Terrible that we had to pay full price when not all activities where available and building was in progress. The service in the cafe was awfull ordered food and drinks, coffee was cold and the staff forgot the food order mayhem in the front of house, refused to serve, food hot when requested. And did not know how to do refund for refused food order as it was forgotten and took ages for them to realise (after i had to remind them) not a good visit. A positive the gardens where lovely.

Visited the cafe only. Wasn’t made to feel particularly welcome as we stood at the counter waiting to be served. Two pieces of carrot cake was awful dry and stale as was my sons doughnut. Hot drinks were ok. Not at all busy and I can see why. Definitely won’t be returning any time soon

We were looking forward to returning to the gardens after several years absence but the visit didn't start well, when the Gardeners World membership 2 for 1 offer didn't apply to concessions, despite this not being stated in the booklet, as is the case for other sites we have visited. In the garden itself, some work has been carried out on the dykes, apparently to permit use by canoes, but this seems to have been at the expense of the plants. Very few candelabra primulas alongside the paths and wooden walkways, compared to the thousands that used to be there. Biggest disappointment was the boat trip to St Benet's Abbey. No cruise around South Walsham Broad to look for water birds or kingfishers, just a straight course across the broad to the dyke that connects to the River Bure. Upon reaching the Bure, there was a brief mention of St. Benet's Abbey history while the boat was turned around and in less than a minute we were heading back down the dyke to the gardens. Apart from a glimpse of the mill tower, we saw nothing of the abbey ruins themselves .

Well after reading their brochure we visited this woodland with high expectations but very sadly these expectations were quickly extinguished after we had paid an extortionate amount of nearly £60 for 6 adults and 2 children. There was very little to see in the woodland apart from trees and drab walks with poorly maintained paths and old wooden walkways which had seen better days. There was even a warning cone to show a piece of the walkway which had given way and was a danger to kids. Quite a few of the paths were taped off, there was supposed to be music in the park which we were told was cancelled and the boat trips were cancelled as well. As far as wildlife goes I saw three butterflies on the butterfly walk, an odd dragon fly here and there and not a single bird to be seen from the bird hide. The only highlight was probably the view of the broads but there was not even a single boat sailing on it. So overall very under whelming especially for the two young children who love the outdoors.