Great Days Out in Norfolk & Suffolk – English Tourism Week Launch

Launching Great Days Out 2017 at Framlingham Castle: Fiona Siddall, Easton Farm Park, Martin Dupee, Africa Alive and Abbie Connell-Smith, English Heritage (photo James Bass Photography)

Norfolk and Suffolk Tourist Attractions (NSTA) launched their 2017 Great Days Out in Norfolk & Suffolk booklet at Castle Acre Priory and Framlingham Castle (English Heritage properties) on Tuesday, March 28, to mark English Tourism Week (March 25 to April 2).

The Great Days Out booklet features 51 attractions across Norfolk and Suffolk and £260 of discount vouchers.  New members featured in 2017 are the East Anglia Transport Museum, English Heritage (Norfolk and Suffolk) and Southwold Maize Maze.

Norfolk and Suffolk's attractions continue to invest in new projects demonstrating significant confidence in the region’s tourism offer. Examples of these include English Heritage embarking on a two-phase £1.2 million visitor facilities improvement scheme at Framlingham Castle, including a new café and extended shop. English Whisky’s St George’s Distillery is developing a new restaurant and shop, which will open in the autumn, as will Dinosaur Adventure’s explorer-themed restaurant.

City Sightseeing Norwich is unveiling an upgraded DDA compliant bus, with easy wheelchair access in April. Banham Zoo will be opening its new £400,000 Californian sea lion enclosure later this summer and Amazona Zoo is opening Cromer Camping in July, the only campsite in the heart of Cromer.

On the events front, the legendary Tom Jones will be at Holkham Hall on July 23, Houghton Hall is hosting an exhibition by acclaimed British sculptor, Richard Long from April 30 and, once again, the Thursford Christmas Spectacular, the largest Christmas show in the country, returns on November 8.

Launching Great Days Out 2017 at Castel Acre Priory: Julie Enefer, English Heritage and Martin Dupee, Banham Zoo (photo James Bass Photography)

Martin Dupée, Chairman NSTA said: “This is looking like a fantastic year for all of Norfolk and Suffolk’s attractions. The Great Days Out booklet features 51 excellent reasons for day trips and short breaks in the region. It's such good news to see both large and smaller attractions continuing to invest in new facilities and innovative events, improving the visitor experience and giving a boost to our £4.8 billion tourism economy in Norfolk and Suffolk.”  

The Great Days Out booklet offers an unrivalled menu of activities from boat trips on the Broads, family theme parks, top museum collections and country houses and gardens to zoos and animal collections, heritage railways, fabulous live shows and much more.

Some 400,000 booklets will be distributed across the six counties of the East of England and to Tourist Information Centres nationwide. Great Days Out in Norfolk & Suffolk can also be downloaded from www.norfolkandsuffolkattractions.co.uk.

New Floating Common Tern Breeding Platform Launched at Fairhaven Garden, Norfolk Broads

Trevor 'Tabs' Taberham (left) and John Debbage secure the platform on Fairhaven broad 

A new floating breeding platform for common terns was secured on Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden’s broad today (March 27) at South Walsham in the Norfolk Broads. It was attached to posts that survive from an old 1960s installation, designed to deter waterskiing.

The platform comprises a 3m x 2m pallet and six large fruit juice barrels (for buoyancy) donated by Britvic, Norwich, along with two ‘air raid’ shelters, so that chicks can hide from aerial predators and a hinged ramp into the water. The ramp will take the weight of a chick, but not otters, to deter them from attacking.

Trevor ‘Tabs’ Taberham, volunteer wildlife warden at Fairhaven Garden explained: “Two years ago, just after I started working her, five pairs of common terns tried to breed on the island in Fairhaven broad, but greylag geese wrecked the nests. So last year, we experimented with a single standard size pallet, attached to the waterskiing posts. It attracted two pairs of common terns; one pair stayed to nest, three chicks fledged, but unfortunately one was taken by a Herring gull.”

Common tern chicks on the 2016 platform

“The new platform, which has been built by John Debbage, one of the gardening team at Fairhaven, is much larger.  We hope that John’s air raid shelters and chick ramp will keep the birds safe, should they decide to breed this year. We can expect the common terns to start arriving in mid April and will be keeping a close eye on activity out on the water.”

John Debbage, Fairhaven gardener added: “We have developed a much more substantial and stable platform this year. I would like to thank Phil Denman and Luke Davey from Britivic for their support and have my fingers firmly crossed for a more successful breeding season than last year.”

