Words & Photography by Amanda Loose - Editor, North Norfolk Living Magazine 

I’ve spent most of my Christmases in North Norfolk and honestly, there’s nowhere I’d rather be during the festive season. And whilst this Christmas looks set to be a very different one, many of the things I love about this time of year here are timeless and largely unaffected by world events. 

My father and three of my four brothers are fishermen, so the tide rules and what time’s high water is a burning question even on Christmas Day and they often have to riddle mussels on Boxing Day. Fiery festive sunsets, being serenaded by the noisy skeins of pink-footed geese overhead, walking up to Barrow Common after lunch on Christmas Day and a beach walk on Boxing Day with a friend (almost whatever the weather), these are all an inextricable part of my North Norfolk Christmas. 

Twinkling lights on the green in Burnham Market and itching to know what magic Lady Leicester and her talented team have worked at Holkham with their always magical decorations in the hall for the candlelight tours; carols in the local church and catching a performance by the Hunstanton Concert Band, whose seasonal spirit is infectious; the beautiful and always moving Christmas Tree Festival at Fakenham Parish Church; 

shopping at Deepdale Christmas Market and the joy of running into people there I haven’t seen in ages; last minute purchases from fantastic local shops, and even more last minute cooking; trying something new - a wreathmaking workshop with Floral Sistas at The White Horse in Brancaster Staithe last year, hung indoors so deconstructed by the four kittens I found on Barrow Common a few months earlier. Perhaps I’ll make one unsupervised this year - the four now-cats will enjoy it whatever it looks like! 

Sadly, some of these activities won’t be possible this year and who knows if we’ll all be able to be together. But one thing I’ve learnt these last months is how very, very fortunate I am to live in this beautiful part of the world. Waking up here and hearing the honking geese will be a wonderful Christmas present, whatever redecorating those cats have done overnight! 

@northnorfolkliving