Better than Brighton (Picture: flickr/great yarmouth council/shutterstock/rex)

Lifelong residents of my cheap-and-cheerful seaside hometown are no strangers to mockery.

But visitors to the ‘Blackpool of East Anglia’ surely know we get the last laugh.

7 reasons the Isle Of Wight is a great place to live

Fine medieval churches, glorious oceanic vistas, diverse vape shops.

Complaints about normal urban problems – house prices, overpopulation, air pollution – are so rare here, they can be counted on the fingers of one hand.


And no, that definitely isn’t an incest joke.

So what’s so ‘Great’ about living here?

1. The beach

Yarmouth beach is stunning.

Fifteen miles of soft sandy bliss, far superior to the treacherous cobbles of self-styled hipster resorts such as Brighton.



Keep your douchebag pop-ups – we’re off to build a sandcastle.

2. We invented fish fingers

(Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The nutritional linchpin of divorced men, lazy parents and skint students alike was devised by a Great Yarmouth factory worker in 1955.

True to form, Brighton stole our thunder by hosting the official launch event later that same year.

Bastards.

3. The Golden Mile

Fairground rides, fruit machines and donkey derbies.

Crazy golf, ice cream cones and classic car shows.

Basically Las Vegas, without the nagging feeling you’re forking over money to the Trump family.

4. Our famously accessible broads

Enjoy Norfolk’s well-known fondness for pleasure craft.

Fear not – our broads are extremely shallow.

Rubber rings optional, but highly advisable.

5. Literary pedigree

In the 18th century, Daniel Defoe gushed that our seaside hood was ‘infinitely superior to Norwich’

Charles Dickens based much of his classic David Copperfield here.

And literature’s foremost dark horse, Black Beauty, was created by Great Yarmouth native Anna Sewell, whose childhood home still stands.

6. Architectural gems

This wooden rollercoaster (above) is the last of its kind still operational anywhere in Britain.

Our Hippodrome is the UK’s only permanent circus building, boasting one of just three circus rings worldwide that can be filled with water.

Great Yarmouth Minster is the largest parish church in England – despite a rival claim from (surprise, surprise) Brighton, who pedantically insist their St Bartholomew’s is the ‘tallest’ parish church.

7. Civic pride

(Picture: Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

Our 13th Century market square is among the largest in Britain, and a national centre of excellence in the field of gooey carbohydrates.

Every Wednesday throughout the summer, the council treats us to a free fireworks display, with live music outside the Sea Life centre.

Horatio Nelson grew up near here, so we have our own Nelson’s column, completed 24 years before the one in Trafalgar Square (suck it, London).

8. Showbiz!

Following several fires and a mishap with a schooner, Britannia Pier is today so tragically short it stops just shy of the sea.

But its popular theatre still hosts sell-out performances from big name Jimmys such as Carr (above), Tarbuck and Davidson.

Not to mention Abba, Elvis and the Beach Boys.*

*tribute acts

9. It’s getting better

Hotels and restaurants have improved vastly, now TripAdvisor holds feckless owners’ feet to the flames.



That funny bloke who does the puppet show opposite Wetherspoon was attacked, but a local crowdfunding campaign got him back on his feet in time for an appearance on Britain’s Got Talent.

Plus we have a Starbucks now.

Additional research by Sarah Hill.

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