Gratitude in Abundance - Best of Britain Award - Outstanding Venue

After what has been one of the most challenging years in the industry, to receive a Best of Britain award from Bride Book for being an outstanding Wedding Venue has been a wonderful surprise.

We can not thank our couples, past and present, enough for how they have supported us throughout.

We love to be able to share this little part of ancient Britain with you all & can not wait to open our doors again.

If you’re thinking of an intimate Elopement or Micro Wedding in 2021 then we have some late availability due to Wedding moves so please do get in touch weddings@happyvalleynorfolk.co.uk

All our Love

The Little Team at Happy Valley

Happy Valley Believes

We’ve watched the world from our window seat. Seasons have rolled in and out, like waves lapping against the shore. Time has played tricks on our mind, with long stretches of inactivity laid out before us and then a whirlwind of chaos flurrying in. With the uncertainty we all face, Happy Valley is hanging onto the hope of Christmas.

The warmth of hot chocolates and mulled wine by the fire, the enchantment of hearing sleigh bells jangle overhead and the sparkle of lights on in windows, brings this winter season to life. Looking out into the abyss of darkness, the vast landscape rolling out in front of the night sky – just when you think you’re all alone, you see a candle come on, a lantern light up and a fire glow in the distance.

At Happy Valley, we believe in community coming together, we believe in the hopes and dreams of others and we most definitely believe in the magic of Christmas.

Our Happy Valley elves have been busy preparing for the festivities and our cabins have been spruced up, ready to welcome you back this winter. Secret Santas have climbed up on their shelves, angels have taken position overhead, garlands have lovingly wrapped themselves around the beams and the baubles have bounced into position.

If you’re wondering where to go on holiday in the UK this Christmas then why not try beautiful North Norfolk. Surrounded by wide open spaces, beautiful off road walks, stunning award winning beaches and plenty of fresh air to keep you healthy.

What better way to celebrate each other this year than to take a staycation in the beautiful county of Norfolk.

Our cabins:

Toad Hall – a sumptuous treehouse, sleeping four adults and two children. This comes with a private hot tub, wheelchair accessible ramp, wetroom ensuite, open plan kitchenette, wine cooler, and outside decking area.

Woodpecker – a magical bell temple, sleeping either four adults or two adults and two children. This is an open plan room with king sized bed, adult-sized bunk bed, log burner, dining area, DVD player and ensuite shower room.

Denver Rest – a shepherd hut amongst the trees, sleeping two adults. This cosy hut comes with an outdoor kitchenette, a fire pit, and a shower room a short walk away.

King Nutkin – a love nest for two, sleeping two adults. This comes with a log burner, indoor kitchenette with a shower room a short walk away.

Christmas Cabin - yet to be named, our latest log cabin is coming along a treat and will make for the perfect Christmas surprise. Sleeping four adults (with the potential of two children), it comes with an ensuite shower room, open plan kitchen and living room, two bedrooms, a wrap around porch and a private woodfired hot tub.

Our current availability: availability can change quickly as we have instant booking on other sites.

Toad Hall – Monday 7th – Wednesday 9th December, Wednesday 9th – Friday 11th December, Friday 11th – Monday 14th December, Monday 14th – Wednesday 16th December, Wednesday 16th December – Friday 18th December, Friday 18th December – Monday 21st December, Monday 21st December – Monday 27th December

Woodpecker – Friday 4th December – Monday 7th December, Monday 7th – Wednesday 9th December, Wednesday 9th – Friday 11th December, Friday 11th – Monday 14th December, Monday 14th – Wednesday 16th December, Wednesday 16th December – Friday 18th December, Friday 18th December – Monday 21st December, Monday 21st December – Monday 27th December

Denver Rest – Friday 4th December – Monday 7th December, Monday 7th – Wednesday 9th December, Wednesday 9th – Friday 11th December, Friday 11th – Monday 14th December, Monday 14th – Wednesday 16th December, Wednesday 16th December – Friday 18th December, Friday 18th December – Monday 21st December, Monday 21st December – Monday 27th December

King Nutkin – Friday 4th December – Monday 7th December, Monday 7th – Wednesday 9th December, Wednesday 9th – Friday 11th December, Friday 11th – Monday 14th December, Monday 14th – Wednesday 16th December, Wednesday 16th December – Friday 18th December, Friday 18th December – Monday 21st December, Monday 21st December – Monday 27th December

Christmas Cabin - Wednesday 9th – Friday 11th December, Friday 11th – Monday 14th December, Monday 14th – Wednesday 16th December, Wednesday 16th December – Friday 18th December, Friday 18th December – Monday 21st December, Monday 21st December – Monday 27th December

Our safety measurements:

We take your safety very seriously which is why:

·       Each cabin is deep cleaned before and after your stay - no late check outs or early check ins allowed.

·       Christmas decorations are cleaned with covid antibacterial spray

·       Hand santisers throughout the venue and in all cabins, on the Hay Barn door and dotted around on some of the trees.

·       Each guest is required to fill out our Covid health questionnaire prior to arrival.

