Saturday 5th – Monday 7th May – Minty’s Whizzy Windmill Garden, BeWILDerwood, Horning 10.00am – 5.30pm.  Help Minty, the littlest Crocklebog in BeWILDerwood, create a charmingly gorgeous garden by making whizzy windmill flowers, how lovely!  Normal admission fees apply.

Saturday 12th May – Spring Plant Fair at Fairhaven Woodland Gardens, South Walsham  10.00am – 2.00pm.  An opportunity to buy new and unusual varieties of plants with expert advice.

Sunday 13th May – Thurne Windpump Open Day, Thurne  1.00pm – 4.00pm.  Open to visitors and wind permitting the sails will be turning.  A unique opportunity to experience first hand the workings of the mill.

Wednesday 16th May – Ghost Walk at Fairhaven Woodland Gardens, South Walsham at 6.30pm.  Enjoy a spine-tingling walk through the woods listening to the myths and legends of the Fairhaven Garden.  Free with garden entry. £5.50 adult; £5 conc.; £3 child; under 5s free; dogs 25p.

Saturday 19th May – Full day art workshop at Fairhaven Woodland Gardens, South Walsham from 10.00am – 4.00pm.  Workshop in the garden with one hour demonstration followed by group tuition, led by professional artist Rachel Thomas.  Includes tea/coffee and biscuits and a light lunch. Please bring your own art materials. Booking only event. £45 per person  01603 270449

Sunday 27th May – Thurne Windpump Open Day, Thurne  1.00pm – 4.00pm.  Open to visitors and wind permitting the sails will be turning.  A unique opportunity to experience first hand the workings of the mill.

All information given is correct to the best of our knowledge but is not guaranteed.

Norfolk Broads Events – What’s On In May

Tiree bathroom - all stripped out

We are on a tight timescale, but Tiree will be ready for our guests arriving for the May Bank Holiday weekend with Arbroath being completed soon after.

Tiree and Arbroath both have two bedrooms, one double and one twin and are ideal for families with small children as they are in a quiet position and  have lovely back gardens ideal for little ones to play in.

As soon as we’re finished, we’ll post the photographs for you to take a look.

Tiree bathroom (well it will be!)

New bathrooms for Tiree & Arbroath

Ray 'Hot Feet' Humphreys

Ray has an infectious sense of fun that draws everyone to get involved, from the tiny tots to the parents and grandparents.  Although, (thankfully) Mr Blobby hasn’t made an appearance lately, you can see a rendition of YMCA with fancy dress performed by our guests at Clippesby most weeks.

Ray really enjoys working  with the children to make sure that they have a great holiday and enjoy themselves which then allows the parents to relax in the bar knowing the children are kept entertained.  He also loves to catch up with returning guests to Clippesby who have become good friends over the years.

Keep watching on our facebook page where we will have a poll to decide your favourite ‘Hot Feet’ disco track.

Meet the Team – Ray ‘Hot Feet’ Humphreys

Skye Bedroom

The bedroom is light and bright with a stylish en-suite shower room.

Newly fitted kitchen

The kitchen (small but perfectly formed) has everything you need for your self catering holiday.

In the lounge/diner there is a comfortable leather sofa, flat screen t.v and patio doors giving great views over the walled garden.  We have also re-laid the patio area in front of the property which is ideal to relax on during your stay, perhaps with a cheeky glass of wine in the evenings.

Be one of the first to stay, give us a call on 01493 367800 to book – we’re sure you’ll love it.

Skye – Refurbishment Completed!

Most of our guests arrived on the Thursday before Easter and on Good Friday, what a shame the weather wasn’t kind to us like last year, still like true Brits we all put a brave face on it – a ‘nip’ in the air doesn’t put off Clippesby campers.  Remember Easter 2008 when it snowed? – at least it wasn’t that bad!

The new pitches in the Rabbits Grove went down well but unfortunately Malc & Ben’s carefully laid lawns got a bit scruffy due to the wet weather, so they are now giving this area the necessary tweaks before our next busy bank holiday weekend in May.

We have had some lovely positive comments about the improvements to Braemar and Wenlock and Skye looked lovely when it was finished  (pictures to follow later in the week)

Our resident drummer Chris and the band ‘One Hand Clapping’ went down a storm in the Muskett Arms with lots of audience participation – don’t forget they will be playing at our Music Festival in May and one night a week in the bar during the summer holidays.

