living on the North Norfolk Coast

I have two more village events in September to add to those I mentioned in my earlier blogs. At the Overstrand Club and Bar (aka the Conservative Club), located at the top of The Londs, there will be a Happy Handbag Disco on 5th September. This starts at 8 p.m., entry is free and open to non-members. On the 12th September at 7 p.m. Poppyland Singers will be presenting a Choral Concert, in St Martins Church. Entrance is free, with a retiring collection which will be donate

As we leave summer behind and head towards autumn, Overstrand is far from ‘shutting down’. On the first of September, Overstrand Gardening Club will be welcoming Gail Harland with her illustrated talk on "Rockery Gardens". Gail is a member of the Plant Heritage Society and published author, having written several gardening books. We don’t exactly have a rockery but there is an area which I refer to as ‘the heap’ where rockery plants grow, so this talk will be of interest

I had a bit of a Victor Meldrew, ‘I don’t believe it’, moment on Wednesday evening. Why? It was because after so many weeks this summer of warmth and sunshine, pretty well guaranteed each day, it was all change for the Cromer Carnival Parade. We can’t do anything about nature but how unfair was it when the heavens opened with accompanying thunder and lightning – the full works – as the parade set off on Wednesday evening. I just wish it had just held off, for all concerne

I believe a garden is an evolving space, one which we develop to our individual requirements. If you have watched Gardeners World on BBC TV, you will know Monty Don is changing parts of his garden in Longmeadow, introducing more drought resistant plants. This is on the assumption we will continue to have warm dry summers. Monty Don’s two acre garden is huge, compared to most peoples and I therefore understand, keeping everything watered takes a considerable amount of time

The media are continually stressing; we should expect summers like this year’s to be the norm but I’m not so sure. We don’t have to go back many years, three to be exact, when in 2023 we had an awful summer. I quote the following snippets from my blogs:- Thursday 20th July 2023 - The weather has been cooler and we have also had rain and thunder. Not the best of summer weather. Friday 28th July 2023 - The Yarn Art Group, who meet in The Belfry every Tuesday, have create

Following on from the open day at PGL Overstrand Hall, I received this message from centre manager, Sarah – ‘A thankyou to everyone who attended the open day today - it was a lot busier than expected and we took just over £1000 for Nelsons Journey! I’d like to thank everyone for their patience and kindness; we really are a fantastic community. Also, a reminder about our HAF activity days over the summer advertised a couple of weeks ago.’ It was good to hear the open day was

One of our afternoon walks this week, was a stroll along the coast path before cutting across the golf course, down the side of Overstrand Hall and into the village. Not many people on the path and similar on the golf course. Passing by blackberry brambles, I spotted a butterfly which initially looked like a Small Copper. Given butterflies don’t always rest for too long, I was lucky to see the underwings on this one; it wasn’t a Small Copper. Back home, I consulted my com

When Overstrand Parish Council first started organising fireworks in the village, it was on the basis; whatever was raised in the bucket collection would be spent on the following years fireworks, with the addition of any donations from village businesses etc. On this basis the amount spent on fireworks for 2026 would be the amount collected in 2025 (£984.09 net of VAT), plus donations. However, it would appear, this is no longer the case. According to the draft minutes fo