·       Guests are encouraged to regularly wash hands and are asked to wear masks when out and about in the local area

·       We ask every guest to scan the QR code onto their NHS app

·       There are nine acres to enable successful social distancing

·       Happy Valley has been a super host on Air BnB for five consecutive years due to excellent cleanliness

What 2020 guests have said about us:

“Happy Valley have gone to great lengths to follow COVID guidelines and have done a fantastic job. If you want clean accommodation and easy social distancing in these current times, this is the place for you”

For more reviews, please see:

·       https://www.happyvalleynorfolk.co.uk/glamping-reviews

·       https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g1646534-d12723987-Reviews-Happy_Valley_Norfolk_Venue_Glamping_Retreat-Grimston_Norfolk_East_Anglia_England.html#REVIEWS

·       https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/26943531?source_impression_id=p3_1605182948_DFCeFZM%2FILv6UUl3&guests=1&adults=1

Happy Valley believes in the magic of Christmas, do you?

With love,

Katy, Kirsty and the team at Happy Valley xx

To book our accommodation, please click here or contact hello@happyvalleynorfolk.co.uk

Micro Weddings - The Celebration of Love

Unrestrained, uninhibited, free to choose the direction of your life and willing to go with the flow. You take life’s highs with the lows, you don’t sweat the small stuff, you love generously and you laugh raucously. If you embrace laughter lines, positivity and authenticity, it is likely you were born to meet another free-spirited soul and dance to the beat of your own drum. In essence, you were born to be part of the Happy Valley Tribe.

Here at Happy Valley, we don’t care what title you carry, what scars you hide or what expectations society has placed on you. We love you for who you love and for how you want to live and if you’re looking for an adventure, then we’re your kind of people and maybe a micro wedding is your kind of romance.

Reasons Happy Valley’s Micro Weddings are for the Wild At Heart

1. A Happy Valley soul is free to soar - we offer no stereotypes or conventional boxes but instead invite you to be your true, authentic self. There is nothing ‘girly’ or ‘manly’ about our venue, it is simply natural and stripped back so you can focus on what really matters. At Happy Valley, you can marry without the world watching and love without the world judging.

2. We don’t follow trends, we allow you to set them - we love a good Pinterest board like the next person but at Happy Valley, your big day is down to you and you alone. As a dry hire venue, we offer you a beautiful, blank canvas to put your stamp on and express yourself in every colour and style imaginable. This is your chance to go wild and we want your ideas, your creativity and your voice to be heard. Your wedding might be micro but your creativity can be mighty.

3. Choosing the road less travelled means throwing out the rulebook - use this opportunity to invite who you really want to be present at your wedding. We do not insist upon tradition or convention and encourage couples to be different. Transport yourself to another world by crossing over our wooden bridge to the Willow Island and cast every notion of normal behind. In our intimate ceremony location, surrounded by our lake, you are enveloped in love and get the chance to create your new kind of normal. Similarly, our cosy Hay Barn, equipped with log burner will give you all the warmth you need for a tight-knit circle of loved ones.

4. Happy Valley embraces all tribes - there is a confidence that comes with embracing and accepting who you are and all of our Happy Valley couples carry that confidence. Our couples are not afraid to let their true colours show. Guests are welcomed in wellies, heels, tattoos, wide-brimmed hats, pearls or piercings. At Happy Valley, anyone who wishes to encourage and not disparage will always be made to feel welcome, no matter their attire or their number.

Micro Wedding Package

Midweek and weekend availability, 2020 – 2021

Government permitting, Happy Valley can offer a micro wedding package of up to 30 guests, held in our cosy and rustic Hay Barn. Complete with fairy lights, log burner and indoor bar area, we can offer you free corkage, furniture, hot tubs, luxury glamping accommodation for the entire wedding party and exclusive use of our nine acres of ground, including enchanting woodlands and the magical experience of willow island.

A micro wedding will never minimise your love, but it will highlight what matters most. When it comes down to it, Covid will fade into the background and Happy Valley will create your unique lightning bolt moment that only gives space for your love to shine.

If you’d like to hear more about their micro wedding packages, please contact: weddings@happyvalleynorfolk.co.uk.

With love,

Katy, Kirsty and the team at Happy Valley xx

All photographs shared are from a real micro weddings held at Happy Valley this year.

Beautifully captured by @auroragreyphoto

Dress - @liribyrikidalal

Boutique - @thewhitegallery

Venue & Glamping - @happyvalleynorfolk

Props - @thelittlelendingco

Hair - @perfectsilhouettehairdressing

MUA - @bryonyhollandmua

Catering - @sallygsafternoonteas . .

Autumn Equinox

Today is the Autumn Equinox, aka Mabon, a powerful time of the year where day and night dance in perfect balance, where the sun and moon equally share the sky. We open the doors to Autumn and give thanks and honour the harvest just gone. Even when the harvest wasn’t quite what was expected there’s always something to be grateful for.

A time of balance between the seasons. Holding this transitional space without fear is on our Happy Valley affirmations list and not always easy in the current climate. But we all know that fears makes the wolf look bigger & we turn to Mother Nature for a word of wisdom.

