Exploring Nature in Norwich

The city inside a national park

Norwich is constantly surprising me with the ways it is so unique. It has medieval architecture and winding cobblestone streets as well as modern contemporary buildings, and a large presence of nature that is unusual for a city. Due to the natural features in the entire Norfolk region, Norwich is a city inside a national park.

Norfolk Broads

The Norfolk Broads are a network of rivers and lakes that run through the Norfolk and Suffolk region containing Norwich. They are the UK's largest wetland giving the region it's national park status. Norwich being located inside Norfolk, many of the broads, like the River Wensum pictured above, cut through Norwich and even the base of UEA's campus. Not only are these water features beautiful to look at, they create homes for many species of wildlife, and they allow for boating, paddle boarding, and kayaking in certain places. I personally just found the presence of nature to be so calming and a comforting reminder of home.

UEA trails

There are numerous trails on UEA's campus, each a different length and a different view. I would often see students, faculty, and community members biking, walking their dogs, running, or just going for a leisurely stroll on the trails. My favorite trail was the Yare Valley trail because I would usually see swans swimming in the river and it was the perfect length to energize and invigorate me. Walking along the trails you may find art sculptures created by students which can turn into a nature art walk or scavenger hunt.

Because UEA's campus was built far enough away from the city centre (about a 20 min bike ride) it enabled them to build one large campus that was connected like a mini city instead of broken up and scattered throughout like a typical city campus. This also allowed them to keep the natural features of Norwich and incorporate enormous portions of land free of buildings for rabbits to roam and students to play football, have a picnic, go for a walk, or just be in nature.

After consistently seeing rabbits around campus I understood why they chose the rabbit to be the UEA mascot. Other than the myriad of rabbits I would also see various species of birds flying around and landing in the trees. I loved how often I would hear the birds singing, it seemed like they were always up. I remember walking back to my flat from the LCR at 2:00am and hearing the birds sing.

You get the best of both worlds at Norwich with the city and the presence of nature all around.