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My Happy Place: North Norfolk

1
Welcome to our happy place.

I sat and wrote notes for this post sitting sun drenched in the back garden of the North Norfolk cottage we hire every year at Easter. Return to London imminent, emotions running high, it made me realise what a strong tie we have with this special place already.

I have started getting the feeling leaving Norfolk that I did when we left our family holiday home in New Zealand at the end of very holiday as a child. The sadness at leaving somewhere special and familiar and having to wait for what seems forever to

SelfishMother.com
2
return.

Curiously, for us this is all part of the plan. To create a happy place for our girls where they feel at home, where we create layers of life long memories…year on year, and form ties with a place that they will always remember.

We have been coming to this cottage every year for 6 years. In our third year here the girls made friends with two divine girls who happen to have fabulously lovely and fun parents and we now book both cottages on the estate together every year. ‘Our’ cottage is on the Estate of Mt Amelia in Ingoldisthorpe,

SelfishMother.com
3
North Norfolk. It is a small 2 bed cottage and seems to shrink every year as our children rapidly increase in size, but there is space enough for us all, and in reality we spend little time inside!

This is the place where the front door is open all day, where the girls are dressed and outside exploring before I’ve managed to roll myself out of bed in the morning. Where they are best of friends all week long and amazingly the sun always seems to shine.

There are three holiday cottages on the estate ,and the beautiful Georgian house at the top

SelfishMother.com
4
of the Hill if you fancy something a little grander. The wonderful thing is the endless space to explore. There are trees to climb, fields to romp in and forests to create dens in. I don’t think the girls make a move to pick up an electronic device from start to finish.

There is a field in front of the house of the cottage which is effectively a woolly Maternity ward, and our girls regularly witness the glorious (actually…probably slightly gruesome) spectacle of baby lamb birth. They visit them twice daily in their little hay nursery and spend

SelfishMother.com
5
hours chatting to the farmer. As all three are constantly decked out in merino wool, this is a great place to start learning about the supply chain!

Over and above the wonderful place we stay we have come to truly love North Norfolk. What they say about Norfolk light is all true. The evening sun streams in over fabulously flat land and creates something quite magical. The views and horizons seem endless, which for inner city London dwellers is awe inspiring.

Beaches, food, fresh air, village names that are cause for great hilarity (great

SelfishMother.com
6
snoring, little snoring) Norfolk has it all. If you manage to get there (and you really should), these are just a few of my personal tips and highlights……

– Brancaster Beach. Gorgeous white sand beach that stretches for miles. There is a kiosk for hot food and most importantly ice cream. We are told by lovely local friends that if you turn left on the beach and walk for 20 mins you can sometimes see the seals basking.

– Old Hunstanton Beach. A warning…very windy but beautiful and a brilliant spot for kite flying!

– Wells-next-sea. Very

SelfishMother.com
7
pretty seaside town with picture perfect ice-cream coloured beach huts lining a gorgeous white sand beach. So good we shot some of the @nextofficial Christmas gift guide there last year.

– Holme Dunes. Amazing birdlife and home to the Norfolk Wildlife trust. You can walk through the wetlands or drive to the end of the track behind the beach for a walk and see literally not another soul for miles.

– I’m an Interiors stylist and have a self confessed obsession with antique markets and car boot sales. I always find some propping treasures at

SelfishMother.com
8
the car boot sale in Hunstanton at Glebe house school. On every sunday morning.

– There is a farmers market in Docking every Weds where we go for seafood, meat, great cheeses and vege. Oh, and craft for the girls (they love a bit of local handmade merchandise!)

– Horseriding at the North Norfolk riding school in little Walsingham. The girls get a lesson and then a little walk out on very amicable ponies. They love this beyond words and while you are in town you get to visit the amazing Walsingham farmsshop and the Chocolate Deli for

SelfishMother.com
9
seriously the most creative and delicious easter eggs I have seen anywhere.