If you joined us at Easter, we hope you had a great time and look forward to seeing you again later in the year.  If you have any photo’s, please share them on Facebook, we’d love to see them.

Easter Holiday Recap

The pitches are well spaced out, are nice and level, each has it’s own water tap, grey water drain, electric supply and a grassy area for lounging on and topping up your tan.

The grass is coming through really nicely now after the 10 days of gorgeous sunshine we have had and thanks to Ben who has been watering it regularly.

All we need now is some campers to come and enjoy it!

New 'all weather' pitches in the Rabbits Grove

Rabbits Grove

Maundy Thursday the 5th April a reflective Holy Communion at St. Mary’s, Martham again starting at 7-30pm.

Good Friday the 6th April there will be a childrens’ workshop at St. Mary’s, Martham £1-00/child. Under 5′s must be accompanied by an adult. The workshop starts at 10-00am and finishes at 12-00 noon.The Devotional Service at Repps-cum-Bastwick is at 10-30am.There is an 11am United Service at Martham Methodist Church.

Easter Day, Sunday 8th April

6am Clippesby Church, “Dawn” Service

10-30am  Repps Church, Holy Communion

10-30am Martham Church, Holy Communion

11am Thurne, United Service with the Methodists

Roman Catholic Services:

Saturday 7th 5-30pm at St, Ignatious Church, Caister-on-Sea

Sunday 8th 9-15am at St. Edmund’s Parish Church, Acle

Easter Services

At the moment Dean can be found putting in the new bathrooms in Braemar & Wenlock – the clock is ticking, they have to be ready for Easter.   Here at Clippesby most of our water comes from our own well and one of the biggest jobs Dean has carried out so far was to  get the well water connected up to supply the three shower blocks on the campsite and all of the self catering properties.

Karl used to come to Clippesby on holiday as a child, so he has seen loads of changes over the years.  Karl now lives in the neighbouring village of Fleggburgh and has been looking after the electrics at Clippesby for around the last 18 years.   This year so far he has re-wired ‘Skye’, put the wiring in for the new showers in ‘Braemar & Wenlock’ and as we speak is working in the Rabbits Grove putting the electricity supply to the new pitches ready for our Easter campers.

The 'likely lads' Karl & Dean

Meet the Team – Dean & Karl

St Edmunds Church at Thurne

The  next Lenten Services for our Benefice will be on this coming Sunday, the 25th of March, in the newly restored Church of St. Edmund at Thurne. The church stands on the hill just outside this very pretty village and it has a wonderful view overlooking the valley and marshland of the river Bure with its sailing boats and cruisers.  Our speaker will be Mrs. Nicola Hems who is the curator of the Broads Museum at Stalham, which has a large and fascinating display of Broads boats and memorabilia. Nicola is passionate about her work and we are looking forward to her talk very much. Afterwards some of us will probably wander down to the village and see Sid at the Thurne Lion for lunch or a drink.

Mid-March Notes

‘Clippesby Cycle Tours’ as it was then known was started with just 16 bikes but this quickly grew and now Chris has around 100 of various sizes & styles,   child seats, tag-a-longs, buggies and the very popular Weehoo.   Although Chris now manages the day to day running of Clippesby Hall he still loves tinkering with the bikes and arranging days out for guests staying on the park.  Chris says his favourite part of the job is walking around the campsite talking to guests and making sure everyone is happy and having a good time.

It will come as no surprise to some that Chris was instrumental in bringing ‘Real Ale’ to the Muskett Arms, considering himself to be somewhat a ‘connoiseur’ in this field (he has had lots of practice!) and also instigating the first Clippesby Beer Festival – now in it’s 7th year.  Chris also co-wrote ‘Discover The Broads’ which is our guide to days out in the area.

Chris’s other passions are drumming and running.  He is in the band ‘One Hand Clapping’which plays in local pubs in the Broads area and this year will play in the ‘Muskett Arms’ at Easter,  Wednesdays throughout the season, and a special performance for our own Music Festival (18th, 19th & 20th May). He has run in the London Marathon three times and the Loch Ness Marathon twice.

Chris Haycock - Manager and 'Cycle Captain'

Meet the Team – Chris Haycock