South Norfolk

Situated nearby to Loddon and Beccles our gardens surround Raveningham Hall, home to Sir Nicholas and Lady Bacon (and home to the Bacon family since 1735).

Enjoy the beauty of our varied and ever-changing floral seasons. The Gardens are set out as the Edwardian plans with large herbaceous borders surrounding a Victorian walled kitchen garden. In the 1960s the planting was enhanced by the inspiration of Priscilla, Lady Bacon an energetic plantswoman who collected many rare species from around the world transforming the garden over 50 years. The walled kitchen garden was brought back to full working order in the last 20 years and is now producing fruit and vegetables for the House. There is a fine late 19th century Boulton and Paul range of glasshouses, stocked conservatory and melon pits, all in working order.

A Millennium project by Nicholas Bacon to build a lake on the North side of the House is now firmly established as is an Arboretum that was planted after the destruction of a wood in the 1987 gale; this gave an opportunity to plant a large variety of trees and shrubs under a plan designed by the eminent plantsman Roy Lancaster. New additions to the garden include a Herb Garden, a Stumpery and a garden designed around Francis Bacon’s essays based on the passage of time.

The main specialities of the garden are snowdrops followed by bulbs in early spring, later in the season agapanthus are a main feature. Our Gardens are circa 10 acres all in a glorious 18th Century parkland setting with sculpture by Susan Bacon in and around the gardens. Well behaved dogs on leads are welcome.

Main Season Opening Times

We are open for both individual visits and Group Tours of 10-30 people.

Our Gardens and Tea Room are open throughout February 11-4pm (closed Saturdays) and on set days April to August. Please see our website www.raveningham.com  for opening days & times.

Friends of Raveningham Gardens

Become a friend and visit throughout our opening times for just £20 per person.

Please contact sonya@raveningham.com 01508 548480 for all enquiries, individual or group.

We look forward to welcoming you to our living garden.

Bressingham Gardens 
The unique Bressingham Gardens are renowned worldwide for their horticultural excellence. With nearly 20 acres, four linking gardens and 8,000 plant species they can are a truly tranquil place, perfect for relaxing and enjoying the scenery. 

The Bressingham Collections 
Take a trip on one of the four railways at Bressingham, the collection of working locomotives will take you round our magnificent gardens and woodland, or ride on the Victorian Steam Gallopers. 

A trip to the locomotive sheds brings the power and the glory of mighty steam engineering up close. The National Dad's Army collection lets you wander through Walmington-on-Sea looking at original props and vehicles from the series, you'd be a 'stupid boy' to miss it!

Bressingham is open (with Narrow Gauge Train rides) every day from 29th March 2019 until the 27th October 2019

Mondays and Tuesdays (outside the school and public holidays) are Gardeners Days (Non Steam Days) 

Service level - One diesel hauled train and the Gallopers.

Wednesdays to Sundays are always Steam Days. Service level - At least two trains and the Gallopers will be running. On Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays we aim to operate three trains and the Gallopers.

Bressingham Steam & Gardens, reg. charity no. 266374, was founded by the late Alan Bloom in 1961. 

Your local, family run opticians are here to provide you with the utmost in quality care for your eyes; a friendly, helpful and truly personal service and the latest in dispensing technology.

For straightforward advice, comprehensive eye examinations, an extensive range of standard and designer frames and sunglasses, contact lenses, accessories and a warm welcome, drop in to see us at M Shepherd  Optometrist on The Street, Long Stratton.

The Allthingsnorfolk team have a special feature on Michael and Helen from M Shepherd Optometrist which you can read by clicking here

Norfolk Woodburners provide a bespoke service to its customers, before any purchase of a stove or woodburner is made, an in-home visit is conducted to discuss the customer’s individual requirements and to check the suitability of each property for their chosen product.

All site surveys and consultations are free of charge. Our quotations are provided within 24 hours of our free site visit. There is no one else in Norfolk that provides a better service for the supply and installation of wood burners, log burners and multifuel stoves.

Hetas registered, Norfolk Woodburners provide the best quality classic and contemporary wood burners, wood stoves, log burners and multifuel stoves. They are main dealers in Norfolk for Aga, Hunter, Parkray, Broseley, Di Lusso, Avalon, Termatech, Eco Ideal, Woolly Mammoth, Carron and Cleanburn stoves, all offering excellent, efficient stoves to heat your home.

To help clean up the air in Norfolk and as part of our Scrappage Scheme, Norfolk Woodburners are proud to offer you up to £250 off a new woodburner and flue installation. Switch from having no warranty on your old inefficient, polluting woodburner or fireplace to enjoying a brand new super-efficient, more environmentally friendly woodburner with up to 10 years warranty included. Use less fuel, saving you money! There’s never been a better time to trade in your old polluting woodburner or open fire grate.

Here at Norfolk Woodburners we supply and fit small wood burners, large wood burners, freestanding stoves, inset stoves, multi-fuel stoves, classic and contemporary stoves, pretty much anything you are looking for! We also design and build fireplaces and make alterations to existing fireplaces.

Norfolk Woodburners also offer a service plan for each log burner that they supply and fit.

