Where is Norwich?

It’s one of the questions that was asked by some people when I said we were moving to near it back in 2008. It’s one others have asked since: Where is Norwich?

To be honest, Norwich had never been on my radar much until I cycled round Norfolk and Suffolk on my trusty Dawes Galaxy Super Tourer with panniers, I guess, around 1995. Me and my colleague and mate, Dave Southern, drove from Bolton down to Hunstanton in his little Citroen Saxo, leaving it at Hunstanton for a fortnight. The first few days were spent in Chelsea on Sea, the bejewelled coastal areas of North Norfolk, where house prices are on a par with central London and then we headed for a day in Norwich, where I remember cycling to Pizza Express on St Benedicts Street, where Dave questioned the pizza size and the fact it said anchovies, when there was only a singular anchovy. Happy days indeed.

What struck me then, in only a short space of time in Norwich, was how nice it was – the weather, the city centre, the buildings and the antiquated road network. We left after a night there and headed to Cromer, Sheringham and then down to Southwold, Beccles, Bungay and eventually London, for a short break with my sister who lived off Old Street.

Norwich – the East of England generally – then lived rent free in my head for many years, until we decided to jump ship from the north and leave Crowle, near Scunthorpe, with two young kids in tow to make Norfolk our new workplace and new home.

James, who was only 7 at the time, was asked by friends, “where you moving to?” and because Gorleston was unpronounceable back then, we told him to just saying Norwich, rhyming with porridge, only to be met with blank stares.

We knew it was a city below Lincoln not far from the Wash, but apart from that one cycling trip, I knew little about Norwich, Norfolk or Suffolk, other than Nicholas Parsons presented “Sale of the Century” here and Steve Coogan’s monster Alan Partridge comes from Norwich. Oh and John Wilson, the angler, I recall, used to talk about his beloved Wensum, which I knew ran through Norwich from looking in Encyclopaedias.

Largely, apart from 3 dreadful years from 2013 to 2015, it’s been a great place to live. Notice live, not work, as Norfolk (not Suffolk) schools are as toxic as any place you can imagine. But we’re held here. With little desire to leave. And I think that’s due to several factors.

1. Norwich weather – now don’t visit expecting Canarian heat all year round. It has cold winters, seemingly dragging on until late April and May, but summers that stretch to November usually. It’s invariably sunny and rain is a rare event. Our pores drip with Vitamin D. Seasonal affected disorder disappeared for me as even on those short days of late December, the sun appears like clockwork. When me and Dave cycled here, it never rained in 2 weeks. When friends came down for my 50th, 7 years ago in April, they got sunburnt, seriously. I’m like an old weathered sea dog now with exposure to sunlight, meaning we don’t crave a week in Lanzarote every February as we did when up north.

2. Coastline. I take this fully for granted now and rarely go to the beach or in the sea. When James and Ruby were 7 and 2 though, we went daily in our first year and they loved Gorleston beach, where we ended up buying our first home in Norfolk, before selling and moving to a new build in Bradwell six years ago. The sea here is that mucky grey. Yet it slopes gently in and Gorleston beach is as good as anywhere in Norfolk for its sandy surface, free from stones. Don’t get me wrong – it’s no Holkham, but it’s pretty good, nonetheless.

3. Countryside. The stretch between Bradwell and Beccles is a rural idyll – Browston, Lound, Fritton, Haddiscoe, Herringfleet and Somerleyton are wonderful for walking around, or wild swimming in. My wife Tricia runs round the area three times a week, up to 20km at a time, and loves all aspects of the routes she takes.

4. Crime. There is very little, if any. Bear in mind, I lived in Shaw, Oldham, where I was burgled when in the house, so the lack of crime came as a shock. House and car insurance premiums are unbelievably low and, though we’ve bumped into bellends locally, there’s little of threat here, once you remove the troll’s keyboards! We had the car keyed overnight once and that’s it in terms of crime. I’ve been the victim of online abuse here, but the police sorted that out quickly with harassing trolls.

5. Norwich. It’s called “A Fine City” and “The City of Stories” as it’s the Unesco City of Literature and the UEA’s creative writing course boasts alumni, such as Ian McEwan, John Boyne and Kazuo Ishiguro. It has problems like any city – there’s a massive incidence of death from drug poisoning here (second only to Blackpool), homelessness is endemic in the city, and there’s been a marked decline in Norwich in our 15 years here, in terms of shop closures and social degradation. But, to me, walking it at night or during the day, it feels safe. Prince of Wales Road is somewhere I’d avoid as it’s piss up central and lairy, but even that’s improving,  and most other parts of the city are very nice. We’re moving to Ber Street soon, so I’ll report back once we’re there 24/7. Shopping is excellent in Norwich; there’s many great places to eat out and there’s so much to do in the city with stunning medieval architecture at every turn.

Now I’ve sold the lifestyle, you may ask:

Where is Norwich, again?

It’s about 110 miles from London, 25 miles from the east coast and has a poor road network that endears and infuriates in equal measure!

We, as a family, though, and me, before marriage, have never lived anywhere so long. I am prone to wandering to new locations and jobs, but Norfolk: Gorleston, Bradwell and Norwich city centre, have anchored me in the East and the only thing stopping it becoming 20 years and more as home, is Lisbon.

We do plan to move to Lisbon in 2024 or 2025 when Ruby leaves for university, but I’m pretty sure, we will keep the Buy to Let in Bradwell and perhaps let out our new home, and Get Pro Copy HQ, in Norwich city centre.

Unless I die, that is.

And on that cheerful note, back to web design for HSEQ-360, a local offshore firm, who are fantastic to work with, along with many other clients locally, like Chris Peace and Lucas & Wyllys, who trusted me with their websites.