GNOME RESERVE

Deep in the Devonshire countryside hidden among its ancient forests and quiet country lanes lies a part of the world that is so magical and so old that gnomes have taken up residence.

The gnome reserve was opened in 1979 by the lovely Ann Atkin a former art student.

She established the 4 acre site that houses over 2,000 gnomes.

They enjoy fishing, relaxing at the beach, swimming and even have there own space rocket for the bravest of gnomes

The reserve even has a wild flower garden with over 250 species of wild flowers herbs grasses and ferns. Spotting the hidden pixies in the wild flower garden is encouraged by Ann and a very fun challenge sheet is given to you before entering so you can answer the questions on the way round. We have to say its not just for kids.

When you arrive you will meet Ann she will be sitting in her little house painting pixies and telling stories of gnomes of old times past. 

She is a very kind lady who will lead you to a room full of hats, from red to blue to rainbow and yellow these pointy hats are for you to wear as you walk around the reserve.

 For those asking well you want to be properly dressed and make the gnomes feel comfortable at whilst you explore the forest.

The gnomes will even let you fish in their pond for a stone. This stone will reveal your lucky number in life or help you pick your lottery digits.

There are gnomes at work so be careful when walking around the forest.

You will have to keep your eyes open as there are gnomes hidden all over the forest 

The gnome reserve is a place in which magic still fills the countryside, a place in which your imagination and inner child can run free. This is a place where you get to see all ages of gnomes from the old to the nimble.

Plus who doesn't want to wear a gnome hat!

The reserve can be found in West Putford near Bradworthy Devon 

There website is http://www.gnomereserve.co.uk

THE NORFOLK COAST

The Norfolk coast on the east coast of England is known for its incredible sunsets, friendly locals and 

gorgeous coastline, A Perfect place for a camping trip.

We loaded up the car and headed to a lovely sea side town of Sherringham 

We arrived at our campsite and with the sun beating down on us as we set up the tent. Once we had 

put up the tent it was time for a cup of tea and plan our travels in Norfolk 

West Runton beach is famous for its fossilised mammoth that was discovered in 1990, it was one of 

the oldest fossilised elephants to be found in the Uk and you can still find fossils on the beach today.

As hard as we tried we could not find a fossil but we did explore the rock pools and found some 

rather interesting creatures living among the rocks 

We often like to explore as much as we can so we always have our trusty map ready and a camping 

stove so we can make food and tea on the road.

As we travel down country lanes through small villages and fields we are often treated to beautiful 

scenery and countryside, And the east coast did not disappoint 

The sunsets are truly some of the best England has to offer we sat on Wybourne beach and watched 

the fisherman all lined up casting there rods into the sea as the sun was setting into the ocean beyond.

The best part of camping is waking up with the sunrise and feeling the warm rays heating your tent 

up. you wrap up in your coat and unzip the tent door and a cold rush of fresh air rushes past you. 

There is something so peaceful as you sit outside boiling the kettle and making breakfast on your 

camping stove whilst listening to nature arround you 

As many of you know we love the National trust and will always try and visit one on our travels. We 

decided to explore the rich history of Blickling estate a house that is in the doomsday book and was 

home to Lord Lothian who was said to have influenced chortles actions in world war two.

Being keen gardeners ourselves we love seeing the walled gardens to help inspire us with our own 

allotment 

After a long day we watched the sun set across the fields behind our tent before wrapping up warm 

and playing a game of cards before bed 

After a nice weekend of camping we spent the day at the beach before making up the car and heading 

home ready to plan our next adventure with we can say involves Snowdonia and a VW T25 camper 

van.

EXPOLRING ROCKPOOLS

We love the beach and we can't resist a camping trip to the coast every year.

We love to take long walks along the sand and paddling in the water, We love the smells and warm

 sun beating down on our faces.

There are many things we love about out Great British oceans but one of our favourite things to do 

whilst at the beach is to take our net and bucket and search the wonderful world of rock pools 

Rock pooling is an age old British tradition you will always find families with a bucket and a net 

searching in between the small cracks and crevases of the rocks hunting for crabs and any other 

strange and wonderful plant life that have become trapped as the tied had retreated for the day 

The pools that have been left are a world in themselves you never know what you may find. We like 

to search for crabs and can often spend hours jumping from pool to pool searching.

Crabs are cleaver and will move very fast if they suspect you are near often hiding under rocks or 

burying themselves in the send 

But those who are persistent will reap the rewards and we must say there is something exciting about 

getting a glimpse of a big crab, and slowly creeping towards him net in hand hoping he dose not run 

and hide himself away. This is the biggest crab we have caught I'm sure many of you have caught 

much bigger, we let him go soon after as we don't like to keep them in the bucket 

There are not just crabs there are all sorts of plants and life to find, sometimes it feels like you are 

looking into an alien world 

Once we have spent some time rock pooling its time to enjoy the beauty of the coastline 

 At the end of the day we like nothing more then sitting on the sand with our fish and chips and

 watching the incredible sunsets our coastline has to offer