The annual service plan covers sweeping the chimney and issuing a Certificate, checking the stove rope and replacing if necessary, checking the condition of the woodburner / multi fuel stove, smoke testing the appliance and checking the operation of the Carbon Monoxide alarm. Most woodburners require an annual service to maintain their warranty, by offering such a plan they are helping customers maintain the warranty on their stoves. It also ensures that their chimney is being swept by a qualified chimney sweep’

Contact the Norfolk Woodburners team today to discuss how we can help with the sale and installation of your next wood burner.

Norwich Office  01508 498393 

Fakenham Office 01328 700161

Or email us at norfolkwoodburners@outlook.com

Thank you for visiting my page. I am an author from Wymondham in Norfolk and I write under the pseudonym of Madeline Dando. This was the name of my late mum and I am extremely proud to write under her name.

My real name is Martin Wanger and I originate from the East End of London. I have been married to my lovely wife Brenda since 1972 and we have two grown up children. I am so proud to live in beautiful Norfolk; we’ve lived here since 1994 and we simply adore the county. We love socialising, travelling and listening to all types of music together. I also have a huge love for steam railways and is there a better place than Norfolk to experience them at their best? I’m a sport fanatic too loving football, cricket and golf. I’m a supporter of Tottenham Hotspur, but please don’t hold that against me!

For many years I have had a burning desire to create inspirational stories that readers can lose themselves in. I have self-published two books to date; the first called “Amber Sands”, a true love story with bags of courage, resilience and triumph over adversity. I want the book to warm your heart, break your heart and to inspire each and every reader.

                                                            ALL ORDERS OF AMBER SANDS WILL BE DESPATCHED WITHIN 7 DAYS

Reviews on Amber Sands

"What a wonderful read, It was such a heartffelt story. The characters came alive, the book was an easy book to read and once I started reading I could not put it down. I don't often cry but Amser was such a lovely character and became so real. Can't wait for the next book by this author"

 "I have just finished reading Amber Sands. It is a really heart warming story with lots of real life issues covered. It is a story of first love and how sometimes however hard you try the feelings for that first love never go away. Its a story of how we cannot change the post but we can change the future. The story is very well written and I found hard to put down. I am looking forward to the sequel" 

"An unwanted child looks beyond her own grief and loneliness to give others what she craved for but never received – the gift of love and understanding.
The heroine of Amber Sands reminds me of someone I know; and I think a lot of readers would end up relating to her. Amser is a large-hearted, kind and wonderful woman. Even when things are not going well for her she is busy bringing sunshine into the lives of those around her. A single parent, she has instilled the same values in her own daughter. The plot is simple and moves at a pace that makes it easier to fall into step with Amser and her life. I am looking forward to reading more books by this author"

Leaving Her Tears Behind

My most recent novel is called “Leaving Her Tears Behind”. A story of love, desire, greed, hate and revenge, that I think will keep you on the edge of your seat right till the very end.

When you read my books I hope you will gain a sense of everything that I love around me, including the wonderful county of Norfolk and the incredible people that live here.

Two thirds of  "Leaving her Tears Behind" is set in North Norfolk in a fictitious place called Cleybourne. Of coiurse I had Weybourne in mind and there are reference to Sheringham, Sheringham Park, Aylsham, Holt, Holkham Beach, Swaffham and the North Norfolk Railway (which is a particular love of mine as well as Sheringham Golf course) . 

                                                             ALL ORDERS OF "LEAVING HER TEARS BEHIND" WILL BE DESPATCHED WITHIN 7 DAYS                

Reviews on Leaving Her Tears Behind.

"Leaving her tears behind is a must book to read. The characters in the book became very real. Some were more likeable than others. The ending was not as expected so if you are reading this book don’t skip any pages and read to the very end. I recommend this book easy read". 

"An exciting tale of two women, totally opposite in personality, told against the background of war torn London and the contrasting idyllic life in a county manor in Norfolk. The book is filled with realistic characters and situations, but with some surprises to keep one's interest until the very end. I look forward to reading more from this author". 

"I absolutely loved this book, from the very first page it draws you into the story and the feeling of almost being there. Based around the East End of London it's the area where I was born and grew up and being able to relate to the places and understand the culture of the East End post-war and up the the 1960s it felt as though the story could have related to anyone I knew, including myself. It really is a lovely and engrossing read and I read the whole book within 3 days. I can highly recommend this book as it takes you away from the pressures of the modern day back to a time when things seemed far more simple and straightforward, albeit hard work but a simpler way of life nonetheless. I really look forward to more books from this author". 

Hansells Solicitors & Financial Advisers, one of the county's leading law practices, working from its seven offices across Norfolk.

The firm's head office is in the picturesque setting of The Close, Norwich, with another office in nearby Tombland, and county offices in Aylsham, Cromer, North Walsham, Reepham, Sheringham and Wymondham. Hansells has one of the largest financial advisory practices within a law firm in the UK.

Specialist advice is offered in: inheritance tax planning, wills, probate, divorce, living together and criminal law, as well as business and employment law, litigation and real estate development.

Hansells also provides expert services in charity law, clinical negligence, personal injury, agricultural and aviation law, alongside property and conveyancing, notary and criminal.