living on the North Norfolk Coast

The annual Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal commenced last Thursday (22nd). Those who are regular readers of my blog will be aware, I retired as Overstrand’s Poppy Appeal Organiser (PAO) at the end of last year’s appeal. Attempts were made to recruit my replacement by myself, The Belfry School and Norfolk’s Poppy Appeal Manager; all without success. I was informed, early September, Overstrand District has been amalgamated with Cromer District. At this point I passed on a

We’ve had a thief in the garden! Furry with a bushy tail, a squirrel has been pilfering our walnuts. I’ve chased it off, three times. The last time, it was sat on the fence with a walnut in its mouth. After I’d given it a good scolding, totally unphased it disappeared into a neighbour’s garden. Last year we had forty-one walnuts, this year just eighteen have fallen from the tree and there doesn’t look to be any more to come. Are the reduced numbers down to the lack of ra

Just when we thought we’d had our last BBQ of the season, thanks to the warm weather, Peter was able to light up on Thursday evening and cook sausages and onions. I had planned eating something totally different but there was no way we were going to miss the opportunity of cooking outdoors….just one more time. All change with the weather yesterday, which proved to be a damp morning with a drop in temperature. The rain was most welcome and saved us having to water the garde

I’ve titled this blog ‘Changes’, not just because this is the third time I’ve changed this blog! Eighteen years ago, saw a big change in our lives. We drove up from Bucks to Cromer where we picked up the keys to our new home. This change was brought about by changes in our workplace, resulting in us giving up work, along with changes in the area where we lived, which we did not embrace. We could have moved to Greece or split our year between the UK and Greece. However,

I don’t like it, but there’s nothing I can do about it! I’m referring to the predicted change, which did materialise, in the weather on Wednesday. Before the change, we had a BBQ on Monday evening. I’m pretty sure that will have been the last one for this season, but then you never know. After several years use, our BBQ is getting a bit crotchety and shabby. Taking advantage of the end of season sales; a couple of weeks ago, Peter purchased a new one online. Needless to

We were able to take a walk along the beach on Saturday morning and see how much sheet piling has been installed by the contractors. It looks as though they’ve finished the first section, below the promenade, which you can see in the photo below. We were also able to look at the area under the ramp, leading down on to the beach. As you can see, from the second photo, there are some sizeable gaps under the ramp. Early this morning, the contractors were back. Shortly after

Anyone who has enjoyed meeting up on Thursday mornings in the Pavilion, after the car boots have finished, will be pleased to hear the coffee mornings will be resuming on 8th October. It’s a great place to meet up, while enjoying a tea or coffee along with cake and/or a sausage roll. All are welcome. Well-done to whoever instigated the changes in Trimingham to the speed limits, on the road passing through the centre of the village as well as the approaches. In addition,

I’ve been into Cromer twice this past week. Firstly, on Monday, after we visited a village friend, who now lives in a residential home and then again on Wednesday, when I went to the hairdressers. Now the main tourist season is over, there are less people about but there’s still a pretty constant stream of vehicles, passing through the town. Cromer could do with a bypass but I’ve heard, a certain person, won’t release the land to make this viable. On Wednesday I had time

‘A Taste of Overstrand’ was held on the sports field, on Saturday. We went along in the early afternoon and were impressed. There was a varied selection of foods, wine, beer, moisturisers and street food etc., along with games and what was termed as, a silent auction. It was good to see, St Martins Church had a stall too, selling raffle tickets to raise funds for the restoration of the church tower. There was a relaxed atmosphere but if the organisers make this an annual e

They’re back! I am referring to the pink foot geese. We haven’t seen them yet but I definitely heard them chatting away on Thursday (17th). Their arrival is earlier than last year (1st October) and a little later than in 2023 and 2024 (14th September). After leaving their breeding grounds in Greenland, Iceland, Svalbard (archipelago of Norway) and Novaya Zemlya (archipelago of Russia) they fly to over winter in destinations within northern Europe. Thursday was the last

I thought I would devote today’s blog to a selection of the photos I’ve taken, as we head into the months of autumn. During the season of autumn, there are usually plenty of fruits, growing in the hedgerows. Some can be picked and preserved, all provide food for wildlife. Pictured above are rose hips. Not so popular these days but going back to World War II, when citrus fruits were not always available, rose hip syrup was considered as a particularly valuable source of V

I forgot to mention, in my last blog, about the Gardening Club meeting last Tuesday afternoon. The subject was Rockery Gardens and the talk was presented by Gail Harland. Gail’s talk wasn’t quite what I expected. I thought it would be, how to create a rockery and the types of plants are best suited, in a fairly arid area. Instead, Gail covered the history of rockeries. Initially these were just a collection of rocks and stones with no plants. Favoured by the rich, as a

Very pleased our car got through its MOT this week. This will be followed early next month for some minor recommended repairs and new tyres. Providing we can keep it ‘on the road’ we feel this will be our last car. No real point in changing as it does very few miles a year. We mainly use it for our weekly shop in Mundesley and other local trips. We haven’t ventured out of the county for six years! Now what does that say? I’ll tell you, quite simply; we are contented wi

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

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