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What
does Norfolk mean to you? A Sense of Place is a collection of stories,
reminiscences and personal histories exploring the forces that have
shaped our county. Share
your stories by filling in the form below.
Click
here for more about A Sense of Place
and to see what other people have to say.
Just
came across this page. I am a German student who will stay in East
Anglia from October onwards as an assistant teacher. I was just
searching the www for information about East Anglia and would be
glad if anyone who lives in that region would be interested in e-mailing
and telling me a bit about East Anglia? I hope to hear from you
soon!
JULIA
I miss the summers. After school was out in Ontario, Canada, Mum
and I would travel to visit my Grandad in West Lynn.
I have so many great memories: the Tuesday Market Place in King's
Lynn, the Lynn Swimming Pool and especially my mates. So many things
to do while being surrounded by wonderful people of western Norfolk.
My last trip there was in September 1991. Since then, my Mum and
Grandad have passed on. I have since graduated from university and
now reside in the USA. Thanks again for all those oh so sweet memories.
ROBERT
SHARP, GRANDVIEW, USA
I AM FRENCH, BORN TO A DANISH FATHER AND A WYMONDHAM MOTHER. SINCE
I WAS BORN I ONLY PAID A FEW VISITS TO MY COUSINS IN HETHERSETT
AND ATTLEBOROUGH. EVEN WHEN I GOT THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE THEM MORE
OFTEN WHEN LIVING IN GREATER MANCHESTER AS A STUDENT AND TEACHER,
I DID NOT CARE MUCH ABOUT EAST ANGLIA. ALL YOUR COMMENTS AND PHOTOS
REALLY MAKE ME FEEL LIKE GOING BACK TO MY ROOTS. THANK YOU SO MUCH.
THIERRY
LIVET-GREENWOOD, PARIS
Most of my childhood was spent growing up in Gorleston-on-Sea. I
was born in 1946, I have happy memories spent playing on Gorleston
beach and riding up and down on the ponies, days of endless sunshine.
I attended Stradbroke Road school as an infant and junior, then
on to Gorleston Girls. At the age of 14 I left to take up employment
at Matthes Restaurant in King's St. I commenced my nurses training
at Yarmouth in the early 60s. I now live in the southwest. My name
was Christine Hunn then, are there any old friends out there?
CHRISTINE
BURNHAM
I was born and grew up in Thetford, Norfolk. I had wonderful memories
as a child: learning to swim at the old bathing sheds, playing in
Castle park, picnics over at Barnham Common, watching my Dad on
Sunday playing Cricket. I miss Thetford so much now I live in the
USA. I return for visits as often as I can, as all my family are
still there.
RACHEL
CLARK, STATE COLLEGE, USA
I'm
French and teach history and I've discovered Norfolk since falling
in love with a girl from Thetford. In touring landscapes and towns,
beaches and historic sites, I also fell in love with this county:
I consider its countryside as one of the most charming and enchanting
in the world. Its simplicity, its greenery, its food, its light
and the locals make me feel at home.
SEBASTIEN
VILLE, FRANCE
I was stationed at Thetford during my National Service 1956-1958.
I miss the town and people but I guess I miss my youth most of all.
I'm originally from Liverpool but have lived in the USA since 1965.
My wife and I visited Thetford a few years ago and hope to do so
again this summer as we will be in England. While in the service,
being from Liverpool I was known as Bill "Scouse" Fairweather.
BILL
FAIRWEATHER, TEXAS
I
was born and grew up in Thetford, Norfolk. At the time it seemed
such a boring town to live in for a teenager. Years later I moved
away to uni and ended up working abroad for a few years in the Lebanon
and France. It's only when you're away from a place that you realise
just how lovely it really is, and how much you miss it. Now I feel
very privileged to have lived in Norfolk and am proud to learn about
its rich cultural heritage. I readily defend and praise the place
and am eager to learn more about it. It's such a beautiful county
and it is my hope very much hope to 'come home' and settle there
one day.
JENNY
FAWN, ARGENTEUIL, FRANCE
I
am from Great Yarmouth, and am studying at uni in Bradford. I miss
home terribly, home being Norfolk. Norwich truly is 'a fine city'.
I can't wait until graduation in June when I can go home for another
great summer. The sunsets are one thing I particularly miss. Amazing!
Sure, Yorkshire has amazing countryside but I love a never-ending
horizon. Flat countryside with long rolling fields! I recommend
it to anyone. And the accent, wow. You could drink it!
STEVE
ANGELL, ex-GREAT YARMOUTH
My
introduction to Norfolk was as an evacuee to Wacton. The people
in the village were very friendly and I learnt to appreciate the
countryside. It was nice and peaceful in those days. Very few cars:
transport was either pony and trap, bicycle, train from Forncett
- yes, there used to be a station where trains would stop - or,
after a walk to Long Stratton, the bus to Norwich (the bus station
still looks the same after all these years). Having retired, my
wife and I decided we would like to move to Norfolk for the peace
and tranquility - please no more "improvements" to the roads, one
doesn't have to rush everywhere.
DEREK
ATKINSON, DERSINGHAM, NORFOLK
I
love Norfolk, was born and raised in Costessey, married a Yank from
Lakenheath and now live in Texas. I go home often as Norwich will
always be home.
IVY
HEYHOE-FITCH, TEXAS, USA
A "Sense of Place" comes from knowing where you are and how you
feel about this. In Norfolk IT comes as part of the county with
the widest range of landscapes and seascapes of any part of the
United Kingdom. I cannot believe that this wonderful project doesn't
have a description of the countryside and geography of the UK, East
Anglia or Norfolk. For example, the Brecklands has been shaped by
the geology of the last Ice Age (as has much of East Anglia) and
this links into its prehistory, as at Grimes Graves, and its history
as in the rural economy and sense of distance from London.
