North Norfolk Holiday Cottages

Holkham Hall North NorfolkNorth Norfolk’s Holkham Hall

This weekend’s Sunday Times Style magazine featured North Norfolk as a possible mini-break venue. The front page header reads: “Cornwall! Norfolk! Whitley Bay?”

I turned the page and read: “North Norfolk increasingly plays host to an arty, intellectual crowd.” Very nice of them to say so!

The article continued to heap praise: “Champagne sands and some of the most beautiful gardens in England make the North Norfolk coast a desirable retreat”.

The gardens featured are those at Houghton Hall and the National Trust’s Blickling and Felbrigg Hall. Also recommended are accommodation at a new hotel in Langham called the Harper, Camp Elwood, a “retro-tinted campsite” at Holkham Hall, a holiday cottage at Wolterton Park and The Gunton Arms at Thorpe Market, a trendy gastropub with artworks by Tracey Emin and Lucien Freud on display.

It is nice to see such praise of North Norfolk in a quality newspaper, even if it is leaning towards being an advertising feature. Never mind, it is all helpful and will encourage tourism to our beautiful part of the country.

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Cromer BeachLifeguard Flag – supervised bathing area between the flags

The warmer weather will soon be here. I promise! So, get the bathing costumes, the suntan oil and the beach gear sorted out ready for some relaxing days on North Norfolk’s beaches.

Indications are that this tourist season in North Norfolk could see the highest number of visitors ever so you will need to get down onto the beaches early to get the best spots – in my case within a few yards of the Rocket House Café and the Lifeboat Café at Cromer.

The beaches at the popular seaside resorts of West Runton, Sheringham, Mundesley, Sea Palling, East Runton and Cromer have again been designated as being of Blue Flag standard. The Blue Flag designations are given when a beach meets EU standards of cleanliness, safety, facilities, environmental management and education and water purity. The awards mean that our 45-mile long coastline now has half of all the Blue Flag designated beaches in the east of England.

In addition, Hunstanton and Wells-next-the-Sea have been given the Seaside Award (formerly the Quality Coast Award) that assures holidaymakers that the beaches are safe, clean and well-managed.

The chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy, which administers the Blue Flag scheme, Allison Ogden-Newton, stated: “The success of the beaches in reaching the very high standards demanded by both awards is testament to all those who have worked so hard to protect and improve our beaches – from beach managers and volunteers to local people and businesses.

“When you enjoy a trip to a beach flying an international Blue Flag or Seaside Award, you know you are on one of the safest, cleanest and very best in the country.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I have received an email from the National Trust promoting its holiday accommodation for 2019. There are several delightful properties available in North Norfolk.

Hopefully when you visit any snow will be a distant memory

Many National Trust properties are located on the coast and in the lovely parklands and gardens on NT estates. In North Norfolk, access to the Norfolk Coast Path is convenient from holiday cottages at Blakeney, Cromer, Felbrigg and Upper Sheringham. The range of NT holiday accommodation available is wide in terms of the number of people that can be catered for. At some properties dog lovers are permitted to bring their pets to enjoy the holiday with them.

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Overstrand on the North Norfolk coast is an ideal location for quieter family holidays. The beach is sandy and is never overcrowded. Local amenities include an excellent village stores, a public house, a cafe, a sports club with a bar open to the public, a shop where locally caught crabs and lobsters can be purchased, a holiday park and a hotel.

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Cottage Garden at Letheringsett

I have received this press release from a cottage holiday company based in Reepham that has rebranded. It offers holiday cottages countrywide.

Press release: 9 August 2017, Reepham, Norfolk

“Reepham’s Cottage Holidays rebrands to Original Cottages

A family of local self-catering agencies: truly local, wherever you stay

Today, Original Cottages, is revealed as the new name and new website for one of Norfolk’s most exciting family businesses. The Ellis family started Norfolk Country Cottages in 1992 and have grown it to a group of local self-catering agencies around England and Wales. Genuinely original in its field, it is proud to be the largest UK holiday rental business, listing more than 3,700 properties, that remains in private ownership and family run.

Family values…

Richard and Leslie Ellis have been steadily creating and acquiring these agencies for more than 25 years, more recently with the help of their sons Tom and James, and son-in-law Tom Thornley. Everyone of the 21 agencies has at least one in-region office providing truly local, destination and property knowledge. The Original Cottages hub in Reepham, Norfolk, provides additional resource and customer contact hours. Longest serving employees in Reepham are Ash Everson (imagery assistant) and Heather McCraith (business development manager).

A national brand with a unique offering, not just a search term…

The rebrand reflects the need to move from a company name that’s also a competitive online search term (Cottage Holidays) to being a recognisable and distinctive player in an increasingly competitive market. The Original Cottages name recognises the company’s unique marketplace ability to offer national reach alongside local, in-destination, expertise for home owners and guests alike. Hence the tagline, Truly local, wherever you stay.

On the rebrand…

Sonia Holman, marketing director for Original Cottages, says: “Family is at the heart of Original Cottages. We’ve retained that essence despite our growth to 21 agencies and 3,700 properties across England and Wales. By having local people in local places, the personal touch craved by consumers is there. Complemented by the consistency of standards and the security of national scale that consumers seek, we offer the best of both worlds. The rebrand provides an opportunity to demonstrate this.”

Richard Ellis, company founder and executive chairman, says: “After 25 years, we realised it was time to market the extent and success of our family of agencies better. Each of our agencies is a success story in itself. But we’re really very excited to bring them all together, more coherently and more obviously, as part of one big, family owned, nationwide brand. So that together they can take more holidaymakers on yet more memorable holidays via our truly local agencies.”

Love local…

The local offering extends beyond in-destination knowledge to a handpicked selection of holiday extras from trusted local partners that make the holiday experience both ‘truly local’ and unique in the cottage holiday industry. Extras include discounts with a Norfolk based cake company and a Suffolk vineyard tour and tasting, and specially curated food and drink parcels from hamper companies across Wales.”

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Located on the North Norfolk coast, Riverside Cottage at Stiffkey is a cosy romantic hideaway definitely designed for two. As the name suggests, the river is literally at the bottom of the garden and you have a private sundeck with views across the river valley meadows to the hills beyond. Privacy and peace and quiet are assured at this well-equipped luxury Norfolk holiday cottage. If you like to walk, the Norfolk coast path is only a short distance away. So pack the walking boots and binoculars and head for this area of outstanding natural beauty. It is attractive in winter as well as summer – you can snuggle up near the log burner and enjoy a bottle of wine in the evenings and take some bracing walks on the marshes during the day. There is a good local pub if you want some company and excellent restaurants not far distant. Stay at Riverside Cottage and enjoy North Norfolk – I guarantee you will return. Read on for full details.

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