Eastlife February 2019

5 Reasons to
Visit Harleston
Written by
Kate Garside
The traditional friendly market town of
Harleston is in the Waveney Valley on the
Norfolk/Suffolk border and is about 30 minutes
south of Norwich by road. My husband and I
visited it on a cold grey Thursday in January,
and spent about four hours in the town, and
thoroughly enjoyed it. Next time we would
definitely give ourselves longer. Here are our five
reasons to visit:
1. Harleston is an ancient market town. There has been
a market in Harleston every Wednesday for over 500
years. The town is full of character with narrow streets,
pretty houses and quirky cottages and lanes around
every corner. If you love period houses, you will love the
architecture!
2. There are lots of independent shops. There are lots of
useful and interesting stores including several butchers,
bakers, ladies clothing, an excellent shoe shop, a nice gift
store Daisy & Co, a large card shop, florist, a hardware
store, pet shop, photography studio, independent
chocolate confectionary and lots of charity shops.
Everything was very reasonably priced and the staff in all
the shops were very friendly and helpful. It’s worth noting
that Thursday is half day closing. There is also a large
Adnams store, a small Boots chemist and a very good
Co-Op in the centre of the town with lots of free parking.
On the edge of the town there is a factory shop outlet.
3. There are several useful interior shops. This includes a
very reasonably priced bathroom store, an excellent paint
shop that stocks Farrow and Ball, a lighting retailer, and
another interior store that will be opening soon.
The Tudor
Bakehouse
4. There is a fabulous antiques and vintage centre.
Cornucopia, in the old Corn Exchange building, which
is a treasure chest and great fun to browse. It is also
warm (unusual for an antiques centre in winter) and very
welcoming. There is also a lovely vintage tearoom serving
light lunches, afternoon tea and more, all served on
vintage china.
5. There are lots of cosy cafes and several good pubs
serving food throughout the town. We had lunch at The
Egg and Easel Cafe which was a real treat. A pretty cafe
serving homemade lunches, cakes, coffees and teas. Try
something from the daily special board! Their lamb tagine
was delicious and just what we needed to warm us up on
a cold day. The café was popular with the locals, thanks
to its tasty food and warm and friendly welcome. We
would like to have tried all the cafes on our visit as they all
looked good!
Powder Socks at gift
shop Daisy and Co
Vintage tearoom,
Cornucopia antiques
Kate lives in North Norfolk and is an owner of a holiday
cottage in Blakeney that she has renovated with her
husband and now rents as a holiday let. She is passionate
about vintage and antique furniture & china, upcycling,
gardening and Norfolk. www.blakeney-cottage.co.uk |
www.vintagefarmhouse.co.uk
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