Festival delights in the East

NEXT year’s Norfolk & Norwich Festival runs from May 12 to May 28. Theatre, contemporary circus, music, dance, visual art, and cinema are in the programme of one of England’s largest international arts festivals.

www.nnfestival.org.uk

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Green light for multimillion-pound Norwich Castle plan

THE HERITAGE LOTTERY FUND (HLF) has earmarked £9.2 million for a ‘Gateway to Medieval England’ project to create a major heritage attraction at Norwich Castle.

The castle has been awarded an initial HLF development grant of £462,400, which will identify essential repairs and conservation work and set out plans for the development. The project aims to show the keep as it appeared during the rule of the Norman kings.

Newly-exposed Norman archaeology and architecture will tell stories of the castle’s past and a ‘battlements experience’ will offer views of medieval and present-day Norwich.

A partnership with the British Museum will bring medieval treasures to Norfolk, displayed alongside artefacts from Norwich Castle’s own collection.

Robyn Llewellyn, head of HLF East of England, said: ‘Norwich Castle is one of Europe’s most spectacular medieval keeps and home to a wonderful historical collection. We are recognizing its potential by funding a range of plans to enhance the museum’s existing displays and creating a complementary British Museum Gallery of the Medieval Period.

‘We’ve earmarked £9.2 million for the project and will be working closely with Norfolk Museums Service over the coming months to help them produce a first-class visitor attraction.’

Building work is expected to start in 2018, with the revitalized keep being open to the public by 2020.

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Picture Credit: By Qmin - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35811649

Norwich Airport announces winter programme with new Flybe schedule

NORWICH AIRPORT has added holiday routes for Winter 2016 with new flights to Malaga and Alicante, plus a ski flight to Chambery in the French Alps, all of which will be operated by Flybe.

From October 31, Flybe’s winter schedule at Norwich will see the addition of two scheduled flights a week to both Alicante and Malaga, with a new Saturday service to Chambery commencing mid-December. These are in addition to its recently launched Exeter service through the winter months.

The Chambery link will be the first winter ski flight from Norwich since 2010.

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Norwich to Exeter … in 70 minutes

FLYBE has announced a 70-minute one-hour service between the Exeter and Norwich, the first route to be operated under the UK government’s Regional Air Connectivity Fund.

The route is part of the airline’s 2016 summer schedule, with a choice of six flights a week, operating daily except Saturdays. The service starts on March 24 and runs through the summer until October 28, 2016. Seats are on sale now at www.flybe.com, with one way fares from £17.49 including taxes and charges.

Commenting on the new service, UK Aviation minister Robert Goodwill said: ‘It is fantastic to see Flybe launch this new direct air service between Norwich and Exeter, offering significant journey time savings for passengers when it begins operations in time for Easter. Our smaller airports are vital engines for local economies, connecting the UK and opening up opportunities. That is why the government is backing new regional air routes to drive investment and boost growth across the country.’

Vincent Hodder, Flybe’s Chief Revenue Officer added: ‘Our direct cross-country route will take just 70 minutes, saving customers precious time by offering them the favourable option of not having to endure between five and seven hours in a car or on a train.’

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BMI beefs up Norwich-Aberdeen service

BMI REGIONAL is launching additional flights and a multiple purchase discount scheme on its Norwich-Aberdeen route. Capacity will increase to three flights daily while regular passengers can expect to save up to 40%.

From January 11, the airline will increase capacity on the route, moving from two to three daily return flights. Additionally, the airline is introducing ‘Flight Pass’, a multiple purchase discount scheme, offering regular travellers savings of between 10% and 40% on the base fare. It will enable regular passengers to achieve savings in excess of £1,000 by booking up to six return trips in advance. A sliding scale of discounts will see two return trips attracting a 10% discount while six return trips will attract the maximum 40% reduction.

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Free Wi-Fi in Norwich city centre; Mahler & Shakespeare in 2016

TOURISTS and shoppers in Norwich’s city centre can now access free Wi-Fi, after an £100,000 investment led by the local Business Improvement District (BID). Download speeds of up to 5MBs per second are available in some of the city’s key shopping areas, and the service will be expanded in the coming months.

