Thornham Lodge, Thornham

Norfolk. Sleeps up to 10

Sleeping up to ten guests in five beautifully appointed bedrooms, Thornham Lodge is a spacious, immaculate holiday home very close to the ever popular north Norfolk coast. It sits on a quiet lane leading down to Thornham harbour, within walking distance of the fantastic Thornham Deli and the village pubs, the Orange Tree, the five hundred year old Lifeboat Inn and the Ship. With the coastal path on the doorstep, superb beaches and a local crabbing area for children, it is a lovely base to explore this beautiful tranquil area. Visitors enjoy huge skies and fantastic sunsets. You will never tire of the brilliantly coloured huge skies at the end of the day. There are many characterful coastal villages to visit, HM The Queen’s Sandringham Estate, RSPB Nature Reserves, an endless list of gastropubs, Wells-next-the-Sea with its colourful beach huts and the charming Burnham Market with its trendy shops, delis, galleries and boutiques.

Thornham Lodge is an upside down house with the living spaces on the first floor to take advantage of the stunning views. The furnishings are traditional rather than trendy and are superbly comfortable. The living room is very generous in size, a perfect spot to bring the generations together or spend time with your favourite friends. Leather sofas sit by the electric living flame fire. The views over farmland and marshes are wonderful. Double glass doors open to a second living area with a longer view down the lane. It is a great spot for a pot of tea and the Sunday newspapers. The smart country kitchen comes with excellent appliances, wooden cabinetry, black worktops and a central dining table and chairs. The kitchen overlooks the back garden.

On the ground floor you will discover three bedrooms and a charming garden room. This room sits at the back of the house and it’s a great space that opens onto the patio. Capturing the sun’s rays, it is a wonderful spot for a quiet holiday read. All three bedrooms offer comfortable kingsize beds. One enjoys an ensuite shower room and guests staying in the other two rooms enjoy use of a family shower room. The remaining two bedrooms are located on the second floor. One boasts twin beds and the other offers a super kingsize bed. There is a shared bathroom on the second floor too. Both bedrooms enjoy stunning views.

The garden is generous in size and comes with an alfresco dining terrace and a large lawn. Your barbecue masters can cook up a storm or you can head to Drove Orchards just a few minutes away for some delicious Eric’s fish and chips.

Thornham Lodge is nestled on a quiet lane in the pretty village of Thornham. The village is charming with cottages built with carrstone or flint, a village hall, the fantastic Thornham Deli with its home accessories, clothes, foods and cafe, a children’s playground, an absolutely stunning beach, salt marshes and some brilliant pubs offering delicious food, a friendly welcome, gardens and cosy fires.

You can take the coastal path to the nature reserve at Holme-next-the-Sea and further on to Old Hunstanton. Holme Beach enjoys gorgeous dunes, soft sand and big skies. Old Hunstanton boasts a sea full of wind and kitesurfers. At one end of the beach you will find the lighthouse and, tucked in the dunes, are some colourful beach huts. Old Hunstanton Beach continues into Hunstanton where you can enjoy the family amusement arcades, bowling, a swimming pool, aquarium, shops and cafes. In the opposite direction from Thornham is Brancaster, a designated area of Outstanding Natural Beauty which is home to another fabulous beach and a popular golf course. The most famous of the North Norfolk beaches is Holkham Bay. The beach is one of the most unspoilt and beautiful stretches of sand in the country. With a glorious semi-circle basin filling to form a spectacular shallow lagoon at high tides, this beach is famous for the closing scene in Gwyneth Paltrow’s ‘Shakespeare in Love’. You can walk from Holkham to Wells, admiring the dunes, colourful beach huts and small rivulets and streams along the way.

Bird lovers head to the RSPB nature reserves at Titchwell and Snettisham or to Holme Beach, Holkham or the Blakeney National Nature Reserve. RSPB Snettisham is home to waders, wildfowl and many other birds. Between August and January you will see tens of thousands of birds leaving the mudflats and landing in the Snettisham hides. You will experience spectacular aerial displays and watch huge numbers of pink-footed geese fly over from Iceland. The estate is also home to resident barn owls and that soft hooting is joyful. Pensthorpe Waterfowl Park is popular too.

There are plenty of historical houses to visit including Royal Sandringham, Houghton Hall and the National Trust’s Blicking Estate, Felbrigg Hall and Oxburgh Hall. Sandringham is the much-loved country retreat of HM The Queen and has been the private home of four generations of British Monarchs since 1862. You can visit part of the house, the private gardens and St Mary Magdalene Church as well as taking delightful walks through the estate. There are frequent craft shows and other events in the grounds. The Holkham Estate is huge at 25000 acres. Holkham Hall is rich in history, architecture and wildlife. The seat of the Earl of Leicester, this elegant 18th century mansion is still a much loved, lived-in family home which visitors can also enjoy. There are six acres of walled garden, originally laid out by Samuel Wyatt in the late 1700’s. Visitors enjoy the walking and cycling paths, the lakes, watching the deer, the tree top high ropes course with its swings, bridges and ziplines, rowing boats, canoes and kayaks on the lake and the woodland play area. It is an outstanding family excursion.

The area is excellent for sailing. Coastal Exploration Company offers a variety of options for day and half-day trips and sailing lessons. One of the most popular boat trips is from Morston to see the seals at Blakeney.

Burnham Market and Holt are perfect for shopping. Brimming with unique independent shops, wonderful gastropubs such as the Hoste, cute delis, cafes and galleries, all around a delightful village green, Burnham Market is incredibly popular. The August arts and crafts fair is fabulous with craft stalls, pop up eateries, puppet shows, alfresco dining and a very jolly atmosphere. Holt is another Norfolk gem, again with wonderful art galleries, eateries and charm. Drove Orchards, between Thornham and Holme next-the-Sea is another shoppers paradise with some gorgeous shops, Gurneys fish shop, an excellent garden shop and Eric’s fish and chips and pizza restaurants.