West Norfolk
Picture the scene; A dark (and somewhat dismal), frosty January evening in Burnham Market. I notice that the bar of The Hoste Arms is bustling, as is mostly the case, and am greeted by General Manager Emma Tagg.
Outside view of The Hoste Arms at night.
Walking across the car park towards the Zulu Wing, one notices candles, and sees the illuminated sign for The Beauty Spa, the latest feather in an already very prestigious cap.
Approach to the Hoste Spa at night.
Upon entering one becomes aware of a harpist (Xenia Horne). Very talented she later plays Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars (I think thats what it was) by request. Beautiful.
Harpist Xenia Horne.
Tonight is the official opening of The Hoste Beauty Spa, the fruit of a vision conceived by Jeanne Whittome as she sat in the then boardroom, which doubled up as her design studio. This vision was shared by Jeanne’s Husband, the late Paul Whittome, founder of The Hoste Arms, and while he sadly did not live long enough to see the dream realised, you can be sure that he would be very pleased and proud of the result.
Glamourous and slickly designed, the Spa is part work-of-art, part state-of-the-art. As we’ve come to expect from The Hoste and anything associated with it (Vine House, for example), it is, quite simply, dazzling.
Entrance down to the Spa.
Utilising local businesses wherever possible (something Jeanne and Paul always tried to do), work to convert the boardroom and Paul’s office began in October 2010.
Tonight, one could not imagine the space being anything else. The Spa houses 3 treatment rooms (one a double treatment room with a shower), a spray tan room, 2 pedicure stations, 2 manicure/nail stations and an eyelash/ear-piercing station. Outside the Hoste Beauty Spa, Jeanne is creating a Japanese garden that will house a 6-seater hot tub. There will also be a relaxation area with loungers where clients can recline and dine during the summer months. We like.
Beauty Spa at The Hoste.
One perfect touch is that the room that is Paul’s former office (which no-one could bring themselves to sit in and still always referred to it as thus) is now ‘Shaka’ (‘King’ in Zulu), the largest treatment room.
Mother and daughter team, Janet and Ali Ficarra, will be heading a team of 7 therapists to run the Hoste Beauty Spa and provide a positively tantalising menu of treatments for the face, body and mind. Janet, Ali and their team have been providing in-room treatments at The Hoste for the past 3 years (a service that will still be available should guests request it).
The Hoste Spa Therapy Team (L-R Ali Ficarra, Angelino Ficarra, Janet Ficarra).
Treatments and products available at the Spa are by prestige beauty brands Clarins (loved the World over for their fabulous plant-based beauty and body products), Mary Cohr (an aromatherapy-based face and body range from Paris), OPI, Calgel, Xen Tan, Ionithermie Body Sculpture.
Detail from the Hoste Beauty Spa.
The Treatment Menu reads like a banquet of beauty (as you’d expect from a place that has an enviable reputation for excellent dining). Wonderfully, these calorie-free menu items won’t add inches to the waist. The Clarins Aromatic Balancer facial and Detox Body Wrap, LAVA Shell Massage (yes, with real shells) and special treatments for men and Mummies-To-Be are just a small selection of the pampering delicacies on offer. And, as with any menu, there’ll be frequent Specials. Definitely worth looking out for.
The Spa Treatment Menu.
Beautiful Bottoms, the award-winning lingerie line created by Jeanne’s daughter Lauren and her friend Poppy while at University, will be available at The Hoste Beauty Spa. For the launch night, model Sophie was showcasing pieces from the SS11 collection (launching officially in March), while Lauren looked on proudly. Beautiful Bottoms is also available in Norfolk at Anna (Burnham Market, Holt) and Mrs Jones (Holt)
Co-Founder Lauren (R) with Model Sophie in SS11 Beautiful Bottoms lingerie.
As champagne flowed and various guests enjoyed treatments, Television Presenter (and virtual member of the Whittome family) Anneka Rice cut the ribbon, marking the official ‘opening’ of the Spa.
Anneka Rice cuts the ribbon.
So there you are. After the bright lights and warm atmosphere, we emerged back into the crisp night (Clarins goody bag in hand).
Illuminated sign for the Spa.
Just when we though that the already much-acclaimed Hoste could not get any more marvellous, they go and build an on site beauty Spa, and in one fell swoop transform it into the ultimate North Norfolk retreat. Inspired.
