south end of South Quay on Thursday 30 and Friday 31 August and Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 September. Tickets for the sailings are available online at http://www.maritime-festival.co.uk/, from the Great Yarmouth Tourist Information Centre on Marine Parade or by telephoning 01493 332200.

Sailing times are as follows:

Thursday 30 August at 9.00am and 17.30 (3-4 hour sailing)

Friday 31 August at 10.45am and 18.30

Saturday 1 September at 19.00 and Sunday 2 September at 19.30

All sailing’s are 2-3 hours in duration; tickets cost £35 with the exception of the Thursday evening 3-4 hour sailing which is priced at £42. The exact trip duration will be dependent on tide and weather conditions.

Ken Sims, Chairman of the Greater Yarmouth Tourist Authority said: “Sailings on tall ships at previous Maritime Festivals proved very popular with visitors who were keen to experience life under sail out on the high seas. We are delighted to welcome back the Mercedes to this year’s Maritime Festival and look forward to exploring the Tres Hombres”

The Great Yarmouth Maritime Festival will also feature music, street entertainment, arts, crafts, children’s activities and refreshments, http://www.maritime-festival.co.uk/.

Photograph: Tres Hombres - by Hajo Olij

Wroxham Barns Norfolk - Calves Celebrate this Sporting Summer

To mark 2012’s summer of celebration, the staff at Junior Farm Wroxham Barns have named this season’s calves with distinctly sporting names: Ainslie, Daly, Hoy, and Redgrave.


Young visitors can bottle-feed the new arrivals daily throughout the summer at 11am and 3pm. Will Ainslie, Daly, Hoy, or Redgrave be the fastest drinker on the farm?

Eileen Calverley, manager Junior Farm said: “It’s going to be a great summer of celebration, so we thought our visitors would enjoy meeting calves with famous sporting names and have a bit of fun seeing who is the champion drinker.”

There are lots of other things to do at Junior Farm, from hobby horse racing with Barny the sheep, Junior Farm’s mascot, to Follow the Swallow activities with the RSPB, feeding guinea pigs, rabbits and pygmy goats and taking part in pony grooming and collecting eggs at the hen house. Visitors can also watch the farm staff feed the friendly pigs in the new piggery and enjoy a quiet moment in the bird hide, with its low level viewing panel for small children. There are good hand washing facilities for cleaning up thoroughly during visits.

Piggy’s Play Sty opened in the farm last year. It’s an indoor soft play barn for young children – a great place for them to let off steam, especially if it starts to rain. Don’t forget to meet Wroxie, the farm’s life-size mechanical cow, where the whole family can practice their milking skills.

Junior Farm is open daily 10am to 5pm; entry charge is £5.75 (under 2 free).

As well as Junior Farm enjoy a round on the 18-hole championship mini adventure golf course – ideal for a friendly family competition. Children will also love the funfair rides. Funfair rides and golf are individually priced (rides subject to weather).

The award-winning restaurant-café serves breakfast, morning coffee, lunches and afternoon tea, all freshly made, using local, seasonal produce where possible.

Wroxham Barns, http://www.wroxhambarns.co.uk/, tel. 01603 783762 is open daily 10am to 5pm, 10 miles from Norwich, take A1151 to Wroxham then follow brown and white tourist signs for 1.5miles on the Tunstead road. Free parking.

Sail Tall at Great Yarmouth Maritime Festival 30 August to 2 September

Greater Yarmouth Tourist Authority is offering visitors to the resort the chance to ‘Sail Tall’ on the square-rigged two–masted Brig Mercedes, which will be alongside historic South Quay for the town’s annual Maritime Festival, taking place on Saturday 1 September and Sunday 2 September.

The Mercedes’ sailing trips are on Thursday 30 and Friday 31 August, as well as Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 September. Tickets are available online at

http://www.maritime-festival.co.uk/ and from Great Yarmouth Tourist Information Centre, Marine Parade, or tel. 01493 332200.

Traditional rigged tall ships are elegant images of the high seas, and the Mercedes is no exception. The massive brigantine is a German registered tall ship, which was fitted out in Holland and began sailing in 2005. It combines the latest technology in a modern, yet very traditional tall ship, which can also welcome wheelchair users. It was designed to provide sailing in unashamed luxury with comfortable lounges, deck saloon and bar.

Ken Sims, Chairman of the Greater Yarmouth Tourist Authority said: “We are delighted to welcome back the Mercedes to this year’s Maritime Festival. Trips on tall ships at previous Maritime Festivals proved very popular with visitors who were keen to experience life under sail on the high seas.”

Sailing Trips Information

Sailings on the Mercedes will depart from the south end of South Quay as follows:

Thursday 30 August at 9.00am and 17.30 (3-4 hour sailing)

Friday 31 August at 10.45am and 18.30

Saturday 1 September at 19.00 and Sunday 2 September at 19.30

All sailings are 2-3 hours in duration, tickets cost £35 with the exception of the Thursday evening 3-4 hour sailing which is priced at £42. The exact trip duration will be dependent on tide and weather conditions. Tickets are available on-line at http://www.maritime-festival.co.uk/ or from Great Yarmouth Tourist Information Centre on 01493 332200.

Raveningham Gardens Norfolk Special Agapanthus Weeks – July 30 to August 10

Raveningham Gardens, in south Norfolk, are famous for the large selection of agapanthus cultivars on display. There are special agapanthus weeks this year from Monday, July 30 to Friday, August 3 and Monday, August 6 to Friday, August 10, open 11am to 4pm (closed Saturdays and Sundays).


