Local Teessider Shares the Best Places to Visit in Norton
When you want to know where to go...you ask a local
EAT AND DRINK
Start your day with a brew or bake (or both) from the village’s dog-friendly Rounton Coffee outpost – their iced drinks for summer are proving a hit too. For something a little more filling, try the eggs Benedict at La Porto Italiano. Meanwhile the village bakeries and butchers have lunch covered. Blackwells of Norton has been the heart of the village for more than 50 years – and their famously mouth-watering pies are a must-try (you can stock-up on your barbecue essentials here too). Those with a sweet tooth will be spoilt for choice at Bluecorn Bakery, thanks to their freshly-baked cakes. If a classic sandwich and scone is more to your taste, the village’s leading cafés (Café Maison and Café Lilli) will be calling your name. You may not be by the coast, but a seafood supper always hits the spot and Norton Fisheries (one of the oldest fish and chip takeaways in the North East) serve the best of this British favourite. When in Teesside, the classic chicken ‘parmo’ is a given – find yours at The Open Jar (who also serve Instagrammable frozen cocktails). For sumptuous sourdough pizza and charcuterie book a table at Scrann, enjoy contemporary Asian delicacies in the underground restaurant Banh Mi, or dine on light bites in the sun on the The Scruffy Duck’s terrace.
Norton’s salons each promise luxury. Victoria Bainbridge’s stylists will transform your hair while Norton Cosmetic Clinic’s ZO skin health experts can talk you through advanced aesthetics with award-winning technology and offer permanent makeup, LVL lashes, gel pedicures and a range of eyelash and brow packages. Men should head to Norton Glebe to find their new style in The Barber Shop.
BROWSE
Home to Hugo & Elliot Bridal, the village’s own cobbler and a photography studio, Norton’s high street has a little bit of everything – but it’s the homeware we love most. Peridot’s wall accessories and soft furnishings are worth a peek, and they sell furniture too. For exotic and exciting houseplants Wild The Plant Shop is the place to be, and you never know what you’ll discover in Baileys Vintage Supplies. Norton also makes gift-giving easy with beautiful bouquets from The Green Florist, adorable baby wear from Ebony Baby Boutique and everything you need to celebrate any occasion at Sonia’s Balloons Cards and Gifts.
Read more: The Yorkshire Town by the Coast with a Thriving Foodie Scene
A trip to Norton isn’t complete without lounging by the duck pond. It’s a sun-trap in summer, the ducks are charming, and a new, high-jet floating fountain with white LED lights has recently been installed. That’s just over the road from St Mary’s Church (the only cruciform Anglo-Saxon church in Northern England). When the church floor was renovated, Saxon remains and artefacts were discovered in the tunnel underneath. At the other end of the high street you’ll find the Victoria Jubilee Memorial Cross, an Anglian-style cross which commemorates Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897. Sportsmen and women will want to take a look around Norton Sports Village, home to Norton Sports Charity (one of the largest independent providers of sport, social and event facilities in the North East). Then head to Gravel Hole for a summer stroll. It was quarried until the late 1960s, and then became the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust’s first nature reserve. Today it’s a thriving habitat for birds and butterflies, and is dotted with orchids in summer.
