LOOKING for somewhere
to take the kids out for the
day? Here's a quick checklist
of more than fifty places in the
region that could fill the bill.
We started out with the aim
of providing a list of fifty
places -- but it just grew and
grew! Proof, surely, that
you've chosen a great area for
your stay.
Pleasurewood Hills,between
Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft,
tel 01502 508200
Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach,
tel 01493 844585
Bewilderwood, off A1062 near
Wroxham, tel 01603 783900
Dinosaur Adventure Park,
Lenwade, near Norwich, tel
01603 870245
Banham Zoo, near Diss, tel
01953 887771
Suffolk Wildlife Park - Africa
Alive, Kessingland, near
Lowestoft, tel 01502 740291
Snettisham Park, Snettisham, tel
01485 542425
Church Farm, Stow Bardolph,
near Downham Market, tel
01366 382162
Woodhouse Farm Park, Friday
Bridge, near Wisbech, tel 01945
860309
Pettitts Animal Adventure Park,
near Great Yarmouth, tel 01493
701403
The Green Quay, South Quay,
King's Lynn, tel 01553 818500
Tales of The Old Gaol House,
Saturday Market Place, King's
Lynn, tel 01553 774297
Planet Zoom and Strikes Bowls
Multiplex, Gaywood, King's
Lynn, tel 01553 760333
Bircham Windmill, near
Hunstanton, tel 01485 578393
The Oasis Leisure Centre,
Hunstanton, tel 01485 534227
Collectors World, Downham
Market, tel 01366 383185
Hunstanton Sea Life Sanctuary,
tel 01485 533576
Thetford Forest Park, between
Brandon and Thetford, tel 01842
810271 or 815434
Bressingham Steam Museum,
between Diss and Thetford, tel
01379 686900/687386
Suffolk Owl Sanctuary and Red
Squirrel Colony, Stonham Aspal,
Suffolk, tel 01449 711425
Waterworld, Breckland Leisure
Centre, Thetford, tel 01842
753110
Activity World and Toddler
World, Station Hill, Bury St
Edmunds, tel 01284 763799
Pensthorpe Waterfowl Park,
near Fakenham, tel 01328
851465
The Muckleburgh Collection,
Weybourne, near Sheringham,
tel 01263 588210
Doodle Pots Ceramic Cafe, 1a
New Street, Holt, 01263 713135
Inspire Discovery Centre, St
Michael's Church, Oak Street,
Norwich, tel 01603 612612
Mepal Outdoor Centre, near Ely,
tel 01354 692251
Duxford Air Museum, near
Cambridge, tel 01223 835000
Nene Valley Railway, Wansford,
near Peterborough, tel 01780
784444
Baytree Owl Centre, Weston,
near Spalding, tel 01406 372840
Fun Farm, next to Baytree
Nursery, near Spalding, tel
01406 373444
The Butterfly and Wildlife Park,
Long Sutton, Lincolnshire, tel
01406 363833/363209
Thrigby Wildlife Gardens, Filby,
near Great Yarmouth, tel 01493
369477
Playland, Wells-next-the-Sea, tel
01328 711656/710461
EcoTech Centre, Swaffham, tel
01760 726100
Norfolk Wildlife Centre, Great
Witchingham, Norfolk, tel 01603
872274
Hillside Animal and Shire Horse
Sanctuary, West Runton,
Cromer, tel 01603 736200
Playworld Ocean Adventure,
Stowmarket, tel 01449 677002
Redwings Visitor Centre,
Caldecott Hall, near Great
Yarmouth, tel 0870 040 0033,
also Redwings Rescue Centre at
Stonham Barns, near
Stowmarket
Wells and Walsingham Light
Railway, tel 01328 710631
Langham Glass, Tattersett
Business Park, off A148
Fakenham-King's Lynn Road, tel
01485 529111
Fritton Lake Countryworld, near
Great Yarmouth, tel 01493
488208
Elephant Playbarn, Knapton,
near Cromer, tel 01263 721080
Splash Leisure Pool,
Sheringham, tel 01263 825675
North Norfolk Railway,
Sheringham, tel 01263 820800
Bure Valley Railway, runs
between Aylsham and
Wroxham, tel 01263 733858
The East Point Pavilion
(Mayhem Adventure Play ),
Royal Plain, Lowestoft, tel
01502 533600
Mid-Norfolk Railway,
Wymondham/East Dereham, tel
01362 690633
Gressenhall Farm and
Workhouse, near Dereham, tel
01362 860563
Hall Farm (ILPH), Snetterton, tel
01953 498898
Easton Farm Park, near
Wickham Market, Suffolk, tel
01728 746475
The Play Barn, Poringland,
Norwich, tel 01508 495526
Fifty (plus) outings with the kids
BLUE skies, cumulus clouds,
shallow seas, green marram
dunes and in late summer,
salt marshes purple with sea
lavender.
