Norfolk residents... help please.
 

We take our dogs on their holiday twice a year to Winterton renting a cottage. Every year, we get sadder and sadder at leaving.
We now have many friends there who say its lovely but the winters are really cold and in summer its packed with tourists.

We at the moment live in a great area with everything on our doorstep and though we are on the coast its one of the best places for weather.

However, we hate leaving Norfolk now and are so keen on maybe selling up.

Do any Norfolk residents have any advice please.

Of course there is the temptation of ROYS ! XXXXX

Can’t give you any advice as I don’t live there but just wanted to say I Love ROYS!:spin:

yay ! Hi Twinnie. I adore ROYS ! .

This year, our friends tried to turn my head to Lathams, how dare they !

I love ROYS ! Even have a Tee Shirt that my friend made for me. xxx

No advice as such but wanted to comment as we are just on our way back now after spending the weekend at Caister. We love it there too and enjoy coming down a couple of times a year. Wouldn't relocate though as it is too far from our family and those we know who live there say that a large majority of jobs are centered around tourism which wouldn't suit us or our kids when they get older.

If you do decide to make the move though you'll certainly be in a gorgeous part of the world.

We used to go to Winterton regularly - and also felt sad at leaving. But I don't think we'd have wanted to live there - for us it was perfect to visit. (Said as a bit of a townie!)

It's only really cold on the days you get winds down from Scandinavia in the winter. Obviously colder the closer to the coast but tends to be drier with cold winds than wet and cold.

On the whole Norfolk is one of the drier and warmer counties of the UK.

Winterton isn't really known as one of the more picturesque coastal areas being in a way a Great Yarmouth suburb. It is very tourist filled in the summer due to all of the holiday parks there.

There are lots of very nice villages around that way as you head up towards Cromer. Other than the likes of Hemant, these are very nice and less busy as they are more country villages.

Only real downside is that everywhere else can feel a long way away. Outside of Norwich major cities are 2 hours plus away. Some see that as a positive though.

Have you been to the North Norfolk coast from Wells around to Brancaster? Properties are more expensive but it is a very nice coastal area.

See I love Latham’s as well, that’s what 11 trips to the broads growing up does to you!

We moved to Norfolk from Milton Keynes 12 years ago however we live in small South Norfolk village and not the coast. I really like it now and has been a great place for the kids to grow up but it took me a while to get used to having to travel for most things I.e. a shopping centre rather than having everything on the doorstep.

I think the biggest disadvantages are the accessibility to anywhere else as has already been mentioned, I’m about 5 minutes from the A11 south of Norwich so the road is now duelled to the main routes but it’s still normally a trek to get to most places in the UK, Winterton would be 45mins at least on top of my journey. Im not sure of your work situation but this means that you are limited for work opportunities, Norwich being the biggest place for employment without a long commute.

Saying that wherever you are in Norfolk you won’t be far from some nice countryside, the coast and the pace of life does seems a bit slower and it feels safe. Winters here aren’t harsh with snow I think it’s just when it is windy being flat there are no natural wind breaks and obviously the coast may get weather from the North Sea.

What about the Suffolk coast, somewhere not so far from the main commuter towns & roads ?

Or north Essex has some nice coastline (I don’t mean Clacton or Southend 😱).

I live in Gorleston. It’s probably less touristy but does have a lovely beach. We do have a sea breeze but in the summer you can easily find sun traps. We never really have snow like other parts of the country, I thought this winter was fairly mild.
The coast is beautiful and places like Southwold and Warberswick are so pretty and great for crabbing and just pottering about.
Downsides are as other posters have mentioned, it’s a 2 hour journey before you even get to a motorway, it is better now the Thetford road has been made into a duel carriageway but it still a trek to get out of Norfolk.
It is busy in the summer, traffic is a nightmare but plans are in place for a third river crossing in the future which would help. I just cycle into town, it’s so much quicker.
Public transport is hit and miss, the train often has works on a Sunday so it’s a bus replacement. My sister travels to Reading every 3 weeks and is delayed quite a bit.
Buses to villages are mostly every hour and finish early so if you don’t drive you could be stuck.
If you don’t want a seasonal place there are lots of other lovely villages to look at, also the coast is caving in. This year people have lost their houses in Hemsby.