White Lodge Farm CottagesWhite Lodge Farm Cottages
  

Animals and nature

Brewers, distillers and vineyards

Cinema

Child's play

Coast

Country pubs

Cycling

Eating in

Eating out

Events

Fun & games

Gardens and growers

Golf

Group activities

Halls and houses

Horse racing

Market towns

Norfolk Broads

Norwich

Performing arts

Rural life & bygones

Thetford Forest

Trains & boats & planes

USAAF Airfields

Visual arts

Walking

Winter

Other links

Fun and games

We've made this a bit of a "catch all" page, principally for the physical (the term has been applied loosely!) activities that don't sit too naturally in the other sections such as Walking, Cycling and Golf, but that should not be seen as a statement that they're of less appeal as this section includes some of the top attractions in Norfolk and North Suffolk in terms of visitor numbers.

Tree top adventure

Picture of Phil on the cargo net at Go Ape! Thetford Forest is the venue for the original tree-top assault course, 'Go Ape'. Well worth a visit - if you're at least 10, over 1.4m tall, are not scared of heights and are moderately fit.

Ten pen bowling

Hollywood Bowl in the Riverside complex in Norwich (where there are also restaurants, a mulitplex cinema and a large multi-storey car park) is a modern facility with 26 lanes. It's a 35 minute drive from White Lodge Farm. Please check with Hollywood Bowl or Helen & Tony before planning a trip as it closed in the summer of 2007 for remedial works and no date has been set for it to re-open.

A little closer, but smaller, with 10 lanes, is Strikes in Dereham.

Ice Skating

The Ice Experience on the Norwich Ring Road offers two hour sessions throughout most days, the first staring at 10am and the last ending at 10pm. For parties of less than 20 it's simply 'pay and skate' - with no booking needed as the rink can accommodate 450 skaters.

Ballooning

This one is weather-dependant, of course!

Balloons flights, with baskets carrying up to 12 people, take off from several sites with 30 minutes' drive of White Lodge Farm. It's quite an eery, but very uplifting experience.

Clay pigeon shooting

Try you hand-eye co-ordination with some tuition and practice at Mid Norfolk Shooting School or the Suffolk Shooting School. Both are less than an hour away from White Lodge Farm.

Tank driving

Believe it or not, there are two venues accessible from White Lodge Farm Cottages which offer this activity to those over 18 and with a driving licence. The Muckleburgh Collection at Weybourne has 16 working (subject to availability!) tanks in its museum collection of over 120 tanks, guns and vehicles.

Swimming

You really are spoilt for choice here. There's an Olympic sized pool at the Sportspark (UEA, Norwich), with some clever hydraulics that allow the pool depth to be altered and there are modern public pools at Wymondham Leisure Centre and Dereham Leisure Centre and another large pool at Riverside Swimming Centre.

But if you want something a little smaller why not become a day member at Park Farm, Norfolk Golf Club at Reymerston or Barnham Broom Country Club. Park Farm and Barnham Broom also offer beauty treatments and if you book a beauty treatment at Park Farm you'll get half price day membership of the leisure club.

Karting

There are "turn up and drive" and pre-booked sessions on the two tracks at Anglia Karting at North Pickenham, barely twenty minutes from White Lodge Farm Cottages

The fun of the fair

In 2006 over 1.4 million people visited The Pleasure Beach at Great Yarmouth, making it the third most popular "paid entry" attraction in the UK (which is slightly bizarre as entry is free!). The main park has over 20 large rides as well as crazy golf courses, water attractions and children's rides (some of the main have minimum height requirements).

The Roller Coaster is undoubtedly the star attraction at The Pleasure Beach, having been in place since 1933, although the ride actually dates back to 1928, having been operational in France before coming to Great Yarmouth. The traditional coaster is made from wood with a single pull-up. Each car has an operator at the back operating the brakes as, unusually, there is no braking on the track itself.

Aimed principally at the younger visitor, whilst Pleasurewood Hills has six thrill rides, it also has over twenty family rides and activities. The summer of 2007 saw the opening of 'Wipeout' which, according to their website, stands 120 feet tall, touches speeds of almost 50mph and pull over 5-G. But, for those not seeking such adrenalin rushes, there's a miniature railway, racing karts and dodgems. Again, there are minimum height requirements for some rides.

According to their website, "Fritton Lake is one of the most beautiful stretches of water in East Anglia, extending two and a quarter miles from end to end and covering 150 acres". As well rowing boats and pedaloes on the lake, a 20/25 minute guided tour of the lake is available on an electric-powered launch. There's also as adventure playground with an assault course and aerial slides for older children and there's a separate play area for under sevens and a mini assault course for adults and children. Also within the grounds are marked woodland and waterside trails, pony rides, fishing and a putting green.


Contact details

  


Top of page   |   Home page   |   Site map
Copyright 2008 A & HAJ Richardson (for reproduction rights see copyright licence)
Please report any problems encountered with this page to the webmaster
We check the web addresses and 'phone numbers regularly but if a link is broken or you have some more up to date information please let us know.
For reasons we are sure that you will understand, we are unable to accept any responsibility for the attractions and organisations listed or the content of their web sites.
Valid XHTML 4.0!