Gittens - Where We Live

Norfolk. A rural county of the ‘north folk’ of East Anglia. The fifth largest shire county in England with a land area of 537 thousand hectares (2073 sq miles), the seventh most populous with 832 thousand people(2006) but one of only 4 English counties (5 if you count Rutland) that can boast that it doesn’t have a single mile of motorway. Traditionally the county’s main industry has been farming. This continues today, albeit in a higher-tech and much lower manpower level compared to that which I knew as a boy. Nowadays though north Norfolk’s emergent industry is tourism, having been ’discovered’ as a holiday destination by those that seek the pleasures of unspoiled countryside and a less commercially orientated way of life.

Lets put one myth about Norfolk straight though. Perhaps the most common reaction from people talking about Norfolk, or at least those that have never seen much or any of it, is that its pancake flat. Its not. Not all of it anyway. Sure, the small part of the county that includes some of the Fenlands, and the Broads region to the east are pretty flat, but the majority of the county’s landscape has a soft, undulating texture. Want more facts and information on Norfolk? Click here.

Colkirk. The rural village of Colkirk is located on the south side of the Wensum valley near Fakenham. It is 80 metres (250‘) above mean sea level and 20 kms (12 miles) or so from the North Sea coast. Its history goes back over 1000 years and is mentioned in the Doomsday Book. It has a population of about 600 people, a primary school, one (good) pub and no street lights. The star-studded sky on clear moonless nights is nothing short of awesome. Thankfully Colkirk remains a traditional working village, despite the recent interest by second home hunters in this area.