moving to Norwich, UK

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 08:01 PM

"This site has loads of different villages in, thought you might like it. :0)"


Memo to self:

"It's always better when you add the link!" ;0)

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: johnadams
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 07:06 PM

A good overview of North Norfolk can be had by viewing this BBC programme which should be on line until noon on Sunday.

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: sapper82
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 06:38 PM

Visited Norwich several times with work and only found one place in the town with a Folk Session. Sadly it was the most unwelcoming, inward looking session I've ever been to.

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 04:09 PM

I've been to Norfolk many times. It is a great place to be. Naaarch is particularly good. Hmmm, well anyone who agrees with a comment like that, especially from Clarkson....well....

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: GUEST,Steamin' Willie
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 02:06 PM

Miles from civilisation, but if you are used to The USA, then I suppose everything is next door...

I agree with The High Lord Jeremy Clarkson.   

Norfolk - the county where they point at aeroplanes...

If you are worried about pronunciation, then no matter where you go in The UK folk clubs, you will always find an impromptu duo getting up and calling themselves Norfolk & Goode.

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 01:37 PM

This site has loads of different villages in, thought you might like it. :0)

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 01:32 PM

The Norfolk Broads..

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 01:29 PM

Norfolk is the County I love best.

Norwich has 52 churches, or used to....one for each week of the year. And..it has a castle too..and the most fantastic library, a huge new affair, relatively...with a museum below and a big cafe in....gorgeous new state of the art building...just google for it...

The Broads go right into the City Centre, so you can hire a boat either way, from in to out, or vice versa...

Go to Wroxham and Horning, and all the places around their, and see Honeypot Cottages, with thatched rooves, right on the water's edge.....Look at the old Windmill's too...

But best of all, take a rowing boat out on the Broads...out of season, when there is just you...and nature....around....

The silence is what hits you. No cars, no people, just you..the water and the birds...and you'll see the most amazing birds in Norfolk! Oh..so beautiful!

Miles of empty roads...

Blakeney, where the seals hang out on the Point...
Holt, where there are shops to make your mouth water....

And the Norfolk coast...wild and free...

You haven't really lived until you've see the sun rise and set in Norfolk...those huge, wonderful open skies..where the views go on for miles...and the whole world turns pink, at least twice a day...

And the Narfalk people, so friendly....

As you can see, I love it to pieces..and one day, one day, in the not too distant future, I'm going to live there and spend the rest of my life under a Norfolk Sky..

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 01:02 PM

Don't be swayed by the gainsayers! Norwich is a lovely city with good shops, etc. East Anglia stretches for many unspoilt miles and you can go for a long walk and meet no-one! (You get UFLs everywhere, except in some parts they are DFLs)!

If you want to find out about Folk, get a copy of Mardles, the local folk whats on. (Available from all good folk clubs!)

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: GUEST,Allan C
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 11:54 AM

Norwich is a lovely city. As far as the Broads go you can take a boat right from Norwich through the South Broads past Great Yarmouth (and a rather large stretch of open water) into the North Broads. They say Norwich has, or used to have, a church for every week of the year and a pub for every day. My wife is from Old Costessey which is a village now incorporated within the built up area. Her father was an archaeologist at Norwich Castle museum. She doesn't have the Laughing Postman (ie Norfolk dialect)type accent though.

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: Smedley
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 10:52 AM

Another London-escapees bolt-hole to avoid is Burnham Market & its surrounding villages. You might as well be in Chelsea.

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: Spleen Cringe
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 10:34 AM

North Norfolk is beautiful. My sis lives in Reepham, which still has plenty of locals, pubs where people look at you funny and not too many of those horrible identikit "tasteful" tat shops (unlike Holt, just up the road, which is stiff with Hooray Henrys and Henriettas and their darling little boutiques). Wells and Cley-next-the Sea are lovely and the whole area is fantastic for cycling - miles of narrow country lanes where you only come across the occasional tractor (apart from weekends, when the lanes are awash with designer bubba-trucks full of weekend second home owners).

Which bit of Norfolk (which my genteel mother-in-law insists on pronouncing Norfick rather than the earthier Norfuck) will your sister be living in?

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: kendall
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 10:21 AM

We have a town here called Woolwich and we drop the "W" too. Besides, wool itch makes more sense.

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 10:13 AM

Yes, I noticed the radical err ethnic cleansing of Norfolk, when walking through it on the Peddar's Way. Some of the wee stone villages feel just like walking into a frigid-aired Waitrose. The Gastro-Pubs and naked wood Arty outlets are all the same kind of uniform bland. The upper-middle 'rural idyll' types seem to find it terribly embarrassing to have to meet your eye or say 'Hello', especially if you're grubby and muddy from a week on the trail.. The countryside however is striking in summer, where you can walk for miles through golden shimmering fields of wheat, and never encounter another soul. The North coast too is striking, great expanses of beach, gorse and heather.

