What's On In Norfolk This Easter

For the first time in a few years, we can finally have a restriction-free Easter break! We are so looking forward to welcoming our guests this Spring to our woodland retreat, for a well-needed staycation.

Sunnier days have arrived and Norfolk is fantastic for adventures. Sandringham is just a short drive away with plenty of woodland to explore and The Sandringham Estate to soak up some history and grab a tasty treat from The Courtyard. You don’t even need to leave Happy Valley Norfolk, our retreat joins 200 acres of woodland of Congham Heath. Enjoy some blissful relaxation in the hot tub under the stars at night, after a day of trekking in the wild.

The county is bursting with things to do and events this season, right on our doorstep. Join The Pesky Bunnies Easter Eggs-pedition at Bewilderwood (2nd-19th April) where your little ones will enjoy meeting the Easter bunny on the Storytelling Stage, face painting and hunting for eggs on the Puzzling Park Trail.

For a taste of Medieval Britain, the Vikings return to Sheringham on Saturday 9th April for The Viking Festival and Parade. With battles on the beach, Viking cooking and axe throwing, this will make a great family day out.

Moving into May, we will see many returning events such The Crab and Lobster Festival, bringing together Cromer & Sheringham to celebrate the world-famous seafood they produce. Across two days there will be a host of great things to participate in, including heritage demonstrations and street markets packed with local produce. Live music will be performed day and night, fantastic street performers, seafaring crafts and children’s activities.

We have some fantastic glamping cabins available this Easter Half Term, just waiting for you to complete them! Our “Tawny Hut” will also be reopening alongside its sistering Shepard’s hut “Denver Rest”, a great duo for a family of four, looking for an escape into nature. To see our full list of cabins and our availability, head over to the glamping section of this website.

To view the array of events on in Norfolk this Easter, we highly recommend visiting https://www.visitnorfolk.co.uk/whats-on

For a taste of Medieval Britain, the Vikings return to Sheringham on Saturday 9th April for The Viking Festival and Parade.

Join The Pesky Bunnies Easter Eggs-pedition at Bewilderwood for some Easter fun

Enjoy a coastal family day out at The Crab and Lobster Festival

"The views are out of this world" A fantastic review for Toad Hall

Toad Hall in all it’s woodland glory

A great cabin for not only staycations and getaways, but is widely loved as our wedding suite.

We are so grateful for this review that came in from our recent guests Carmen & Ben.

“Where do i start! What an amazing place! My fiancé and I just got home from a well needed couple of days away for some pure relaxation and this is the place! If you are pondering on whether to book, ponder no more! Do it! You won’t regret it! beautiful surroundings, definitely recommend the 200 acre wood trail, such a beautiful walk and if you keep going it takes you to a lovely little village. Toad Hall was immaculate, beds and pillows sooo comfy we had the best nights sleep. The views are out of this world, everywhere you look when inside the lodge you are greeted with a stunning view, even in the shower! If you are looking for silence, peace and tranquility this is the place. Nothing beats drinking your morning coffee whilst gazing out of a window with endless trees and views, We are already looking online to book for summer but unfortunately it’s all booked up. The communication was five star with Katy, prompt replies and we even had a box of choccies left on arrival. Thankyou :) A lovely little perk of this stay, if you are unorganised like me, was the kitchen amenities, oil, herbs and spices and everything you would need to cook with, also a lovely array of books and games, perfect for a cozy night in whilst watching the sunset through the main window. It really was a breath taking experience. I cannot fault toad hall in any way I only wish we could book again now for the summer! :( The hot tub was all up to temperature and ready to go as soon as we arrived, was very easy to use and hot tubbing surrounded by trees was a whole new experience for us! It was wonderful! We used it so many times. We went in February 2022 and the temperature in the lodge was so lovely and warm and comfortable. Thank you Katy for making it such a memorable stay Carmen and Ben X”

To book your stay at Happy Valley, head over to the glamping tab.

Why You Should Go Glamping This Christmas

During the colder months and around Christmas, glamping is a fabulous idea. It can be even more magical and completely different than in the warmer seasons.

Imagine waking up on Christmas morning in one of our cosy cabins, looking out into the frosty woodland, log burner blazing inside and a steamy hot tub waiting for you - an experience you will never forget.

Get toasty around the log burner in Keepers Cabin

Adorable in-built bunk beds for your little ones in The Woodpecker

Have a romantic staycation in King Nutkin

Christmas dining for the family in The Woodpecker

With an array of eatery options in the area, you could either book a table letting someone else do all the hard work or you could cook up a tasty Christmas dinner in your cabin. Spend the evenings around the outside fire pit, relaxing with a glass of red wine and delve into the bubbling water of your private wood-fired hot tub.

Christmas traditions get passed down through generations - what time you are allowed to tear the wrapping off your presents, who gets to light up the Christmas pudding or a certain festive movie you watch every year like clockwork. However, there is nothing stopping you from creating new traditions, so why not spend your Christmas tucked up with your loved ones in one of our cosy cabins at Happy Valley Norfolk?

To book your festive staycation, check out the glamping section of our website, where you will find all the details of each of our cabins and availability.