Manicure station at The Hoste Beauty Spa.
The Hoste Beauty Spa is taking bookings now.
To find out more or to book your treatment visit www.hostearms.co.uk/Hoste/Beauty.asp or call 01328 737 022.
Launch night at The Hoste Beauty Spa.
Associations with Norfolk and food and drink are nothing new – from Colman’s Mustard to Cromer crabs to Woodfordes, we are a County that has long traded on the bounty grown from, or on, the land or harvested from the sea. Of course, groups whose main mission is to publicise locally produced foodstuffs from this region are no revelation either, they do exist in several guises. It seems, however, that there is a movement, a gentle rumbling – ever-so-subtle – that is elevating the image of fare that hails from Norfolk to beyond tasty and local, to downright desirable.
Seasonal local Produce - Asparagus & Strawbs!
Among others, one pioneer of this nouveau Food Culture movement is Sarah of Bayfield-based Bray’s Cottage Pork Pies. Highly successful in marketing her delicious pies throughout Norfolk and beyond, she is attracting attention from across the UK, which can only be good for Norfolk producers in general. Earlier this year she blogged about an experiment she called the ‘Norfolk Diet‘, whereby she consumed only local produce for an entire month. This idea of celebrating all that Norfolk has to offer produce-wise is now starting to develop into a fully-fledged phenomenon. Watch this space as they say.
Sarah from Bray's Cottage.
As if the stars are in the correct alignment for a new Norfolk foodie dawn, this year also saw self-taught, home-grown culinary talent Dr Tim Kinnaird reach the final three in the MasterChef competition. The attention that he has received for this achievement (only bound to grow as he consolidates plans to operate some sort of business in the area over the coming months – possibly a Pattisserie or similar) has also caused the spotlight to turn favourably towards Norfolk.
Dr Tim is in good company – Norfolk already has something of a reputation for hosting acclaimed (and celebrity) chefs – Delia, Galton, Kevin Mangoelle and Chris Coubrough to name but a handful.
Bray's Sarah & Dr Tim Kinnaird.
The coming months see two events (among others, including the regular Farmer’s Markets etc.) highlight all the goodness that the County has to offer in the way of cooking, food and the like;
Boudicca’s Feast at Dragon Hall in Norwich on Sunday 4th July is a festival highlighting regional food and drink from the Norfolk and Suffolk areas, the focus of which will be placed both on local food and drink as well as organic goods, sustainable goods, vegetarian food and ethnically diverse foods. The major aim of Boudicca’s Feast is to raise funds for Dragon Hall, but surely the added bonus of raising awareness and interest in locally produced fare can’t do any harm.
September sees an extended month-long Norfolk Food Festival take place at venues across Norwich and Norfolk. The aim is to draw attention to, and celebrate, our fantastic Norfolk food chain. Literally from the farm to the restaurants, via producers and chefs, this year promises to be the best festival ever. The now established ‘moveable feast’ and a planned pop-up cook-up in the former Disney Store in the Castle Mall are among the events taking place.
Timing is everything they say, and perhaps it is no coincidence that such a stirring is taking place as Norwich waits with baited breath to see if it will receive the honour of being named as the first UK City of Culture. Food and drink are an important – integral – part of any culture, and great bars, eateries and foodie outlets support any Cosmopolis worth it’s salt.
A quiet (well, for now) revolution is happening in Norfolk. Local food for local people. And for everyone else as well, of course (next stop: the World!). A Norfolk diet certainly beats the F-plan or one based on the juice of cabbages if you ask us… think less diet, more to die for…
Today was one of those perfect, largely unplanned days out that good memories in a lifetime are made of.
The weather was less-than-great (hail as we got in the car to set off, scattered showers throughout the day and a pretty much freezing wind in parts), but we hadn’t gone far from the house all weekend so come what may, for better for worse, we were ‘heading out’ today.
First plan had always been to visit the craft fair/May Day shenanigans at Bircham Windmill in North-West Norfolk. Small animals, tea-rooms, craft stalls, possible maypole dancing. Sounded like a country fete dream come true. Very wholesome. So, off we went. It was about 9.30am.
