My Norfolk

Clinical Operations Manager, Liz Nestor, tells us her favourite things about Norfolk

What I love about living in Norfolk firstly is the smell of the sea!! The sea is only 30 minutes away, great for dog walks and swims and just to get a breath of fresh air. Love seeing the seal cubs along the coast every year.

I love the forests with all of the bluebells in spring. There are so many beautiful walks in Norfolk, there’s loads of parks, the Broads, seaside, rivers, and forests. I volunteer for the Fairyland Trust, a Norfolk based children’s conservation charity, where we trick kids into learning about local native wildlife through magic and fairies, storytelling and wizard training, music and art. I get to dress up as the dandelion fairy in spring and as a bat in autumn. It’s so wholesome and plastic free and I’m learning loads about nature myself along the way.

The culture of Norwich is a real plus! Lots of live music finally starting up again since COVID. Some big names, we went to see Rag n Bone Man at the UEA recently, and some great discoveries: Afriquoi played the Norfolk and Norwich Festival Speigeltent in Chapelfield Gardens three years ago and I’ve loved them ever since. Some lovely local talent: open mics; Lady Dove’s Funk N Soul Jam Sessions at the Reindeer pub; and Irish Traditional Sessions at the Gatehouse. And recently we’ve started going to the Chamber Music private concerts in some of the grander stately houses around Norfolk. The music is so beautiful, I’ve literally cried, and the people so friendly and chatty and interesting, and there’s generally a bubbly and canape reception. You get to rub shoulders with these professional musicians who play large concert halls, but that’s the joy of the intimacy of Norfolk events.

The food!! My other half is Italian, a great chef and a tough stomach to please, but we have found SO MANY good restaurants in Norwich. there are some brilliant Italian ones like Sicily and Saporita, and our favourite Sunday Roast is at the Temple Bar. You can find great Thai, Vietnamese, and Japanese eateries, and the Chilean stall at Norwich Market is brilliant. Or just some great quality proper English grub at the Black Horse. And so many places are dog friendly – our greyhound Seth loves the whole of Benedict’s St! We adopted Seth through Norfolk Greyhound Rescue. https://www.norfolkgreyhoundrescue.co.uk/

If you step out around Norfolk you get your Cromer crabs, brilliant seafood and fish all along the coast, lovely local venison inland, we really are spoilt here. Such a surprise when people have the preconception that Norfolk is “far away” – it has everything we could want!

So what do I love about working in Norfolk/Norwich. Here’s a couple of things that makes this a great place to work:

The PEOPLE are so welcoming and make me feel right at home, as friendly as us Irish, and I absolutely love Norfolk accents and expressions – a bit o’ squit goes a long way! At work I’ve really noticed how people are ready with a compliment and look for reasons to praise good work.

I love that I’ve bought a house a 10 minute walk from work and my other half and my dog walk me to work and we often meet up for a wee walk at lunchtime too. There’s a fab little wood just at the bottom of Norwich Community Hospital where the dog can have a run around. When I’m dog free, I often grab a colleague for a quick walk to clear our heads around the beautiful Earlham Cemetery just across the road either. Not having a commute is excellent for quality of life.

And Norwich is a great place to have a family – really child friendly and family friendly , lots to cater to all ages and the Trust has a brilliant Flexible Working and Worklife Balance Policy and actively promotes supporting staff to maintain that balance.