An idyllic environment which is the
very foundation on which the Norfolk
Coast is designated an Area of
Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB),
plus a plethora of other accolades.
Add all the natural inhabitants of this
coast and it is second to none. But, by
the very fragile nature of this coast, it is
always at risk from human misbehav-
iour, and from its own evolution aided
by global warming.
Avocets, long an extinct breeding
species to the UK, have returned to
breed on all the Norfolk coastal
reserves. Marsh harriers also nearly
extinct, have returned to glide across
the marshes on slightly elevated wings.
Newcomers include the beautiful little
egret, a southern species which hitherto
never nested in the UK. Bearded tits
have spread from their once historic
and exclusive haunts in the Norfolk
Broads and can now be seen and heard
from several coastal reed beds.
Add all the long-established birds like
tern, shelduck, oyster-catchers, ringed
plover, redshank, reed buntings, mead-
ow pipits, reed and sedge warblers and
you have a wildlife gem which should
be respected by all human visitors.
This is their coast in which they have
to live, breed and raise their families. It
is also our coast to enjoy, but not to
endanger.
We should recognise the rights of
wildlife and be sympathetic to them. A
carelesly lit picnic fire, can, in seconds,
devastate acres of dunes. I know as
I've seen it happen.
An uncontrolled dog can quickly
destroy months, if not years, of conser-
vation work by reserve wardens.
Plastic is a terrible danger to wildlife,
please take it back to your home.
Unseen beneath our feet, rare beetles
and pupa will not survive if dunes are
dug into.
Of course there will be wet days and
rough seas at times, but these are an
essential part of any countryside. Make
use of the excellent observation hides
at nature reserves; not, of course, the
one-man type of hides that we see
being used
by a camera-
man on TV,
but large
wooden
observation
hides accom-
modating a
dozen or
more people
in compara-
tive comfort.
In Autumn,
from August,
there are
spectacular
flights of
waders flying
to and from
their feeding grounds in The Wash
when the highest tides occur. Tens of
thousands of knot, with multitudes of
other wader species, fly between
Titchwell and Snettisham.
Two premium RSPB reserves at
Titchwell and Snettisham offer guided
bird walks. Also at Titchwell in summer
there are moth mornings during which
visitors can come along and see the
night's moth catch being taken out of
the trap, identified, listed and released.
At peak times some of the most
beautiful hawk moths can be seen at
close quarters. These include Privet
hawks, poplar hawks and the pink ele-
phant hawk moth, amongst many other
species.
There are special events for children
which include pond dipping. For up-to-
date information, see local newspapers
and tourist offices.
Delightful as all this may be, please
bear in mind that there are always dan-
gers when visiting coastal regions.
A hot summer day suddenly gener-
ates a lovely cooling easterly breeze,
which is quite often swiftly followed by
thick sea mist shrouding the entire
coast so that from the sea's edge, the
shore is invisible.
Also be aware of isolated pockets of
quicksands, and be especially watchful
of the incoming tide, which annually
cuts off holiday-makers.
Usually a safe rescue is carried out
via the help of coastguards and the
local lifeboat, but the North Sea (or any
sea) can never be trusted.
PETER CLARKE
A Privet Hawk Moth.
A flock of Knot.Sea Lavender along the North Norfolk Coast.
It's so beautiful,
but so fragile...

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