 Job done - Trevor 'Tabs' Taberham (standing) and John Debbage with the secured platform 

Fairhaven Garden’s daily boat trips, which started for the season on Mothering Sunday, will take visitors past the common tern platform, so they can keep an eye on progress.

Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden is at South Walsham, nine miles east of Norwich, signposted off A47 at B1140 junction, t. 01603 270449, www.fairhavengarden.co.uk.

The garden is open daily all year 10am to 5pm (closed Christmas Day and closes 4pm during the winter), also open Wednesdays until 9pm from May to the end of August.  Garden entry is adult £6.75, concessions £6.15, child £3.85 (under 5 free). Free entry to tearoom, gift shop and plant sales. 

There is wheelchair access throughout the garden, including a Sensory Garden and accessible boat trips (April to October, additional charge). Visitors requiring special facilities are advised to telephone in advance, mobility scooters available. 

Dogs are welcome on leads; small charge to cover poop scoop.

Nelson's Gold Launched at the Maids Head Hotel Norwich

Left to right: Matt and Steph Brown, creator's of Nelson's Gold with Adam Youngman, Maids Head Hotel and the Nelson's Golden Apple Cocktail. 

Nelson’s Gold, a brand new spirit drink from Norfolk’s Wild Knight English Vodka, was launched today at the Maids Head Hotel in Tombland, Norwich.

The new spirit drink combines Wild Knight English Vodka and caramelised East Anglian sugar beet. It takes its name from the story behind the predecessor of Horatio Nelson’s HMS Victory, which was sunk in 1700 containing around £500m worth of gold coins.

Adam Youngman, Restaurant and Bar Manager at the Maids Head has devised a cocktail to celebrate the launch of Nelson’s Gold.

Nelson’s Golden Apple is now on sale in the historic Maids Head bar, where it is believed that Horatio Nelson imbibed his first alcoholic drink. The cocktail combines Nelson’s Gold, fresh apple juice and cinnamon syrup, shaken and served in a chilled martini glass and garnished with apple.

Matt Brown, co-founder of Wild Knight Vodka said: “We were really pleased to launch Nelson’s Gold at the Maids Head. The hotel was our first customer last year, when we produced our Wild Knight Vodka and it was great to come back today with our new spirit drink to a historic bar, with links to Horatio Nelson.”

Fairhaven Garden – Great Broadland Breakfast – English Tourism Week

Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden at South Walsham in the Norfolk Broads is marking English Tourism Week from Saturday, March 25 to Sunday, April 2, 2017 with the Great Broadland Breakfast, celebrating a cooked start to the day with the best of local produce.

Breakfast is served in the tearoom from 9.15am until 12noon, giving visitors the chance to enjoy their meal before exploring the garden, which opens at 10am.

Norfolk and Suffolk businesses supplying breakfast produce are New Oven Bakery, Great Yarmouth, bread and croissants; Green Farm Coffee Rackheath, tea and coffee and Broadland Hams, bacon. Eggs come form Hoxne in Suffolk and mushrooms from Capel St Mary (also Suffolk). Fairhaven supplies it own tomatoes, in season, from the garden’s vegetable patch.

Louise Rout, Manager, Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden said: “The garden has always been managed sustainably using organic principles and traditional Broads practices. Our green ethos also features strongly in what we offer for visitors and we always use local suppliers whenever possible. Our local breakfast is proving popular and we look forward to welcoming visitors during English Tourism Week to celebrate our Great Broadland Breakfast.”          

Fairhaven Garden Breakfast

Breakfast Menu
Great Broadland Breakfast, £5.70: mushrooms, bacon, fried egg, tomatoes, baked beans and toast.
Muffin Breakfast, £4.25: buttered muffin with bacon and fried egg.
Scrambled egg on toast, £3.95.

Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden is at South Walsham, nine miles east of Norwich, signposted off A47 at B1140 junction, t. 01603 270449, www.fairhavengarden.co.uk.
The garden is open daily all year 10am to 5pm (closed Christmas Day and closes 4pm during the winter), also open Wednesdays until 9pm from May to the end of August.  Garden entry is adult £6.75, concessions £6.15, child £3.85 (under 5 free). Free entry to tearoom, gift shop and plant sales.

There is wheelchair access throughout the garden, including a Sensory Garden and boat trips (April to October, additional charge). Visitors requiring special facilities are advised to telephone in advance, mobility scooters available.

Dogs are welcome on leads; small charge to cover poop scoop.