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: Mr Red
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 10:03 AM

An hour is a long way in the UK.

However there is a column in Sam Simmons' FolkWest about Norfolk (and Good). There is also one by a shy modest Folk Sleuth. It would be worth a years subscription just to familiarise her with the folk cohort there.

http://www.folklife-west.co.uk/

And the Whittlesea Straw Bear is not that far from Norfolk - It is mostly a sessiony, dancy, morrissy weekend. Still B&B available last time I looked, but it is popular - and rightly so. If she is into Cajun they have a dance but it clashes with the Ceilidh which gave me a difficult choice. She may have settled-in by Jan 15th, 16th and 17th.

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: RamblinStu
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 09:36 AM

I enjoyed twenty two good years of living in Norwich, a fine city, but then moved on (must lean to pay the rent). I still go back from time to time to see family and friends. It is a very special part of the world.

Unfortunately nowadays Norwich and Norfolk, is getting full of ee hars and UFLs (Up from London), and most of the good places are disappearing, replaced by modernised, organic, bare wood shops selling a host of products that fishes need for bicycles. Also you will see loads of properties used by people to "pop to" for the occasional weekend, then, whilst there they can complain about anything agricultural or rural. Most of the local pubs have been forced to close replaced by gastro pubs, where you can eat fine cuisine and talk to people from Surrey

However, if you dig hard enough, I'm sure you should find some real Norfolk left, so explore and find the real Norfolk, then savour and enjoy it, it is a wonderful place to be



Stuart Pendrill

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: Jack Campin
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 07:08 AM

apparently they will live about an hour from Norwich.

An hour how? Public transport in East Anglia isn't that great - the bus service is patchy and the trains are expensive.

It's been horribly yuppified, housing prices have increased further in the last generation than anywhere else in Britain. The houses Harry Cox and Sam Larner lived in have probably been refitted to suit a banking executive with two BMWs.

It won't take much global warming to have Norwich Castle's hill sticking up out of the water like Mont St Michel or Eilean Donan.

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: Will Fly
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 06:49 AM

All my mother's family originated from Norfolk - much north of Naarch - and then moved to Loostarft (Lowestoft) in Suffolk. Lovely part of the world. A cottage in Cley-next-the-Sea would be one idea of heaven. And it's all M.R. James country for those who like his ghost stories.

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 06:02 AM

My grandparents were from North Norfolk and I've always considered Wells-next-the-Sea to be the closest place to Heaven on earth (although it's been excessively gentrified in the last couple of decades).

I've never really warmed to Norwich ('Norridge' if you come from Peterborough - like me ... something close to 'Naarch' if you actually come from Norwich ... although the inhabitants will probably think you're taking the piss if you try to pronounce it like that! Stick to 'Norridge'!). As S'OP says, though, the cathedral is very fine and the other old bits are worth seeking out.

There's an old cliche about Norfolk being very flat (attributable to Noel Coward I think) so if you believe that scenic beauty should include hills you'll probably be disappointed. Nevertheless, stick with it - East Anglia can be very rewarding if you open your mind and allow its subtle charms to grow on you.

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: Mr Happy
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 05:48 AM

........& wasn't Sid Kipper originating from they paaaaarrrts? Arrrh!

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: Mavis Enderby
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 05:25 AM

Naaaaarch sounds about right Smedley.

I once had a frustrating drive around Norwich and surrounding area looking for "Cossey" - which is of course the local pronunciation of Costessey - just to the NW of Norwich.

I can also recommend the produce of Woodfords brewery, which is a few miles to the North East of Norwich.

Pete.

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: GUEST,Old Roger
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 05:21 AM

This may be a help. The website for the Norfolk Folk Directory is found at www.norfolkfolk.co.uk It lists clubs and other things. It is usually out of date which is normal for Norfolk. I run The Wolf Folk Club near King's Lynn. Lots of Norwich folk come over to it. For me the Whittlesea Straw Bear Festival in January is the region's unmissable event. That's over near Peterborough but well worth the drive and braving the cold. The Cambridge Folk Festival is big and famous but it is hard to get tickets. Don't waste any tears on that, there's plenty of good stuff going off in the region.

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: Rasener
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 05:02 AM

Ah he probably does say Norridge loik.

Birmingham is pronounced Brummagem.

Many people wrongly confuse the Black Country dialect with the Brummie dialect. As a Brummie, I can tell you there is a big difference.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn3_bYcAnWI&feature=related

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 04:49 AM

That was a cross-post, MtheGM - but shows we were thinking along similar Bellamist lines!

