living on the North Norfolk Coast

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 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

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

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

What a joy it is to once again be sitting in the shade at the end of our garden, while I compose today’s blog on my laptop. I had expected to be monitoring the Auction House’s property auction this morning to see whether the camping field (off Beach Close) sold and if so what was the final bid. However, I noticed on Monday, Right Move have marked it, sold prior to auction. No doubt, the Beeston Regis Group will be relieved to no longer own the site which, over the years, c

It’s very pleasant to be sitting on one of our garden benches, under the shade of our Portugal laurel tree, while I compose this blog. Following on from my last blog, after the rain, I checked the soil in our garden and the water butts. The ground was still very dry and there is no noticeable increase in the water levels. There is a distinct lack of colour in our flower borders. Plants which are usually producing new blooms, as fast as I deadhead them, are failing to gener

Anglian Water have imposed a ban on the use of hose pipes; this commenced at 1 a.m. on Saturday. The warm weather and breezes have been drying out the ground, so daily watering (either using a hose or watering can) has been a must for those who grow vegetables and low rooting plants. Since Saturday we’ve seen a drop in temperature and a decreased appearance of the sun. This has, to a certain extent, reduced the amount of water needed for our garden. Only one of our water

I was surprised, when I was contacted by the company who provide me with a virus checker to be told next year’s subscription was increasing by four times more than last year. At this price, I decided, no they are not going to renew my subscription. I removed the auto renew from my account, after which they came back and halved the cost. They’ve got to be having a laugh and no I’m still not going to renew. Since then, I’ve spoken with our eldest son who has given me a reco

In my blog for 11th March, I mentioned the novel Wuthering Heights and reading it first at school followed by a number of times, since then. Each time I read it, I had a different view of the story; finally ending up with last read, not liking the characters and giving my book away. Peter suggested, I try reading it again. With my book long gone, I downloaded it for fourteen pence on Kindle. Did I enjoy the story and like the characters? Yes, I did. I’m glad I read Emil

Sunday’s weather was perfect for the village Yard Sale. People passed by carrying their purchases and the whole day looked to be, relaxed and successful for everyone. In the morning I visited an open garden with plants for sale. I purchased two for a new project; what can best be described as a mini gravel garden. In the afternoon we stopped off at another open garden. Here, there were a number of lavenders which had attracted humming bird hawkmoths. I was quite envious

A short blog today. It’s been wonderfully warm, so lots of time has been spent outdoors, as well as taking advantage of the drying conditions and putting our bedspread and electric blanket through the washing machine; both dried very quickly. During the cooler parts of the day, I’ve scrubbed the area of our carpet which gets the most traffic and was looking a bit grubby; this dried quickly too. Tim Bennett has published some dates for his guided walks during July, see pos

What has happened to the weather? It’s been raining pretty well every day this month and it’s not been particularly warm either. As a result, there were only about ten sellers for both todays and last week’s car boot sales, on the sports field. In my move towards growing more perennials, I am always on the look-out for suitable plants at the car boot sales. I was pleased to purchase three last week to fill in some gaps. Today, I was tempted by the pots of alliums but wit

Tim Bennett is once again leading guided walks through the village. A few years ago, we went on his walk, covering the village’s boys and men who were involved in World War 1. The walk complemented Tim’s published book ‘Overstrand in the Great War’. Since then, he’s researched further into Overstrand’s past and it won’t be long before his second book will be available to purchase. Tim’s latest walks, will provide a visual experience, covering his researches. We have book

You could hardly say our local roads are busy, with constant streams of traffic. Despite this, recently we’ve seen road kills when out on our morning walk. A few weeks ago, it was a badger that never made it back home to its set and a cock pheasant that had recently been hit by a vehicle. Last week there were five bodies, a blackbird, red legged partridge, hedgehog, pigeon and muntjac deer along the stretch of Mundesley Road between the turn offs for the High Street and Car

I’ve been dipping into BBC’s iplayer and watching segments, from this year’s Chelsea Flower Show. A couple of comments made at the show are worth a mention. The first was related to gardening ‘every day is a learning day’ – so very true. The second was from a son with his mother who said they came away with good ideas, none of which they put into practice – I wonder how true this is for many of those attending. The star of the show, for me, had to be the wood carving of G

The village store, which is such an asset for villagers, has been sold. After serving the village, for I forget how many years, Michael Maher has sold the shop and this is now being run by Paran. Having said this, Michael is still around until the Post Office side of the business is fully transferred over to Paran. I understand this will be on or around the 25th. At this point Judy, who has been so helpful and a welcome source of information regarding village matters, (ag

Together with a neighbour, yesterday afternoon, I went to the Overstrand Coastal Community Transition Plan Launch Event. Tables were laid out with large bound books of the plans, plus there were wall maps and videos. There was so much information, contained in the books, I found it impossible to take it all in; I should add I was not the only one to feel this way. To get a reasonable grasp of the details, I felt I needed to sit down for at least a couple of hours to achiev

Chatting to a neighbour yesterday about the Coastal Transition Launch this Thursday, they mentioned a TV programme, now available on YouTube, titled ‘The brutal reality of coastal erosion : Documenting destruction on Norfolk's coast’ . I found this with ease and watched it late afternoon. To me, it was incredibly sad to watch the demolition of homes along the coast in Hemsby and Happisburgh, while focusing, on the vulnerability of anyone who has a home where erosion is prev

I’ve held back writing my blog (normally I write every four days), so I can include a paragraph about today’s talk at the Gardening Club. Before I cover this, I’ve got a few things to mention. Firstly, on Friday morning we saw a Coastguard vehicle at the top of the zigzag path. We discovered, why they were present from a report, published on NNDC’s Facebook page, which reads as follows - ‘ EMERGENCY RESPONSE: Yesterday, emergency services were called to a potential Unexpl

What a difference a few extra degrees of warmth brings. With temperatures rising, over the past couple of days, we’ve only needed the central heating on, first thing and again late afternoon into the evening. The door into the conservatory has been open and this is where we’ve been back breakfasting and lunching, while looking out over the garden. Yesterday, I enjoyed my mug of midmorning coffee, (for the first time this year) sat on a garden bench, sun on my face, listeni