Local BBC Sites

Neighbouring Sites

Page last updated at 16:44 GMT, Thursday, 16 April 2009 17:44 UK
Made in England: The Norfolk Blog

Person contributes to Norfolk blogging map
Blogs from across the county will be showcased on an interactive map

Writing habits in the digital age are changing with millions of people using internet 'blogging' as a way of putting their views out to the world.

Made in England, a joint BBC project with the Arts Council and Writers' Centre Norwich exploring in creativity England, encouraged people to start blogging their thoughts on the place they live and love.

On St George's Day - Thursday, 23 April, 2009, Blogging Norfolk asked you to submit your blogs, so we could plot them on an interactive map to take a snapshot of the day.

Web log

"'Blogging' is effectively a 'web log'. Think of a captain's log on a ship marking their progress - it is a little like that. With a blog, you can write your own log, but host it on a web page," said Nathan Hamilton, from Writers' Centre Norwich.

"It can be in diary form - a regular update of what you're doing, what you're thinking and what you're imagining," he added.

Local authors contribute to the Norfolk Blog

Six Norfolk writers were involved with the project to give you inspiration for blogging.

"Blogging is a good way of letting out your thoughts and you get immediate gratification from seeing your work being instantly published for the world to see," said Nathan.

Here are a few examples of what people blogged on St George's Day 2009.

Favourite Place: Horsey Gap and Sea Palling - By PeterBarton

This picture is taken at my favourite part of Norfolk on the beach between Horsey Gap and Sea Palling. If Carlsberg had made beaches they would have made this one.

Favourite Place: Swaffham to Westacre - By Peter Wilson

The track from Swaffham to Westacre climbs a few hundred feet to a plateau of fields and woods, turning left as it descends into the valley of the River Nar.

From the turn the whole valley is laid out before you, from the ruins at Castle Acre in the east to Soigne Wood at the top of the hills opposite.

The Westacre church of St Peter, where generations of - among many others - Hamonds and Birkbecks are honoured, stands at the centre of one of the most beautiful views I know.

Favourite Place: Near the Nod Buoy by Teddy Maufe

One of my favourite spots is up by the Nod Buoy at the entrance to Norton Creek which flows through from Brancaster Harbour to Burnham Overy.

This creek separates Scolt Head Island from the coast and is a remote, magical place with huge open skies and calling sea birds.

Sheringham boating pond - by Mark Plummer
Sheringham boating pond is Mark Plummer's favourite place

Sailing there on an evening tide is the perfect antidote to 21st century stresses and the only concern is whether there will be enough wind to return home.

Favourite Place: Sheringham boating pond - By Mark Plummer

A picture of my favourite place, Sheringham boating pond.

Inspiration

Six Norfolk based (or concerned) authors were commissioned to produce some words, which depicts 'their Norfolk'.

In some cases it is a poem about a special place that inspires them, or a short story based on an experience they have had in Norfolk.

Lavinia Greenlaw

Lavinia Greenlaw has published three books of poems, most recently Minsk (Faber 2003), which was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot, Forward and Whitbread Poetry Prizes.

Lavinia is now professor of Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. Lavinia's Norfolk Blog is called 'Broad Water' and can be found on the Blogging Norfolk map at Hickling Broad.

Kevin Crossley-Holland

Kevin Crossley-Holland performs his Norfolk Blog - Wheel Of Norfolk

Kevin Crossley-Holland is a well-known poet and translator from Anglo-Saxon, a librettist, and a re-teller of myth, legend and folk-tale as well as a historical novelist for children.

Kevin's latest work, The Hidden Roads, is set partly in Norfolk.

Kevin's Norfolk Blog is called 'Wheel Of Norfolk' and can be located on the Blogging Norfolk map at Burnham Market in north Norfolk.

Simon Scarrow

Simon Scarrow is best known for his Eagle series of Roman Military fiction, set in the territories of the Roman Empire, covering the second invasion of Britain and the subsequent prolonged campaign. To date there are eight books in the series.

Simon finds Norfolk a great inspiration for writing and often takes himself away from his house and spends time thinking at Winterton-on-Sea.

For that very reason Simon's Norfolk Blog is called 'Winterton' and can be found on the map at Winterton-on-Sea.

Rachel Hore and DJ Taylor

Rachel Hore and DJ Taylor both live and work in Norwich. While DJ Taylor has lived in Norfolk most of his life, his wife Rachel was born and raised in London before moving to Norfolk.

The pair have numerous works published and he won the Whitbread Biography Prize in 2003 for his non-fiction book Orwell: The Life.

Their Norfolk Blog is called 'Road to Earlham' and can be found on the map by the University of East Anglia in Norwich.

Kathryn Skoyles

Kathryn Skoyles grew up in King's Lynn and now lives in Norwich.

Kathryn Skoyles performs her Norfolk Blog - Coming Home

Kathryn won an international writing competition in 1995 and an Escalator Award in 2007.

She completed her first novel, The Judgment of History, in 2005 and is currently working on her second, a historical crime novel provisionally entitled 'A Death of Little Consequence'.

Kathryn's Norfolk Blog is called 'Coming Home' and can be found on the map in King's Lynn.

Gervelie Kouloungou & Lisa D'Onofrio

Gervelie was born in the Republic of the Congo in 1995. She came to Norwich with her father as a refugee.

In 2008 she collaborated with two writers and an illustrator to produce a book about her experiences, 'Gervelie's Journey' (Refugee Diary).

Lisa D'Onofrio is an Italian-Australian living in Norwich.

She has worked in the community arts field for twenty years, was formerly the Literature Development Officer for Norfolk, and now runs a project which aims to encourage looked after children to enjoy reading and access libraries.





Americas Africa Europe Middle East South Asia Asia Pacific