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 04:47 AM

and Norwich has also one of the best preserved of ancient city walls, IIRC.

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 04:45 AM

I love Norwich & I love Norfolk. It remains my dream to one day open a shop dealing in local dairy produce in Wells-next-the-Sea called Butter and Cheese and All - there is already one called Normal for Norfolk, a phrase which still permeates the UK medical profession for those slightly below the national average. albeit abbreviated to NfN. Norwich has one of the finest medieval cathedrals in the UK, the cloisters of which contain the finest sequence of medieval religious sculpture I've ever seen (see my wee film HERE for a taste) but it'll give a sore neck looking up at them! It also has one the finest Roman Catholic cathedrals too - a masterpiece of the Victorian Gothic. The rural churches are the jewels in the crown though; step into these and you're truly stepping back into something you won't find anywhere else. My favourite St Peter & St Paul at Salle, which is truly mind-blowing - another wee film HERE.

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 04:34 AM

For folkies: Norfolk has a fine oral tradition; EJ Moeran, Peter Kennedy, Bob Thomson et al collected there, from, among others, Harry Cox & Sam Larner. My late dear friend Peter Bellamy was brought up on a farm near Wells-next-the-Sea on the northern [Wash] coast of the county, and lived many years in Norwich; &, as we lived in the neighbouring county of Cambridgeshire, we would meet often at that time. He always regarded himself as a Norfolk singer — his first solo record, while still with the Young Tradition, was called Mainly Norfolk — even when he lived in London & after he moved north to Yorkshire where his untimely death occurred.

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: open mike
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 04:22 AM

of course i meant the "W" and he is from the area that might be called
black country in the west...or midlands...so he might pronounce it differently than area locals.

i think birmingham is pronounced as "brummage" there, so he probably says norridge?

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: Rasener
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 04:22 AM

A few links.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=norfolk&rls=com.microsoft:en-GB:IE-SearchBox&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7RNWN_en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&

http://www.visitnorfolk.co.uk/norfolk/default.aspx

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/norfolk/hi/default.stm

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: Smedley
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 04:10 AM

The 'h' in Norwich isn't exactly silent, but the 'w' is. Depending on your regional & class background, Brits would call the city 'Norritch' or 'Norridge' or (if they are from the rural vicinity of that area) 'Naaaaarch'.

The Broads are very close to the city, they start 20 minutes or so to the East. The coastline of North Norfolk is lovely, and also very accessible from the city. Some parts of the county are a bit anonymous, so it might help to know whether she'll be living N, E S or W of the city.

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 04:01 AM

Norfolk and Good
Lyrics by The Kipper Family

In praise of our county we're going to sing
Against this fine place we will not hear a thing.
If you speak ill about it, you speak a falsehood
For our native county is Norfolk and good.
Norfolk and good, Norfolk and good
We are the boys who are Norfolk and good.

Now Nelson from Norfolk he took on the world
Lady Hamilton thought him an absolute pearl
But Hardy said Nelson was misunderstood,
He reckoned his kissing was Norfolk and good.

Now Kent have its hops and the Cornish their pasties
And Lancashire hot pot can be awfully tasty
In Cheshire there's cheese and in Yorkshire there's pud
But my wife's old dumplings are Norfolk and good.

Now the rich folk of London our county have found
Which means that the houses cost thousands of pounds
They all feel at home in our neighbourhood
So we let them know that they' re Norfolk and good.

Now our Norfolk turkeys are simply the best,
They sure knock the stuffing out of the rest
And if you tried one I'm sure that you would
Agree that our turkeys are Norfolk and good.

Norfolk and good, Norfolk and good,
We are the boys who are Norfolk and good.


This might give a 'clue' to the pronunciation too :)

Subject: RE: moving to Norwich, UK
From: open mike
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 03:53 AM

there is a town in nebraska called Norfolk and they pronounce it Nor-fork. How is the British name norfolk pronounced?

you probably need to be careful how you spell this...

Subject: moving to Norwich, UK
From: open mike
Date: 27 Nov 09 - 03:51 AM

My cousin is moving to England. I take her to the airport to fly there in one week. She will be joining her husband near Norwich. I told her the "H" (aitch) is silent...what else is there to know about the area? I am not sure how close to "the Broads" they will be, but
that area looks very interesting. My cousin is very much into dragons
and i mentioned to her about the dragon hall and the dragon festival in Norwich.

apparently they will live about an hour from Norwich. Are there any
mudcatters in this area?

I think i would be interested in morris dance, and other activities and events, but i do not think my cousin or her husband would be . I think the area may be great for a person who loves dragons.