Moving to Norfolk???

[womanwholivedinashoe]

hello Ladies,

My husband was recently made redundant and we saw this as the ideal opportunity to search for the lifestyle that we've always wanted. We are seriously looking into Norfolk and I have 4 boys 19 (& Autistic), 14, 8 and baby 6 months and need to know where might be best to bring up kids.
I'm a nurse so will be looking for work and hubby said he would do almost (lol) anything for work. We would prefer to live out of a large town, we like the seaside but not a large beach area more quieter resorts. But in the same respect love the countryside too, so generally just a nice area but facilities within a drive for the kids to not get too bored?
Can anyone help??? We are so far considering Acle and Loddon? Shouldham and Marham although they are quite far from the secondary school is there a school bus service that operates?

Many thanks wwlias

Diss is lovely. My grandparents lived there till they died..
I like the market town feeling.

@womanwholivedinashoe very old thread but just wondered if you made the move and if so what was it like ?

Don't get too sucked into the rural idyll myth. With many rural communities comes insularity, lack of facilities, crushing boredom - and the most alarming thing I find is the casual bigotry expressed by so many people that I meet

I spent 25 years in a big city,then for the last 14 have been in a small market town. The casual racism/ bigotry was an eye opener here.

We go to Norfolk a lot and while it's stunningly beautiful I can't ever imagine living there as it's like the land that time forgot. I know not everyone is like that obviously but we pick up on it just from being on holiday there.

Oh ffs I didn't realise this was an old thread !

Avoid Thetford, King’s Lynn and the smaller Norfolk towns. If you want something cosmopolitan Norwich is your choice. If you want country/seaside there are lots of beautiful places along the North Norfolk coast (transport links are poor as you would expect in the region), Heacham, Snettisham, Dersingham are not too expensive. Further along (Wells, Burnham Market etc are expensive).

@mrssunshinexxx Hi, a very old thread but yes we did make the move & moved to a small village called Great Moulton south of Norwich near Long Stratton. We loved it there, got a dog as we were in the countryside, despite being outsiders we were welcomed by many and most seemed very friendly. Our hardest was work :O and after 6 months of struggling my husband took a job back in London and after 8 months we were all back there.
That didn't stop our dream though and we moved to Bracklesham Bay (different direction) and have now been here for over 5 years, small coastal town, walks on the beach, short bus ride to Chichester, extremely friendly the only things is my children are now 23, 18 & 10 the only 2 have no intention of staying in the area because it really isn't geared for the youngsters (1 year in lock down hasn't helped) its very laid back unless you like water sports , surfing etc then you'll be in heaven.
But I would always recommend making the move otherwise you'll never know and something is making you want to leave and look for a better life so isn't it worth trying.
We still to this day have friends in Norfolk and when we can go visit yearly. Hope that helpsxx

Thank you for bumping this thread, I've enjoyed seeing what I was doing a decade ago!

I was just about to say that Norfolk is lovely but very homogeneous and that the JPH is an absolute shithole that should be avoided at all costs then I noticed the thread was 10 years old and you probably don't need opinions any more!

Was born and bred in Norfolk, my family are all there. we cannot go back as we're priced out and have been for a long time. I would love to be able to move back there as we live in what seems to be twinned with purgatory. Norfolk really isn't as bad as here - very few places are as bad as here - I must have done something very bad in a past life to deserve to live here...

Oh my goodness purgatory doesn't sound good where are you living?

@ProfYaffle I know, I thought this would be in an archive somewhere gathering dust :p , hope you are well?

Fakenham area North Norfolk; 20 miles from Norwich and 20 from King's Lynn (roughly) . Largest towns for finding work and has basic services. Also not to Far from Wells coast etc.

@womanwholivedinashoe - very well thanks. Glad you enjoyed your time in South Norfolk even if it was brief. Pleased to hear you found your happy place in the end :)

Thanks so much @womanwholivedinashoe that's helpful I'm glad it's worked out for you

Love revisiting this thread, us in South Norfolk near Diss absolutely love it here.

womanwholivedinashoe This I wrote for another occasion sums it up quite nicely!

"This is Bobbers Mill, in Bobbers Mill we have endless excitement, in fact, there's so much excitement it should be reclassified as a theme park, but it's actually better than a theme park because theme parks are closed at the moment but Bobbers Mill is open - all the time! The first picture is a typical and picturesque Bobbers Mill scene, as you can see it is much more artistic than anything the Lake District or other such second rate places have to offer. The second is of the wildlife we have here - but don't worry there are live ones too, lots of them! When you have got bored of the scenery and wildlife we have specially laid on events like mass fights and stabbings for extra entertainment. It's so exciting watching the police put up all that tape! You can watch the police helicopter go over every evening - I've taught my son to give a jaunty wave to the coppers. Soon we'll be opening an Air BnB so you too can enjoy all the sights this amazing place has to offer - did I mention the uninsured and unlicensed drivers?