– Burnham Market. The Mayfair of Norfolk. Beautiful and absolutely worth a visit. Have a drink outside in the sun at The Hoste.

– Holkam Hall. The most wonderful aristocratic pile. The movie ‘The Duchess’ was shot here and it has all of that awesome austere style. There is a fabulous adventure playground and a really lovely museum. We go there often.

– Snettisham Park Farm. Brilliant in spring for the little ones…there is regular lamb feeding.

– Pensthorpe

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10
Waterfowl Park. You can literally spend hours in the huge adventure playground here and there are amazing walks to boot.

– Castle Rising. If you have and interest in Medieval history, this castle is a must see.

We spend most of our time cooking, eating fish and chips in the evening sun, or attempting a spring BBQ here but there are some great pubs in Norfolk.

Our favourite two are the Rose and Crown in Snettisham (voted pub of the year in the good pub guide 2015) and we always end the trip with a group dinner at The Lifeboat Inn in Thornham.

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A gorgeous pub on the windswept Thornham coast. Owned by Marco Pierre White, Need I say more.

On our return to London, we religiously spend two weeks scanning agents websites for a small Norfolk home of our own, but always end up rebooking Mt Amelia immediately because, really we can’t bear the thought of not going back.

If you asked my girls which holiday they look forward to most every year, I know what they would tell you. They already have it planned, in their heads and its just as good when we finally get back there.

Roll on April

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2016!

Motherhood is different for all of us… if you’d like to share your thoughts, why not join our Network & start posting?

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- 1 May 15

Welcome to our happy place.

I sat and wrote notes for this post sitting sun drenched in the back garden of the North Norfolk cottage we hire every year at Easter. Return to London imminent, emotions running high, it made me realise what a strong tie we have with this special place already.

I have started getting the feeling leaving Norfolk that I did when we left our family holiday home in New Zealand at the end of very holiday as a child. The sadness at leaving somewhere special and familiar and having to wait for what seems forever to return.

Curiously, for us this is all part of the plan. To create a happy place for our girls where they feel at home, where we create layers of life long memories…year on year, and form ties with a place that they will always remember.

We have been coming to this cottage every year for 6 years. In our third year here the girls made friends with two divine girls who happen to have fabulously lovely and fun parents and we now book both cottages on the estate together every year. ‘Our’ cottage is on the Estate of Mt Amelia in Ingoldisthorpe, North Norfolk. It is a small 2 bed cottage and seems to shrink every year as our children rapidly increase in size, but there is space enough for us all, and in reality we spend little time inside!

IMG_2832IMG_3016

This is the place where the front door is open all day, where the girls are dressed and outside exploring before I’ve managed to roll myself out of bed in the morning. Where they are best of friends all week long and amazingly the sun always seems to shine.

There are three holiday cottages on the estate ,and the beautiful Georgian house at the top of the Hill if you fancy something a little grander. The wonderful thing is the endless space to explore. There are trees to climb, fields to romp in and forests to create dens in. I don’t think the girls make a move to pick up an electronic device from start to finish.

There is a field in front of the house of the cottage which is effectively a woolly Maternity ward, and our girls regularly witness the glorious (actually…probably slightly gruesome) spectacle of baby lamb birth. They visit them twice daily in their little hay nursery and spend hours chatting to the farmer. As all three are constantly decked out in merino wool, this is a great place to start learning about the supply chain!

IMG_2816IMG_3008

Over and above the wonderful place we stay we have come to truly love North Norfolk. What they say about Norfolk light is all true. The evening sun streams in over fabulously flat land and creates something quite magical. The views and horizons seem endless, which for inner city London dwellers is awe inspiring.

Beaches, food, fresh air, village names that are cause for great hilarity (great snoring, little snoring) Norfolk has it all. If you manage to get there (and you really should), these are just a few of my personal tips and highlights……

– Brancaster Beach. Gorgeous white sand beach that stretches for miles. There is a kiosk for hot food and most importantly ice cream. We are told by lovely local friends that if you turn left on the beach and walk for 20 mins you can sometimes see the seals basking.

