Take in the natural splendour of Norfolk

There’s a beautiful image of the Norfolk countryside, of rolled up barrels of hay dotted about a golden field, perhaps dry, and lanes of clouds like cars stuck in traffic, a shadow in the corner either a refraction of light or the imminent sign that the heavens are going to open up.

It’s natural beauty at its finest.

If you’re self catering in a holiday cottage in Norfolk, there are three countryside areas to choose from: The Brecks, the Fens and Thetford Forest.

The first two sound something like something out of Lord of the Rings, Hobbit-like.

“The Fens, they’re a rambunctious lot they are!”

“The Brecks don’t half know a thing or two about fashioning pots and pans out of clay.”

The Brecks cover a huge area that takes in museums, market towns, stately homes and for the debonair chap who has a taste for a good solid drink, a whisky distillery.

It is home to the UK’s largest lowland pine forest with a mélange of pines, multi-coloured heath lands and dry areas of sand and flint. Its variety of natural beauty is astonishing.

If The Brecks covers a huge area, The Fens cover, well, a gigantic area that encompasses several counties. It covers one million acres, which is genteel for saying, wow, that’s a whole lot of land alright.

The Fens have been dramatically altered by humans. Originally low-lying wetlands and marshlands, it is now known for its rich black soil and wildlife-friendly waters.

Thetford Forest at sunrise or sunset, when the sun scores a giant golden paintbrush all over the world, is a beautiful sight to relish greedily.

Located in the heart of East Anglia, the forest, full of a hotchpotch of pines, broad leafs and heathland is an excellent place for active souls, perfect for cyclists, walkers and horse riders.

With so much natural beauty, it may prove hard to drag yourself away and step back into a world of bricks and roads and traffic signs. In the meantime, forget about the noisy human constructs.

Health Resorts