Hallie Taylor

Caprinos Pizza has opened a new branch at 8 Dereham Road in Norwich, celebrating with a free nine-inch pizza giveaway for walk-in customers and discounts of 50% from August 19–20 and 25% from August 21–23. Co-founders Gul Nawaz and Khalil Rehman said the store, operated with a local franchisee, aims to become a valued local business. The menu includes several established pizzas as well as the chain’s newer Detroit-style format and flavours such as Chorizo Legend and Hot Honey Pesto.

Menkind will open a new store at Castle Quarter in Norwich on August 19, returning to the city after its previous Chantry Place location closed in 2023. The retailer will sell novelty gifts, technology gadgets, collectibles, licensed merchandise and hobby-focused products aimed at both children and adults. Menkind managing director Gary Wakeman highlighted the company’s growth and demand for collectibles, while Castle Quarter manager Rob Bradley welcomed the store as a complementary addition to the centre’s retail offering.

A Grade II listed 17th-century riverside cottage in Old Costessey, near Norwich, is on the market through Sowerbys for £750,000. The property includes about four acres of land, private river frontage, four bedrooms, preserved period features, mature gardens, outbuildings, a double cart shed, a garage, a fishing hut and a shepherd’s hut.

Cash Converters has opened a new branch on St Stephens Street in Norwich, taking over a former YMCA charity shop that had been vacant since April of the previous year. The store was initially described as a relocation of the chain’s St Benedicts Street branch, but the company now hopes to keep both locations operating. It buys and sells second-hand phones, laptops, jewellery, gaming consoles and musical instruments, adding to recent retail activity in the area.

Cash Converters is relocating its Norwich store from St Benedicts Street to a long-empty unit on St Stephens Street, formerly occupied by a YMCA charity shop. The new premises are expected to open within a few weeks after fitting out, while the existing store remains open. The retailer sells second-hand phones, laptops, jewellery, gaming consoles, musical instruments and other goods, paying customers on the spot.

Five Norfolk bakeries are highlighted for attracting customers, winning awards and supporting the vitality of local high streets. Mabel Bakery in Downham Market is praised for its award-winning sourdough, seasonal bakes and community events; The Tudor Bakehouse is recognized for traditional products and National Bakery Awards success; White Horse Bakery in Holme-next-the-Sea is noted for organic sourdough and viennoiserie; Two Magpies Bakery is described as a popular multi-site destination for baked goods and meals; and Norwich’s Devecchio is celebrated for its creative small-batch breads, pastries and cruffins.

Air traffic control staff at Norwich Airport will begin industrial action from August 17, including working to contract and withdrawing goodwill, in a dispute over pay and parental leave. Prospect is seeking a 10% pay rise and enhanced maternity and paternity benefits, while Norwich Airport Ltd has offered 3% increases for 2026 and 2027. The action could force the airport to close because operations rely heavily on overtime; 78% of union members backed a full strike and all supported action short of a strike.

A two-bedroom apartment in the Grade II* listed Whitlingham Hall near Trowse is on the market through Sowerbys for £625,000 to £650,000. The Elizabethan-style mansion apartment includes a south-facing private terrace, access to about seven acres of landscaped grounds with a lake and orangery, original architectural features, two bathrooms, allocated parking and gated underground garage parking.

Five Norfolk pubs are highlighted for their connections to television productions: The Greyhound Inn in Swaffham appeared as the Startled Duck in Kingdom; The Bell Inn in Thetford hosted Dad's Army cast members; The Ox and Plough in Old Buckenham was renamed the Black Lamb for The Chemistry of Death; the Maid's Head in King's Lynn featured in Unforgotten; and Norwich's Bell Hotel appeared in the background of Monty Python's Flying Circus.

A pedestrian was struck by a small dark blue or grey car, possibly a Ford Ka, in a supermarket car park off Blue Boar Lane in Sprowston between 12:55pm and 1pm on Tuesday. The male driver left without stopping, while bystanders checked on the pedestrian. Norfolk Constabulary is appealing for witnesses and dashcam footage, citing reference number 1788166.

Martha Goddard, 51, was found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court of six counts of criminal damage and one count of making an explosive substance after a series of thermite attacks on two Starbucks cafes, a McDonald's in Haymarket, Norwich, and BBC studios between March and July 2025. Pro-Palestinian posters criticizing the BBC and Israel's war in Gaza were left at the scenes. Fingerprints, CCTV footage and clothing recovered from Goddard's home helped identify her. She was acquitted of attempted explosion charges and offences linked to an attack on the Tacolneston transmitting station, and is due to be sentenced on 16 October.

A 400-metre boardwalk along the River Yare near the University of East Anglia is expected to reopen in 2027 after closing in January 2024 over health and safety concerns linked to increased visitor numbers. The university is leading a funded redesign that will widen the path, add passing places and seating, improve signage, reshape a pond and install an educational dipping platform, using durable recycled composite materials.

Norfolk is presented as a strong destination for holidays with dogs, offering beaches, countryside, waterways, pubs, cafés and accommodation that welcome pets. Recommended bases include Thornham, Holt, the Norfolk Broads around Wroxham and Hoveton, Norwich, and Sandringham with its surrounding villages. Each destination is paired with dog-friendly places to stay and eat, plus walking routes such as Thornham Beach, Holt Country Park, the Bure Valley Path, Whitlingham Country Park and Sandringham’s extensive parkland.