From a new darts venue to an American-style chicken wing restaurant, here are five changes happening to Norfolk businesses in September 2024.
1) Lifeboat museum in Rocket House closes
A lifeboat museum in Cromer closed for repair and restoration work last weekend.
The RLNI museum shut its doors on Sunday ahead of controversial work planned for its home in Rocket House.
The seafront tourist attraction is named after the RNLI's most decorated crewmember, Cromer lifeboatman Henry Blogg.
North Norfolk District Council has committed £1m of funding to the major restoration project, which will see the Rocket House repaired and the museum's collection moved into specialist safe storage this autumn.
The museum is set to reopen in 2025 once repair and restoration are complete.
2) Chicken wing restaurant Top G Wings to open in Norwich
A new American-style chicken shop is coming to Norwich, specialising in freshly cooked wings with eight different flavours on offer.
Long-time friends Shaz Begg and Paul Stannard are gearing up to open Top G Wings at the end of September.
The pair opened their first restaurant in Mildenhall last year and are currently renovating and refitting 31 St Augustine's Gate which was previously home to Fra.kost Danish bakery.
The menu focuses on chicken wings and strips, with eight flavours on offer including Buffalo, Naga chilli and OG Southern, and also includes burgers, shakes and desserts.
3) Overstrand garden centre to close its doors
A much-loved local garden centre in a north Norfolk village is set to close its doors later this month.
Garden Centre Overstrand offers a wide range of indoor and outdoor plants as well as local produce and has a café on site.
Upon announcing its closure on September 20, the centre reduced all its prices by 50pc.
However, according to posts made by the centre on Facebook, there have been some problems that meant doors had to be closed early as customers flocked to pick up closing deal bargains.
4) ArrowHeadz darts venue opening in Norwich
A new darts venue with a bar, café and shop has opened on the ground floor of Castle Quarter, next to Putt Putt Noodle
After discovering the sport three years ago, Cameron Clarke became hooked on darts and "hasn't stopped playing since".
His passion for darts has continued to grow and following the sport's soaring popularity after Luke Littler's 2024 World Championship run, he decided to open ArrowHeadz.
The venue features three bookable dart lanes, each hosting up to four players at a time, with two of the boards having a state-of-the-art automated scoring system.
The venue is also hoping to run its own competitions and coaching workshops with the aim of creating an established team.
5) Blazing Padels to open a dedicated padel club in Reepham
Norfolk will soon have its first indoor padel club as Blazing Padels launches at Salle Moor Hall Farm.
It will feature state-of-the-art indoor courts, a café, curated social spaces and offer expert coaching.
Padel, a blend of tennis and squash, is one of the world’s fastest-growing sports.
The club will initially offer players the use of two indoor courts housed within a converted cow shed, allowing year-round play whatever the weather.
To build a community, Blazing Padels will offer social sessions, events and leagues for players to meet and connect.
It will open with a celebration launch day on September 29 offering visitors the chance to watch a demonstration game featuring members of the Great Britain Padel Team and have the opportunity to ‘beat the pros’.
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