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Five Unusual Facts about the Norfolk Coast

Say ‘Norfolk’ and many things come to mind – the Broads, the Royal estate at Sandringham, or the famous people who have connections to the county, from Lord Nelson to Stephen Fry.

But Norfolk, and its coastline in particular, has plenty of hidden gems and unusual claims to fame. Hamiltons Removals, who are based in Norfolk and offer removals to all parts of the county, including north Norfolk and Norwich, have compiled these five coastal curiosities.

Albert Einstein Once Stayed Here

The famous Jewish scientist best-known for his theory of relativity was worried about persecution by the Nazis. He stayed in a small hut in Roughton Heath, near Cromer, for around six weeks in 1933 thanks to Oliver Locker-Sampson, an anti-fascist MP with business interests in the resort.

The scientist, who was well-guarded during his time in north Norfolk, soon moved to the USA. However, his stay in the county has been commemorated by a blue plaque at the New Inn in Roughton, and by a sculpture which has been on display at various museums in the UK and abroad.

It Boasts the World’s Oldest Football Stand…

Great Yarmouth Town play at the Wellesley Road recreation ground and play in the Thurlow Nunn Eastern Counties League Premier Division. Not very interesting, perhaps – but did you know the club boasts what is thought to be the world’s oldest football stand still in use today?

The club’s grandstand was first opened in 1892, only shutting during the 1990s for health and safety reasons. It reopened in 2010 and is now Grade II listed because it is of special architectural and historic interest.

…and the Oldest Human Settlement in Britain

A man who was talking his dog for a walk by the sea at Happisburgh, near North Walsham, spotted a hand axe lying on the mud. He rang Norwich Castle Museum – where it is now on display – to tell them of his find. Since the initial find, which was uncovered in the year 2000, archaeologists have found many more similar tools there.

The collection is believed to be around 700,000 years old, meaning that humans had been present in Britain at least 200,000 years earlier than previous estimates.

Hats Off to Holkham Hall

Gamekeepers on the Holkham Hall estate kept getting their top hats knocked off by low-hanging branches while out horse riding and looking for poachers. The estate, on the north Norfolk coast between Blakeney and Burnham Market, was then owned by the Earl of Leicester and is still in the family today.

A relation of the Earl’s commissioned his hat-makers, James Lock to come up with something sturdier. The company’s chief hatter Thomas Bowler got the job and in 1849 invented the headgear which still bears his name today. Legend has it that the prototype was jumped on several times to assess its durability. It passed the test with flying colours.

Fish Fingers Were Invented Here

Fish fingers were first produced in this country at the Bird’s Eye factory in Great Yarmouth. Developed in 1955 by Mr HAJ Scott, the first ones were sold for 1s 8d. Apparently, they were originally going to be called battered cod pieces, until the term fish finger – voted for by female employees – was used instead.

Some of the initial fish fingers contained herring rather than cod. Production at Great Yarmouth stopped in 1986 and was moved to the company’s factory in Lowestoft, just over the border in Suffolk.

North Norfolk Removals from Hamiltons

Hamiltons Removals can help with commercial or domestic removals to all parts of East Anglia, including North Norfolk, Norwich, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. We also have two self-storage sites in south Norfolk – at Harleston and Aldeby – if you ever need to store some possessions away during house moves.

If you would like to talk to any of our friendly, professional members of staff then call us on 01379 854810, or follow this link and fill in the form to receive an online quote.

Ideal Storage Solutions for Your Garden Items

With the long, hot summer drawing to a close and autumn slowly approaching, we’re likely to spend less time in our gardens. The tools, toys and garden furniture we’ve been using during the summer, however, need a secure place to be stored over the colder months.

A shed is obviously the ideal solution for garden storage and keeping the garden clutter-free. However, not everyone has enough space in their garden for a shed.

Hamiltons Removals offers state-of-the-art, local storage units in East Anglia for people looking for secure personal storage in Norfolk and wishing to store items safely over the winter. Here, we explore some of the creative ways we’ve seen to store common garden items.

Functional Furniture

If your garden is lacking space, multifunctional furniture is a fantastic solution. Hollow storage benches will get a lot of use in the summer. Just put a couple of large, flat cushions on top and you have the perfect sofa, ideal whenever you are entertaining visitors or having a barbecue.

They are also a great, versatile option for storing smaller items like chairs or garden toys and games over the winter. However, they are not 100% weatherproof if you want to keep them in pristine condition over the winter.

Upcycle & Repurpose

Garden tools have a habit of ending up everywhere! For the tools you haven’t lent out to friends or neighbours (possibly never to be seen again) there a few unconventional and creative ideas that can be used as a space-saving solution to keep tools safe and neat:

Nail a wooden pallet to a wall and hang long-handled tools and garden equipment down inside it. You can paint the pallet to match the surrounding areas, colour schemes or garden furniture.
Use double-pronged coat-hooks or coat pegs to hang tools like axes, spades, brooms and rakes on.
A piece of wood nailed to a wall with some grooves cut in it will hold the necks of various tools and keep them off the ground.

Lose the Hose

Most gardens have a garden hose – however, during the colder months of the year, it’s unlikely that you’ll be using it as much thanks to the increased rainfall.

Storing unused hosepipes often proves problematic, as there never seems to be a good way of keeping them untangled and out of the way. A far cheaper alternative to a standard hose reel is to simply attach a strong coat hook to a wall, coil the hose up neatly and use a short length of plastic chain to keep it from falling down or uncoiling.

Winter Storage

If you have larger items or bulky garden furniture, such as outdoor benches or dining tables, or simply need to securely store equipment like lawn mowers which you won’t need for several months, you should consider local storage units in East Anglia.

Hamiltons Removals have two state-of-the-art storage facilities which are perfect for garden furniture and other personal storage in Norfolk. Our Harleston site has self-storage rooms of several different sizes, plus a shop where you can buy a range of cartons and packaging materials. Our facility at nearby Aldeby has storage containers which you can drive right up to and load and unload your possessions seven days a week. Both sites are securely locked and are protected by CCTV cameras.

Click here to find out more or speak to one of our friendly team on 01379 855203 to discuss your storage requirements.