– Old Hunstanton Beach. A warning…very windy but beautiful and a brilliant spot for kite flying!

– Wells-next-sea. Very pretty seaside town with picture perfect ice-cream coloured beach huts lining a gorgeous white sand beach. So good we shot some of the @nextofficial Christmas gift guide there last year.

– Holme Dunes. Amazing birdlife and home to the Norfolk Wildlife trust. You can walk through the wetlands or drive to the end of the track behind the beach for a walk and see literally not another soul for miles.

IMG_2959-1IMG_3044IMG_3033

– I’m an Interiors stylist and have a self confessed obsession with antique markets and car boot sales. I always find some propping treasures at the car boot sale in Hunstanton at Glebe house school. On every sunday morning.

– There is a farmers market in Docking every Weds where we go for seafood, meat, great cheeses and vege. Oh, and craft for the girls (they love a bit of local handmade merchandise!)

– Horseriding at the North Norfolk riding school in little Walsingham. The girls get a lesson and then a little walk out on very amicable ponies. They love this beyond words and while you are in town you get to visit the amazing Walsingham farmsshop and the Chocolate Deli for seriously the most creative and delicious easter eggs I have seen anywhere.

– Burnham Market. The Mayfair of Norfolk. Beautiful and absolutely worth a visit. Have a drink outside in the sun at The Hoste.

Holkam Hall. The most wonderful aristocratic pile. The movie ‘The Duchess’ was shot here and it has all of that awesome austere style. There is a fabulous adventure playground and a really lovely museum. We go there often.

– Snettisham Park Farm. Brilliant in spring for the little ones…there is regular lamb feeding.

– Pensthorpe Waterfowl Park. You can literally spend hours in the huge adventure playground here and there are amazing walks to boot.

– Castle Rising. If you have and interest in Medieval history, this castle is a must see.

We spend most of our time cooking, eating fish and chips in the evening sun, or attempting a spring BBQ here but there are some great pubs in Norfolk.

Our favourite two are the Rose and Crown in Snettisham (voted pub of the year in the good pub guide 2015) and we always end the trip with a group dinner at The Lifeboat Inn in Thornham. A gorgeous pub on the windswept Thornham coast. Owned by Marco Pierre White, Need I say more.

On our return to London, we religiously spend two weeks scanning agents websites for a small Norfolk home of our own, but always end up rebooking Mt Amelia immediately because, really we can’t bear the thought of not going back.

If you asked my girls which holiday they look forward to most every year, I know what they would tell you. They already have it planned, in their heads and its just as good when we finally get back there.

Roll on April 2016!

Motherhood is different for all of us… if you’d like to share your thoughts, why not join our Network & start posting?

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Catriona Pharo • New Zealand-born, Cat, is mum to three girls aged 12, 10 and 6 and lives in Little Venice, London. Cat has been based in the UK since 1999 with her partner, now husband, Russ Hamilton Design Director at Farrell’s www.farrells.com • A former Storm model, Cat worked in Japan, Sweden and Germany before graduating from Auckland Unitec with a degree in Design. Since graduating, Cat has worked as a freelance Art Director and Interior Stylist for Elle Deco, Living Etc, Next Directory amongst others. • Cat and her husband, Russ, are both passionate about design and their London home is piled high with 21st Century design classics. Emma-Jane Adam • Also from New Zealand, EJ, is a mother of two boys and a girl aged 12, 10 and 7. She lives around the corner from Cat in London. • EJ grew up on a farm in New Zealand with pet cats, sheep, a dog and a goat called Mickey. Needless to say, she’s a lifelong lover of animals • EJ graduated in International Business from Massey University and moved to the UK in 1998 where she worked for Mercer Investment Consulting and Overture as Marketing and Brand Manager where she was part of the team who launched Pay Per Click advertising in the UK. • More recently, EJ climbed Mt Kilimanjaro in 2014 in aid of Borne with Will Greenwood.

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