Norfolk Wildlife Trust will mark
Norfolk Day – the annual celebration of all that makes our county great – with a
Family Day celebration including free entry to the marshes and free activities.
Norfolk Day occurs annually on 27 July. It is a day to celebrate everything that’s wonderful and unique about our county. Nowhere is this more true than at
NWT Cley and Salthouse Marshes, the nature reserve named by Sir David Attenborough as “one of the great places in Britain to see wildlife”.
Not only was it the first nature reserve of Norfolk Wildlife Trust more than 90 years ago, but it is also the first nature reserve of any wildlife trust in the UK. Since 1926 Norfolk has been leading the way in conservation and protecting wildlife.
Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s new monthly Family Days, which will begin on Norfolk Day and then continue on the first Sunday of every month, offer free entry to the marshes for families, plus free afternoon activities in the Simon Aspinall Wildlife Education Centre. The aim is to encourage more children to explore the nature reserve and see its wildlife close up.
The Bradbury family, who volunteer with Norfolk Wildlife Trust at Cley, will be in a hide on the reserve 10.30am till 12.30pm to welcome families and show them the wildlife. Our child volunteers are really popular with younger visitors, as they talk about wildlife and conservation in an inspiring yet approachable way.
Visitor Centre manager, Ewan Carr said: “Norfolk Day is a day of fun and a day to show how proud we are to live here, plus a day in which everyone is encouraged to get involved. We hope that by inviting families on to the nature reserve for free, it will begin a lifelong love of wildlife – what people love they will want to cherish and protect. We need children to care about our wildlife for it to have a future.”
Since its purchase in 1926, under Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s care the nature reserve has grown to become one of the best-loved birdwatching sites in Europe, visited each year by more than 110,000 people.
As well as a diverse events calendar it runs the
Cley Calling! nature and arts festival twice a year: welcoming artists, performers, naturalists and writers to celebrate north Norfolk and people’s connection to the wild.