Aylsham

 

A proper old-fashioned market town, full of hearty goodness and encircled by delightful countryside

Celebrated by the Sunday Times as one of the Best Places to Live in the UK 2019,Aylsham is Norfolk’s quintessential market town with beautiful architecture, a strong sense of heritage, bustling town centre and real community ethos.  And as the Sunday Times put it: “A cracking community with affordable house prices. Amen to that!”

Aylsham

Aylsham is just nine miles to the north of the bustling city of Norwich and is within 15 minutes of the Broadland Northway, meaning easy access to employment hotspots such as the Broadland Business Park area, Norwich Research Park, the UEA, the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and the newly established Food Enterprise Park.

Aylsham benefits from:

  • Cittaslow Status – international recognition of towns where quality of life, sustainability, the environment, local produce and community is important. It is one of just five towns in England to receive this accolade.
  • A historic market place acting as a community hub for the town @AylshamMarket ‏: “there’s a market on Mondays and Fridays, a farmers’ market, a slow food movement and a food festival every October, as well as a sizzling new event, the Big Norfolk Sausage Bash, in aid of local charities.”- Sunday Times
  • An ‘Outstanding’ local infant/nursery school, John of Gaunt School, plus a handful of other ‘good’ local schools.
  • Bus services operating in the town with regular routes to Norwich, North Norfolk and the coast.  An hourly train service from London to Norwich meets with the local train service to Hoveton and Wroxham station
  • ‘Easy on the eye’ countryside within easy access of the town, including the Blicking Estate; Mentioned in the Domesday Book, and the birthplace of Anne Boleyn, and Felbrigg Hall situated in landscape parkland with a lake, 211 hectares (520 acres) of woods and waymarked trails.
  • An outstanding network of cycle routes around the area and the Sustrans Regional Cycle Route 33 runs from Cromer to Aylsham.  Alternatively, if you are riding from Norwich, take the 26 mile Marriott’s Way to Aylsham, a safe off-road route for all the family.
  • Other family favourites include:Redwings Horse Sanctuary, home to horses, donkeys and the Shetland ‘gangsters’; and the Bure Valley Railway that runs to Wroxham with stops at the villages of Brampton, Buxton and Coltishall. Find out more at www.discoveraylsham.org. @DiscoverAylsham ‏

 

Useful networks and support:

If you are considering a move yourself or your business to Aylsham or to its neighbouring towns or cities, here are some organisations that can help:

  • Aylsham Business & Enterprise Forum (ABEF) an integral part of the thriving Aylsham and district business community that works to support the economic development of the town.
  • New Anglia Growth Hub: Offers a range of business support services from hundreds of sources. The hub’s service is free and impartial and can help you access grants, finance, start-up support, international trade support and other specialist advice from single point of contact.
  • Anglia Capital Group:a group of Angel Investors who invest in start-ups and early growth-stage businesses with innovative and potentially disruptive technology at their core
  • Norfolk Chamber of Commerce: Provide networking opportunities, share knowledge, offer business services, signpost to business opportunities and inspire innovative thinking to enable companies to do better business.
  • Invest East: a high-growth small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) business support programme for Norfolk and Suffolk, part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund. In first instance contact New Anglia Growth Hub and they can direct you to the right person for your needs.
  • Tech East: a not-for-profit membership organisation for East of England tech businesses