How
can this be explained without the knowledge of where it is and why
it is important to know this? A person coming to East Anglia from
the west crosses an area that was sea and marsh, an area that secured
our religious structure and shaped the people who rose against the
monarchy - why? Distance and isolation are a sense of place that
simple maps can help explain. I have travelled through many countries
and have always come back to Norfolk; to the beaches at Cley; the
Marshes at Halvergate; The Heath and the Fens and I'd get lost without
my "Sense of Place" and knowledge of location. Please don't
let this omission spoil a wonderful project.
MARK
BECKER, BRUNDALL
Recently
I visited the Fakenham area to retrace my father's early childhood.
He wrote about it before he died. I wanted to know what made him
leave such a wonderful part of the country to live in South Yorkshire.
His family farmed the land, but in the 1920s when the Depression
came he, like so many young men, had to leave to find work.
I always thought Norfolk was flat and that North Yorkshire had the
best scenery. Now I realise how beautiful Norfolk is. I intend to
come back often in order to understand the deep feelings he must
have had for this lovely part of England.
AUDREY
COLMAN-LEWIS, THIRSK
I
was sent to Norfolk from SE London during the war when the children
had to leave London. My grandparents lived in Bunwell, Norfolk and
went to Bunwell School and then Old Buckenham School. I have started
a book about my life in England as at 26 years old I came to America
to work. I remember the beautiful countryside of Norfolk and playing
on the haystacks and looking for parachutes for the silk to make
things with. We moved to Norwich when I was 17 and enjoyed the beautiful
dance hall of the Samson & Hercules and going to the American Club
which was the place to have fun. I remember Charlie the bus driver
who drove the bus to Sculthorpe Base to the Airmen's Club. The buses
used to leave behind the castle then, when it was a cattle market.
My childhood in England was wonderful, although we were poor and
did not have too much during and after the war. Norwich is a wonderful
city and I come home often.
PATRICIA
E RANDALL-WETTEROTH,
WAPPINER FALLS, USA
Hi
there, I am a watercolour artist by profession and I paint the coastline
from Snettisham to Weybourne, and I think it is the most beautiful
coastline for many reasons.聽I love the fact that on the whole the
coastline hasn't been spoilt and nature is still in charge.聽 The
wide empty beaches, the sand dunes, the mudflats and marshes and
the estuary and marsh birds are my absolute favourites.聽The haunting
cry across the marshes of the curlew, the sandpipers and the oystercatchers
tugs at my inner being.聽Its mystery and its brooding skies pull
me back time after time.聽 Ideally would love to live up there, but
unfortunately being an artist the cost of housing up there is way
beyond anything I could afford.聽 聽 Thanks for the opportunity to
put down a few thoughts on the聽 most beautiful coastline in the
world. 聽
KATIE
I grew up in Norfolk but moved to Australia. I only had the one
cousin and he was a good soccer player, he used to play for King's
Lynn so I used to watch him play. He was called Ernie Eke, the same
as his father, so everyone called him 'little Ern'. We used to cycle
all over the place and once when I was small and in the boy scouts,
on a trip to Hunstanton, I lost my scout pole by pushing it into
a drain by the swimming pool in the gardens. I just could not retrieve
it, and I had lovingly carved it. So went back to Lynn crying. I
spent so many happy days in King's Lynn. All I wish is that we had
emigrated to Norfolk instead of Australia, as it will always hold
a place in my old heart.
Ted, aged 80, Australia
We
moved to Norfolk in 1981 having been posted to RAF Marham. In 1992
we had to move to Essex for employment purposes. Since then we have
wanted to move back. Although we are Essex people we developed an
affinity for Norfolk and we are looking forward to moving back to
Norfolk in the not-too-distant future. Briefly, the reason we like
the county is the slower pace of life.
Bill
and Eileen Killick, Essex
Norfolk
is a county of peace and beauty with acres of open space. An abundance
of wildlife. Lashings of fresh air, wonderful people and some marvellous
characters living in it. I've lived here 58 years and do not wish
to live anywhere else. We have everything in Norfolk, from seaside
to industrial city, railway to airport. Woodland to grassland, urban
to rural - what more can we ask for.
Peter
Lynn, Norfolk
Jane
Rasmussen from Wyoming, USA remembers her time in Hunstanton.
My
intro to Norfolk was in Hunstanton, as a USAF dependent, my husband
quickly picked up the dialect,while I had to listen carefully. In
1959 the postman would stop for a coffee and chat. He spoke so quietly,
my ears had to be very alert.
I cannot express my appreciation to all the people who repeated
their answers and questions for me. In shops I had no problem holding
out my hand with cash and saying 'take what is needed'. Returned
in 1998 and what happened to the ha'penny and tuppence? Anybody
out there from the old 47th bomb wing?
Georgia
Hamilton, from Surrey, wrote to tell us about her experiences of
living in Norfolk.
A North Norfolk
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I
miss everything about Norfolk: my friends, the open space, clear
air, sea, wild North Norfolk coast and above all the little village
Sedgeford where I was born and lived until eight years old.
Although
my parents did not come from Norfolk, I have always considered myself
as almost born and bred. I lived and worked in a variety of places
but finally left in 1998.
I
now live in the Home Counties where there is a lack of friendliness
and warmth. Anyone who thinks people in Norfolk are unfriendly should
think again -
the majority are a great bunch.
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