Lesley Cooke - Reservations Team
Favourite Place: Sheringham Park
Open all year round from dawn to dusk, this National Trust property has something for all ages.
The Park was designed by one of our best known landscape gardeners, Humphrey Repton, and with its wooded slopes and undulating pastureland is quite unlike most of the rest of Norfolk. There are four main walks of varying lengths through the Park and from the look-out towers along the way, there are wonderful views through the woods and down to the sea.
It has always been a great delight for our family young and old to plan an afternoon at the Park whether it be for a picnic, a gentle stroll with Granny along the mile-long raised boardwalk or a longer ramble down past the Hall to the Gazebo in the woods. It's a stiff climb up the tower which has been a look-out since Napoleonic times but if you've got any breath left by the time you get to the platform, it will be taken away by the stunning views all around over the tree tops and down to the sea. If you've timed it right, you could be lucky enough to see the "Poppy Line" steam train chuffing its way along the coast from Sheringham towards its destination at Holt.
Not to be missed is a visit to the Park between mid May to June when the rhododendrons and azaleas are in full bloom. It's a spectacular display of colour - pinks, reds, yellows, blues and purples so don't forget to take your camera to record "one of the marvels of Norfolk".
Despite the large number of cars in the car park, it has always amazed me how uncrowded the paths through the Park seem to be. Still I suppose when you consider that it covers some 1,000 acres, 400 of which are woodland, it's hardly surprising!
There is a curious Temple which sits atop a grassy hillock and commands a superb view down to Sheringham Hall which is now privately rented. The Temple was designed in the early 19th century by Humphrey Repton but not actually built until 1975!
Whichever route you've followed, you'll be delighted to find there's somewhere to buy a refreshing drink or ice-cream when you get back to the car. In fact the visitor facilities have been greatly improved this year (2005) and now offer a café, toilets, plant sales and reception area.
This is a place we shall always return to and take great delight in showing off to visiting friends.
