North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) launched its Holt Country Park photography competition in September 2018 and the response so far has been excellent. The winners so far have won prizes from a variety of local businesses as well as a place in the Holt Country Park 2020 calendar.

The Green Flag award winning park is situated on the edge of the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is host to many wonderfully visual subjects from orchids in the summer to snowdrops in the winter, many varieties of butterflies who share their airspace with dragonflies and damselflies as well as goldcrests and greater spotted woodpeckers.

The park has a visitor centre with toilets, a car park with disabled parking bays (available at £2 per day) and way-marked routes suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs.

All Things Norfolk business member Joe Lenton of Original Art Photography focusses on Cromer in the latest of his series of features for All Things Norfolk.

Joe has over 50 international awards to his name and All Things Norfolk are delighted to bring you another edition of his popular series to help inspire you and learn how to take that perfect image to encapsulate Norfolk

As we move through Autumn and Winter, the weather changes and the hours of daylight decrease. So, often many photographers seem to go into hibernation unsure of what to do until Spring. This month, I'd like to encourage you to make the most of the unique conditions of the cooler seasons. One particular phenomenon that you are likely to see more of is fog.

The latest set of figures detailing how important the tourism sector is to North Norfolk has painted a clear picture of many more overnight stays and a £10m boost to the economy year on year.

The Economic Impact of Tourism report for 2017, published this week, has revealed the following:

• ·The total number of trips (day & staying) to North Norfolk was 8,827,700.
• ·Of these, 8,207,000 were day trips (up 5.8% from a 2016 total of 7,755,000).
• ·And 620,700 were ‘staying’ or overnight trips (up 12.1% from a 2016 total of 553,500).
• ·This gives a total tourism value of £505m (up 3% from a 2016 total of £495m).
• ·In 2017 there were 11,352 actual tourism jobs (or 8,184 full time equivalent jobs). This is an increase of 3% compared to 2016.

The 2017 figures also compare well with overall growth in England – the 12.1% increase in the number of overnight trips to North Norfolk is against a background of a 3% increase in the same statistic across England as a whole.

Bradfield Cricket Club had a special guest last Saturday (August 18 2018) before their league match against Horsford; North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) Leader, Councillor John Lee, was on hand to present the Club with a plaque celebrating the Council’s £15,000 grant from its Big Society Fund.

This was the first serious fixture at the ground since Bradfield opened their refurbished clubhouse on August 4; part of a £120,000 project to secure cricket at one of the best grounds in Norfolk.

The new clubhouse, on the edge of the pitch which Bradfield have played on since 1845 now boasts new changing facilities, toilets, kitchen, bar and social area, which together will provide better facilities, especially for children’s cricket at the Club.

North Norfolk District Council has run the Big Society Fund for six years now and it has benefitted many community groups across the District, with over £1.6m being handed out to 219 community projects in that time.

Pensthorpe Natural Park, near Fakenham, has unveiled the team of young nature-lovers who have been selected to help the reserve motivate the next generation to connect with nature and look after the environment. 

The 12-strong group, aged between nine and 11, are the latest recruits for Pensthorpe’s Junior Board, an initiative which has been in place since 2015 to offer passionate young people an opportunity to help influence ways in which the Norfolk attraction can better engage with young people.

The latest intake, which will be in place until June 2020, has been selected from a host of entries submitted by budding nature lovers from across the county.

Three indoor tennis courts will be at the centre of a key sports development proposed by North Norfolk District Council, bringing sport and leisure benefits to all ages, all year round.

Plans for a £3.2m Community Sports Hub in Cromer have been submitted as the country enjoys the first week of Wimbledon fortnight.

The project is being developed in conjunction with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) and Cromer Academy, whose students will directly benefit from the new facilities. The facility will provide better access to high quality tennis and benefit all ages, with a wider plan to double participation for young people in North Norfolk and beyond.

Colby Primary School are active participants in the Eco-Schools project, a global programme which is part of Keep Britain Tidy. The school has an Eco Council made up of ten pupils of different ages who campaign within the school to make other pupils aware of environmental issues that affect themselves, their school and their local area.

The school is consistently striving to improve its eco credentials further. In order to improve on one of their objectives, clearing litter, the school approached North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) to ask for some new litter pickers as they aspire to keep the school grounds and surrounding area tidy and free of litter. NNDC donated the junior litter pickers to the Eco Council at the school on 28 June.

The annual awards ceremony which sees Keep Britain Tidy hand out Blue Flags and Seaside Awards to local authorities was held in Cromer today, May 17th.

Environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy is presenting 190 awards to England’s very best beaches, including 65 international Blue Flags and 125 Seaside Awards (eight more than last year), with 42 beaches achieving both awards. Many of the authorities receiving awards will be hosted by North Norfolk District Council on Cromer Pier today to celebrate their achievements.

The number of #2minutebeachclean boards along the North Norfolk coast has more than doubled.

Five new boards, which encourage people to spend 2 (or more) minutes picking up marine litter and plastic pollution, are being introduced at Walcott, Cromer West, East Runton, Sheringham East and Sheringham West. They were delivered in the last few days. The boards are sponsored by North Norfolk District Council and each has a custodian who looks after it day to day.

The custodians of the new boards are the Kingfisher Café in Walcott, the Reef Stop Café in Cromer, NCI Coastwatch at East Runton, The Mo in Sheringham and the RNLI in Sheringham.

TV presenter, author and naturalist, Nick Baker, is set to open The Pensthorpe Conservation Trust’s* annual community event Wild About the Wensum on Saturday 12th May 2018.

Intrepid explorer and natural history expert Nick, who has famously presented Weird Creatures (C5), The Really Wild Show (BBC One) and Springwatch Unsprung (BBC Two), will officially open the event, meet members of the public and even host a bug hunt for kids!

Wild About the Wensum, now in its twelfth year, is a special one-day event held by the Pensthorpe Conservation Trust with the sole focus on encouraging people of all ages, especially families who often don’t get the chance to be outdoors, to enjoy the beautiful Wensum Valley, within which Pensthorpe Natural Park is located.