Now, call me dumb but I’ve never actually made the connection that windmills will be situated in reliably windy places. Its not that I don’t know this, I guess I’ve just never really thought about it before. Doh. Rocking up then to gale force winds (but, hey, the sails were turning – impressed Little Man) was slightly off-putting, but we were (on the whole – save for a pair of very ill-advised three-quarter length trews – me) dressed warmly, so arctic winds would be no barrier to our fun today.
To summarise our Windmill visit – nice coffee & cake in the tea rooms, Little Man saw bantams, a chicken sitting on a ducks eggs in a guinea pig pen, rabbits, some recently born lambs, a horse and played on various play equipment. Some crazily-shaggy goats (we think they were goats) tried to eat OH, much to Little Man’s squealing delight. We wanted to get some of the delicious-looking cakes from the on-site bakery, but the queue was huge so we decided to get while the going was good and seek out somewhere slightly less exposed for our picnic.
New born lambs at Bircham Windmill.
Driving up the road to Snettisham Park Farm, we aborted the exercise before even crossing the threshold as the heavens opened. OH suggested we traverse the county and try to ride the North Norfolk Railway in Sheringham. Too tired to protest or think of a better suggestion, the plan was cemented.
En-route we stopped at Holkham Hall to change Little Man (we’ve used the boot of the car before, but its not really preferable). We saw lots of Holkham deer, had to drag LM kicking and screaming (basically) away from the tractor/bygone exhibit and ended up eating our picnic in the car (owing to weather conditions) in the grounds of the hall. There are worse views to accompany a packed lunch.
Onwards to Sheringham via just about every mid-Norfolk village, byway and B-road (OH blamed the navigator, but actually it was quite pleasant – always nice to revisit some our Norfolk’s truly lovely little villages). At one point we ended up in front of somebody’s house having mistaken their (seriously ostentatious) private drive for a road. The getting lost-ness and the rubbish weather were ample fodder for jokes and mockery and all three of us laughed. A lot.
We arrived in Sheringham just as a train was leaving the historic station – no matter, another was due to leave in just under an hour. That gave us a bit of time to collect some drinks and snacks from Sheringham’s Sainsbury’s local (which was not very useful – hardly anything in it) for the hour-ish long journey (essential when travelling in a confined space with a toddler).
We were very lucky with the train and got a compartment all to ourselves. The journey via Weybourne afforded some wonderful views of the countryside (one side) and out towards the coast (other side). Brief stops at Weybourne and Holt station afforded OH and LM the opportunity to get off the train and watch the locomotive happenings as the engine transferred from the front to the back for the return journey. (Note – it is categorically not a train until the ‘engine’ has connected to the ‘set’ [of carriages] – pointed out to OH by a conductor who corrected him after hearing him explaining to LM).
View of the Coast from the North Norfolk Railway.
We arrived back at Sheringham at about 4.30pm and after very, very nearly opting for fish’n'chips, we decided that we could make it home in time for dinner and so called it a day.
Back home, Little Man could not stop talking about the ‘goats that tried to eat daddy’ or the ‘men on the train’ (the conductors). At his bedtime, we read the Thomas the Tank book we’d bought from the station souvenir shop.
These are politically charged and economically fearful times. Everything has to be bigger, faster, brighter and prefixed with an ‘i-’. Times, which, for us, also mean trying to balance running a small business in a tough climate with bringing up a happy child, oftentimes with far too little sleep. Despite this, days out like this still exist here in Norfolk to warm the soul and lift the spirits, long after the last laugh has died away. Simple days, not linked to conspicuous consumerism, perfectly imperfect and retro in their simplicity. 8 hours together as a family, 125 miles of driving, one windmill, one stately home, one car-picnic, one steam-train ride and a total spend excluding petrol costs: £30. Memories made and family bonding increased (to borrow from a well-known advertising campaign): priceless.
Tickets for the North Norfolk Railway.
- 18/05/2012 - Victorian Shell Artistry May 18, 2012
- 18/05/2012 - Shipwrecked! Back to 1897 May 18, 2012
- 18/05/2012 - A Walk Through Time: The Victorians May 18, 2012
- 18/05/2012 - Norwich 20 Group – Looking into 20 – paintings and sculpture at The Forum May 18, 2012
- 18/05/2012 - Tony Foster Paintings/Angela Harding Prints May 18, 2012