My name is Debbie, and my family have been holidaying in Norfolk, primarily Bacton, for over 70 years! Now on to the fourth generation, there’s something about the pace of life and tranquillity of Norfolk that draws us back year after year. I’m married to John, whose family also holidayed in Norfolk when he was a child, on a beautiful country estate a few miles inland from Bacton. He has an electronic engineering background, works in the global transport industry and is my handyman when we come for maintenance visits!
In 2008, we were on our usual family holiday in Bacton, when we walked past Rainbows End Park, advertising properties for sale. Built in the 1960’s they were all gradually undergoing extensive refurbishment. Although we’d never holidayed on the park, we had seen many a family enjoying their holiday on this lovely park. We visited the show home and once home, we decided to take the leap and buy ourselves a little piece of Norfolk.
We intended from the outset to share it with others for their holiday, and so in April 2009 our first guests holidayed there! Nerve racking, but successful. We named the first property “Beachscape” and this was already furnished as a show home, so it was ready to let out straight away.
A great deal of work goes on behind the scenes, marketing the home and managing it, so in 2011, I decided to expand and buy a second property. “Tides” had to be refurbished and equipped from scratch, so I had great fun planning and shopping. At this time it made sense to build a brand for the business and so Norfolk Coastal Holidays was born.
I trained as a Beauty Therapist, working at home for most of my career. Wanting to get out of the house for a change of scene, I also worked for a local secondary school as an exam invigilator. Since retiring from beauty therapy, most of my time is now spent running Norfolk Coastal Holidays and juggling family life, grown up children and elderly parents. I love helping people book their holiday in Norfolk, including bringing the all important family dog, so I’m always on the look out for suitable coastal properties to help bring in more bookings for their owners.
“Bramble Cottage” is currently the only property on our website where I take bookings for the owner Louise. She was recommended to me by another local owner Sue and after a successful photo shoot went live on our site at the end of 2014. It’s a delightful family friendly barn conversion, much loved and used by it’s owners. It’s especially lovely during the winter months as it has a lovely wood burner!
“Cromer Flint Cottage” is new to our portfolio in summer 2018. This lovely property is a flint two bed cottage built in the 1870s. Previously owned by a couple who amongst other things ran a pub as a hobby in retirement, it had been empty for a few months before we purchased it. Last updated in the early 1980s, it was due a complete overhaul. We duly employed a local builder to refurbish it, but after the main building work was done we took over the refurbishment ourselves, becoming part time residents in the town for the best part of a year! It was very hard work commuting between our home and Cromer, but we so loved that time spent getting to know the town. You can be sure we’ll be returning regularly to enjoy the fruits of our labours.
If you’d like to book a holiday in Norfolk, then ring me on 07780 994768 or use the form on the Contact Us page. If you have a holiday home that you’re thinking of letting, then fill out the Advertise with Us form. I hope to hear from you soon.