The Equinox is a time honoured by many cultures including us here at Happy Valley. The nights become chillier and before we even see the change in the landscape our senses notice the changing seasons. We can marvel at how Mother Earth shows us that nothing is constant and how this is reflected in our world.
This too shall pass.

We celebrate the land and its history for it has seen this all before and we celebrate all of you who’ve shared this crazy journey which is 2020. We’ve made it to Autumn & that is worth celebrating.

Turning Over a New Leaf at Happy Valley

“The heat of autumn is different from the heat of summer. One ripens the apples, the other turns them to cider”.

~ Jane Hirshfield

The heavy heat of summer is giving way to a gentle breeze, pushing us onwards, towards cosier nights and the flicker of candlelight. There is comfort to be had when the feeling of sunlight on your skin, is then layered with the protective hug of a cashmere jumper or woollen shawl. It is as if Nature knows this is its swan song, its final chance to take flight and display its brilliance, for one last time.

Dancing like flames in the sky, the burnt oranges, and hues of yellow and brown offer up a firework display of leaves. The trees shake off their old coats and stretch out their branches to welcome a new season and with it, new adventures.

At Happy Valley, though the landscape changes, its beauty remains. Ripples in the lake and beads of sweat on your brow is being replaced with images of wellies splashing in puddles and fresh dew drops forming on blades of grass. Though darkness closes in, there is a sense of togetherness as we huddle for warmth and head towards the woods, to lose ourselves in the magic of an everchanging canvas of colour.

Your soul, as light as a feather, may be carried in the wind and with it, all your cares give way, to a beautiful, autumnal dream. The air crackles with anticipation, the leaves crunch underfoot, and conkers are ready for the taking. There is no feeling of sadness or loss, only the spirit of curiosity and yearning for a new journey into the unknown.

Here at Happy Valley, we invite you to come Autumn Glamping in the goldilocks of seasons - not too hot, not too cold but exactly right for some fun and creativity. With pencils sharpened, uninform pressed and blank exercise books waiting to be inked with inspiration, parents can escape for a term-time get away with individual glamping available during the week. Exclusive hire of the grounds, facilities, hot tubs, hay barn and all accommodation is available at the weekends, so you can capture the magic of this place with others or keep it all to yourself.  

Happy Valley cannot wait to celebrate the highlights of the Autumn season with you and raise a glass to friendships and fresh starts. Bottoms Up!

Happy Valley’s Twist on a Marylebone Halloween Marvel

• 35ml Vanilla Flavoured Vodka

• 12.5ml Pear Flavoured or Pumpkin Flavoured Liqueur

• 10ml Pumpkin syrup

• 25ml Pumpkin purée

• Pinch of ground nutmeg and cinnamon

• Top with Champagne (or prosecco, we won’t judge!)

• 3 ice cubes

• Slice of dried pear

With love,

Katy, Kirsty and the team at Happy Valley xx

Explore the different cabins in the woods for some North Norfolk Glamping this Autumn.

Coming Home to the Exclusive Hire of Happy Valley

We are but a web of stories, woven and interlocked through random dates, fleeting moments, and the passing of time. If you saw your life through the eyes of all those who have ever seen you, ever known you, ever formed an impression of you, what is it you would find?

To those who have visited us before, we wonder how you would imagine your life in the snapshots that took you from where you started your journey, to how you ended up staying with us:

The ticket seller at Kings Cross station who wished you safe travels and wondered why you were carrying flip flops and wellies.

The woman sitting next to you on the Great Northern Rail who who listened to you share your plans of adventure on a Woodland Wilderness Retreat.

The taxi driver who picked you up from Kings Lynn station and made you laugh. How she smiled when you arrived at Happy Valley’s gates and said you were in for a ‘real treat’.

The farmer who nodded his head at you behind the wheel of his tractor, as if to welcome you to this happy corner of the world. How you knew you’d made the right decision and felt the first bubbles of excitement, of freedom.

The child squealing with delight as they were pushed on the tyre swing in the grounds and begged their parent to let them melt more marshmallows over the campfire that evening. How it made you think of all the firepit recipes you’d like to try after a long day walking in the woods.

The elderly couple in the local pub at Great Massingham, holding hands, warming themselves by the open fire with a simple meal of fish and chips and a bottle of Norfolk ale. How you thought it would be nice to return to Happy Valley again someday but next time, with all your family and friends.

And now, in the present, scrolling through your Instagram feed, you see the same photos of acres of trees, standing proud and tall, ripples in the lake surrounding Willow Island and you think of Happy Valley, wondering about all of the people you met and wondering if anyone is thinking of you, too.

Well, we are. We remember welcoming strangers and saying goodbye to friends. We remember the arrival of weary souls and the departure of rejuvenated spirits. We’re here, we’re thinking of you and we want to welcome you back but this time, exclusively. We are now open for Exclusive Use Hire of our accommodation and grounds, for up to 20 guests for a three night weekend stay or a two night midweek stay. Please see our Exclusive Hire tab for more information: https://www.happyvalleynorfolk.co.uk/exclusive-hire

We can’t wait to host you and your guests soon!

With love,

Katy, Kirsty and the team at Happy Valley xx