See white, blue and dark purple flowers with different sizes and contrasting colours included striped blue and white. The agapanthus varieties are one of Priscilla Bacon’s legacies in the garden; she was a keen agapanthus breeder.

Also enjoy the herbaceous borders, 18th century walled kitchen garden, Victorian glasshouses, orchard, arboretum, herb garden, contemporary sculptures, 14th century church and views across the new lake established at the turn of the Millennium.

Raveningham Gardens are also open all Thursdays, 11am to 4pm, until the end of August. Admission is adults £4, concessions £3.50 and children under 16 free. The gardens (NR14 6NS) are 10 miles south east of Norwich, signposted off the A146 at Hales, then B1136, tel. 01508 548152, email office@raveningham.com,  http://www.raveningham.com/ .

Great Yarmouth Summer Fireworks on the seafront

Greater Yarmouth Tourist Authority is celebrating the summer with six weeks of Wednesday evening entertainment, starting on Wednesday 25 July and ending Wednesday 29 August. Each Wednesday evening culminates in a spectacular fireworks display on Great Yarmouth seafront at 10pm.

Summer Wednesdays are a great time to visit the resort. Seafront attractions stay open until 10pm, so visitors can play crazy golf in the moonlight, wander round the illuminated Merrivale Model Village, enjoy some exhilarating thrills at the Pleasure Beach, or listen to free live music at the Sea Life Centre Gardens from 8pm, before watching the fireworks.

Bands booked for the Sea Life Centre Gardens are Beat Connection (25 July), The Claire Barker Band (1 August), Ignite (8 August), The Abba Babes (15 August), The Joe Ringer Band (22 August) and The Collective (29 August).

Ken Sims, Chair of the GYTA said: “Wednesday evenings are a relaxed, fun-packed, family time, with plenty for everyone to see and do until the superb fireworks finale over Central Beach, courtesy of Greater Yarmouth Tourist Authority.”

Great Yarmouth, http://www.great-yarmouth.co.uk/ , is a top ten UK seaside resort, which attracts more than 4.4million tourists and day trippers a year, generating 5.3million staying bed nights. With 65,000 bed spaces across the Borough, a third of all holiday nights spent in Norfolk are tourists staying in Greater Yarmouth. Nearly 25% of all holidays nights spent in Norfolk and Suffolk combined are taken in the Borough of Great Yarmouth.

Art Alive at All Saints Church King’s Lynn – Artists and Angels

Art Alive in Churches, co-ordinated by the Diocese of Norwich, celebrates the rich cultural history in Norfolk’s medieval churches. This year’s exhibition, Artists and Angels, focussing on the painting and carving of angels, combining medieval art with modern practice, will be at All Saints Church, Hillington Square, King’s Lynn PE30 5HF from Monday, July 16 to Sunday, July 22, open daily 10am to 4pm. David Holgate, Norwich-based sculptor and stone carver will be running workshops on Saturday, July 21 and Sunday, July 22.


The Artists and Angels exhibition features images of angels from Norfolk’s medieval churches photographed by Paul Hurst, along with historical interpretation from Professor Sandy Heslop, Dr Spike Bucklow and others.

Churches to visit in west Norfolk with particularly good examples of angels:

 King’s Lynn Minster, angels on chancel screen, open daily dawn to dusk, http://www.stmargaretskingslynn.org.uk/.

 St Nicholas Chapel, St Ann’s Street, King’s Lynn (Churches Conservation Trust), angels in the nave roof, open Tuesday and Saturday until November, http://www.stnicholaskingslynn.org.uk/.

 St Peter &; St Paul Swaffham PE37 7AB, angels in nave roof, open daily 9am to 4pm.

 All Saints, Necton PE37 8HE, angels in nave roof, open daily, http://www.nectonallsaints.co.uk/.

 St Michael Great Cressingham, IP25 6NH, angels in nave roof, http://www.greatcressingham.churchnorfolk.com/.

 St Clement Outwell PE14 8RQ (Diocese of Ely), important figures in nave roof, www.achurchnearyou.com/outwell-st-clement. St Clement’s Outwell is of particular interest as work is beginning to determine whether the figures are Burgundian and of vices and virtues.

 St Peter Upwell PE14 9AA (Diocese of Ely), angels on north side of nave, www.ely.anglican.org/parishes/upwell.

All Saints Church King’s Lynn http://www.allsaintskingslynn.org.uk/ - the parish of All Saints', South Lynn, is mentioned in Domesday Book, which indicates a Saxon church. The church was largely rebuilt in the 14th century, although the large transepts date from the 13th century. The nave has the original massive tie beams and queen posts of the medieval church, together with other medieval architectural features. All Saints has an Anchorhold on the south side of the chancel, which housed an Anchoress, from the 12th until the 16th century.

Art Alive in Churches 2012 is supported by the Town Close and Geoffrey Watling Charitable Trusts, Norfolk County Council, the Diocese of Norwich and the Bishop of Norwich’s Anne French Trust.

Jennie Hawks, Historic Places of Worship Support Officer, Diocese of Norwich said: “In medieval times the North Sea and English Channel were major highways for both commerce and art and crafts. Norfolk’s great medieval churches benefited from the work of visiting artists from Burgundy and Flanders as well as local craftsmen. We are very lucky in Norfolk that many examples of this craftsmanship survived the iconoclasm of the Reformation, post-Reformation and Civil War. Art Alive in Churches celebrates this rich legacy and brings it up to date with demonstrations from some of the county’s finest contemporary artists.”

For more information about Art Alive in Norfolk Churches see http://www.norfolkopenchurches.com/.

Photograph - Great Cressingham Church, credit Paul Hurst