Halloween at Happy Valley

Follow us behind the scenes to a Halloween Week at Happy Valley. As Hallows’ Eve falls on the week of October Half Term, it is no surprise that our mini mascots are employed to take part in the mischief and mayhem.

The sun has dawned on Summer and now the moon, wide eyed in wonder, looks down at the scene unfolding. Tiny dew drops of rain can be seen building up on cobwebs of woven silk; nature plays its part as spiders and bats are ready to take their role in this spooky festival.

As the cold air lingers and a foggy mist descends, Annie and Barnaby step into their positions magnificently by brewing the potions (tea and hot chocolate!) and preparing the cauldron for a family feast (pumpkin cookies!). With no cat or ghost in sight, Timber the dog is roped into the day’s ritual and as pumpkin is going spare, he is happy to oblige.

Our first call to arms, is to find our coats, wrap up in a layer of protection from the howling winds, and step into the woodland of whispering trees to find the perfect chestnuts and conkers for our collection. We place these and the acorn leaves into the magician’s hat and utter a chant or two.

With spoons and (adult-supervised) knives at the ready, we carve out some fun by etching into the round, plump, pumpkins at our feet. Scraping out the fluffy, orange innards, we scoop this into our pot and place to one side (this will be noted on our post-Halloween-pumpkin-blog). Our future architect and nine-year-old carpenter, picks up his drill and creates a fiery sky of stars by drilling holes into the pumpkin’s thick skin.

Adorned with a witch’s hat and magic at her fingers tips, Annie brings a glimmer of sparkle to nature as leaves and conkers are coated in gold. The shimmery glow coming from the puddle below hints at the evening to come and a cackle echoes in the air, reverberating throughout the land. It’s almost time.

The candles are lit, sparklers ignite, pumpkins are placed, with fairies and sprite. Our two, adorable children transform into Witch and Magician. Skulls’ eyes are aglow and to the new, log cabin we go. Come friend, come foe, come ghost, come all, this year’s Halloween will be the best of them all!

If you would like to join us for a weekend of magic and fun, we have some last minute availability due to a local lockdown for our unfortunate guests:

Availability: Friday 30th October – Monday 2nd November 2020

Cabins: Woodpecker (£395) or Denver Rest and Tawny Hut (£320) - NOW FULLY BOOKED

To book, please contact hello@happyvalleynorfolk.co.uk / 01485600719

With love,

Katy and Kirsty xx

Carry on Glamping...

“Nature itself is the
best source of healing for mental and emotional disorder”

- Paul TP Wong

“A walk in nature,
walks the soul back home”

- Mary Davis

2020 is the year where the world grew silent and its people grew still, where we yearned to touch but remained distant and where the sound of the news broadcast was an unwelcome invasion into our fortress of solitude. We’ve cried, we’ve fretted, we’ve sighed, perhaps we’ve even thrown a thing or two and yet we were the lucky ones. As our doors begin to creek open and we tentatively take our first steps into society again, we wonder what it is we will find and we wonder who it is we will find. Though we are moving forward, we are not moving on and we will not forget the NHS heroes who fought for us, the household members who held onto us or the loved ones who tragically left us.

Pre-pandemic, we were a society who knew the cost of everything but understood the value of nothing. Now, we’ve seen the beauty in the kindness of strangers, we’ve felt national pride watching our community come together and we’ve watched in wonder as the earth has begun to heal and nature has reawakened to the dawn of what we hope will be a new era. How we began 2020 was beyond our control but how we end it, is up to us.

Here at Happy Valley, we invite you to push the reset button and enjoy the simple pleasures in life.

Happy Valley Post-Pandemic

Reflect – curl up on the sofa in our treehouse lodge and look out onto a panoramic vista of nature. Use this time to think about what matters to you, consider how you’ve felt in recent months and how you want your future to look like. Write it all down and then cast it into our log burner and as the fire turns it to ashes, begin to rise up and start again.

Remember – in nature we can bare our soul. Our lake will catch your tears, our trees will hear your cries and our lands will hold you. Nature will remain by your side and will be your quiet companion as you remember those you have loved and those you have lost. There is no right way to think, no correct way to feel; Nature will not judge you, will not report you but it will console you.

Rejuvenate – they say time is a great healer but nothing speaks to us more than walking through the woods and grounding ourselves among trees that have seen a lifetime of loved ones walk our lands and watched every story of our ancestors unfold. It’s here that we feel close to them and here that we feel able to breathe again and ultimately, give ourselves permission to live again.

Reset – we can hurt without having to hide and we can heal in allowing ourselves to find happiness. Embracing the future does not mean forgetting the past. At Happy Valley, we invite families to reconnect and friends to reunite. Hug, sing, dance, laugh.

Hopefully, from the 4th July onwards, our glamping will be open again. Each cabin/tent will have its own private facilities and can only be booked by those who have been isolating in the same house. Extra measures have been put in place so please take a look at our Covid page on the website to see how this may affect your stay.

Our doors will soon be open to welcome you back and we hope we can give you the opportunity to end 2020 in a very different way to how it began.

We can’t wait to see you,

With love,

Katy, Kirsty and the team at Happy Valley xx