Facilities and things to do near Stanhoe

This list of local amenities is aimed mainly at visitors to Stanhoe. Don’t forget to look at the village calendar to see what’s going on in Stanhoe, visit the pub, and check out our travel pages for maps and walks.

The sidebar on the right also has some links to events and attractions throughout Norfolk.


Dogs

Well-behaved dogs are welcome in Stanhoe. The village has dozens of dog owners and many of the holiday cottages accept visitors’ dogs. However, please be responsible:

  • Make sure your dog does not chase livestock on Church Meadow or Chapel Field. Farmers get upset about this and may shoot offending dogs. Follow the Countryside Code.
  • Don’t allow your dog to foul roads and footpaths, including the Drove and Holgate, and the area around the Pit.
  • Dogs are not allowed on the playing field or the children’s play area.

Takeaway food

Stanhoe has no takeaway outlets, so for fast food you’ll have to look further afield. Our nearest takeaways are:

Docking Fish Bar

2.5 miles from Stanhoe
Traditional British fish and chips

High Street, Docking PE31 8NG
(on the right as you come from Stanhoe)
tel 01485 518 656
Open lunchtimes and early evenings
Closed Mondays

Panda Kitchen

4.5 miles from Stanhoe
Chinese food

Creake Road, Burnham Market PE31 8EA
(on the petrol station forecourt)
tel 01328 738 866
Open 17:00–23:00
Closed Tuesdays

The Mermaid Traditional Fish and Chips

4.5 miles from Stanhoe
Good chippie

Creake Road, Burnham Market PE31 8EA
(on the petrol station forecourt)
tel 01328 738851

Fakenham, Hunstanton and Wells have plenty of takeaways, and there are many local pubs and restaurants, including of course the Duck Inn in Stanhoe.


Shops

Basic groceries

Spar supermarket in Docking (2 miles W of Stanhoe). Turn right as you come into Docking, right again by the church, and watch the one-way system. 10 pm closing. Car park behind the store.

Londis supermarket in Burnham Market, (4.5 miles NE).

Small supermarket and Costa Coffee at the Construction Skills (CITB) college, Bircham Newton (2 miles S).

Larger supermarkets

Tesco and Morrison’s in Fakenham (9 miles SE); Tesco in Hunstanton (9 miles W).

Gifts, clothes and specialist food shops

Docking, a couple of miles west of Stanhoe, has a local produce market every Wednesday from 9.00 am to 1.00 pm. “Experience the taste of East Anglia and Norfolk,” say the organisers, “with real food, passionately produced locally, all year round, throughout the county and its borders.”

Burnham Market (“Chelsea-on-Sea”) for chi-chi shopping. Pentney House has affordable bits and pieces. Good food at the upmarket Hoste Arms. Traffic and parking can be horrendous in the summer.

Further afield

Fakenham (9 miles SE) is a pleasant if somewhat run-down market town with a reasonable selection of shops. King’s Lynn (18 miles SW) has all the main high street names. Norwich (38 miles E; 60–75 minutes’ drive) is a beautiful city with interesting small shops.


Post Office and postbox

Docking and Bircham are the nearest Post Offices to Stanhoe.

Stanhoe postboxes:

  • In the wall of the Old Post Office, on Burnham Road opposite the pond (collections Monday–Friday 4 pm, Saturday 10.15 am)
  • In the wall near Church Farm, on Bircham Road (collections Monday–Friday 4 pm, Saturday 10.15 am; very narrow slot)

Petrol

Petrol (gasoline) and diesel (gasoil) at Burnham Market (4.5 miles NE), and on the coast road at Burnham Deepdale.

Cheaper fuel at the Shell garage and Morrison’s supermarket in Fakenham (9 miles SE), and Tesco in Hunstanton (9 miles W).


Cycle hire

Quiet roads with few steep hills make north-west Norfolk a great place to cycle.

If you need to hire bikes, try Bircham WindmillHolkham Hall, On Yer Bike at Wighton or Wells Bike Hire.


Coal and firewood

If you’re here in the winter, Docking Spar supermarket and the garage at Burnham Market (see above) usually sell coal and smokeless fuel, kindling and firelighters.

Of the various local suppliers of logs, no-one seems to be offering small quantities at the moment.


Mobile phone coverage

Mobile phone coverage in Stanhoe is patchy but not generally too bad. Vodafone has traditionally given the best mobile service here (Talk Mobile uses the same network), though other networks seem to be catching up.


Internet access

Example (mid-2011) BT FON hotspot map

BT Wi-fi public wireless connections are widely available in Stanhoe, including at the Duck Inn (click the map for an up-to-date view – opens in a new window). They are free to use if BT is your Internet provider, though you have to sign up first. BT Wi-fi. Finding a signal within range may not be easy, however.

As of March 2019 a few houses in Docking Road have fibre broadband. Elsewhere, Internet speeds are limited to 3–5 Mbit/s at best.

3G mobile coverage in Stanhoe is poor or non-existent (see above).

Community Information Points (CIPs) at Docking, Burnham Deepdale, Ringstead and Snettisham offer Internet access. Check opening hours. Wireless and laptop connections may not be available.


Seaside

Good coastal walks at Titchwell RSPB reserve, Thornham and Burnham Overy Staithe.

Traditional seaside activities at Hunstanton, including a bowling alley and a funfair.


Rubbish disposal and recycling

Refuse (black) bins and recycling (green) bins are each emptied every two weeks, on alternate weeks – see our calendar, but note that the collection day for Cross Lane and Bircham Road is Wednesday, whereas it is Tuesday for the rest of the village. The small food waste bin (grey) is collected every week.

The green bin takes a wide variety of recyclable waste, including glass, plastic food trays, yogurt pots, clean aluminium foil, plastic bottles of all kinds, and paper of all kinds, including cards and window envelopes.

Docking Recycling Centre is conveniently sited about a mile (2 km) from Stanhoe. It takes a wide variety of refuse and material for recycling, including household and garden waste, clothes, shoes, batteries and engine oil. The Recycling Centre is open on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. Opening hours are 9.00–17:00 (1 April–30 September), 9.00–16:00 (1 October–31 March). The site closed at the end of 2015 as a result of council cuts, but is due to re-open on 1 May 2016.

Google map showing Docking Recycling Centre

If you need to dispose of rubbish when the Docking site isn’t open, the next nearest recycling centre is in Chalk Pit Lane, Heacham:

Google map showing Heacham Recycling Centre


Sports

Public swimming pool at the Construction Skills college, Bircham Newton (2 miles S). Check opening times first.


Playground

Behind the Reading Room is a well-equipped play area for children. Do come along and use it if you are in Stanhoe on holiday or staying with friends. No dogs in the play area, please.


Cinema

Our nearest picture house is the charming 1930s Central Cinema in Fakenham.

Stanhoe Village Screen organises monthly movies in the Reading Room.


Public transport

Stanhoe has a weekday bus service to and from King’s Lynn in the form of the Go To Town service run by West Norfolk Community Transport. During term time you can also grab a morning school bus to Burnham Market and Wells.


Other places to visit

To find out what’s on locally, visit the listings pages of the official Norfolk tourism website.

For information about the north Norfolk coast, try the Norfolk Coast Partnership.