Nick Bond, head of tourism at VisitNorwich, said: ‘Tourists increasingly expect to be able to access digital information on the go. Free Wi-Fi provided by the Norwich BID in the centre of the city helps visitors get the very best out of Norwich’s tremendous shopping, culture, heritage, and food and drink offer.’ 

Events in Norwich in 2016 include a Norwich Philharmonic performance of Mahler’s 8th symphony (May 21) at the Royal Norfolk Showground Arena, and the British Art Show (June 24-September 4) at Norwich University of the Arts and Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery. 

To mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, Maddermarket Theatre will be performing ‘Shakespeare at 400 mini festival’ (March-April), and Norwich Cathedral will host Shakespeare in the Cloisters (July 15-16).

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Up in the air ...

NEW for Norwich Airport … Flybe services to Alicante, Malaga, and Geneva. Year-round flights from Norwich to Alicante and Malaga will start in March next year, while the Geneva service is expected later in 2016.

UNITED AIRLINES is to introduce non-stop flights between Auckland, New Zealand and its San Francisco next July. Initially, the service will operate three times weekly, increasing to daily flights later in the year.

MANCHESTER AIRPORT has launched an online tool that allows members of the public to see flight and noise data collected by the airport’s aircraft noise monitoring and tracking system. WebTrak allows residents to see flight activity within 30 miles of the airport. Wendy Sinfield, airport community relations manager, said: ‘We recognize that aircraft landing and taking off can affect our neighbours. By making flight and noise information available on the internet, people can go online and use the system to find details of a particular flight (airline, aircraft type, and destination), locate their property on a map and calculate the height that the aircraft was flying above and the distance from their property and if they have a comment or concern about a particular flight they can report it to us using the system.’

HEATHROW’S chief executive John Holland-Kaye has called upon global leaders to take action to cut carbon emissions. He says Heathrow has achieved a Level 3 Airport Carbon Accreditation, which confirms the airport has ‘optimized’ its carbon footprint reduction by engaging with third parties when measuring and reducing its carbon footprint. Heathrow has committed to a further 34% reduction in CO2 emissions from energy used in buildings by 2020, as well as reducing CO2 from the airports vehicles.

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Eastern delights

THIS year’s Norfolk & Norwich Festival runs from May 8 t0 May 24. 

Theatre, contemporary circus, music, dance, visual art, and cinema are in the programme of one of England’s largest international arts festivals....www.nnfestival.org.uk

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Watch out, Christmas is coming!

Norwich Cathedral 
by Diliff  via Wikimedia Commons

2014 sees a new Christmas event and a Discover Norwich app, plus additional festive lighting which will be an extension of last year's modern filigree star-ball suspensions and cool blue uplighters in trees across the city.

The city will have a Christmas Tree Trail: Visitors will discover narrow streets and winding paths, cobbled hills and medieval alleys as they search for decorated trees following a Twelve Days of Christmas theme designed by local artists and schools. 

Jarrolds at Christmas
quintessentially Norwich
by Katy Walters via WikiMedia Commons

The Discover Norwich app will be provide an

• interactive city map, 
• event listings, and 
• directories by interest for shops, restaurants, bars, and accommodation.

www.visitnorwich.co.uk

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New routes for Loganair and BMI

LOGANAIR has increased the frequency of its Edinburgh-Norwich service. The carrier has started a double daily weekday service, adding a third rotation after the Easter holidays to provide a convenient business schedule. As an extra boost to passengers, a Sunday service will also be added, with Sunday frequency increasing to two flights during the peak summer season.

BMI Regional has launched a service from Newcastle to Brussels, the only direct flight between the NE city and the Belgian capital. The route is operated by a 49-seater Embraer jet aircraft twice daily Monday to Friday and on Sunday afternoons. A one-way, 75-minute flight costs from £80 (including taxes).

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