Normal For Norfolk: The Truth Behind The Stereotypes

Incest, intergalactic racism , beings with disfigured bodies and six fingers and others covered head to toe in body hair.
Does anyone else think ”a galaxy far, far away” is actually Norfolk?

chloe lyons east anglia Norfolk norwich tab suffolk the tab norwich university of east anglia

Having been brought up in Suffolk, my choosing to study at UEA was an act of treason; the greatest betrayal.

I would be spending the next three years living in the northern realm of East Anglia, becoming a ‘Norfucker’.

After my three years are up I would return home with yes, a good degree (hopefully!) but also with an extra finger on each hand, after having gained a tribe of incestuous children with my long lost cousin/husband who only recently discovered electricity, and above all, an appalling accent.

The Wales of the East

But is there any truth to these Norfolk stereotypes? Was coming to the county capital, ‘Naarwich’ really our biggest downfall as students?

The phrase ‘Normal for Norfolk’ was first coined by doctors who used it as a derogatory term to describe patients that were more intellectually challenged, writing N.F.N in case notes for the next doctor to see.

It seems that these rumours about the Norfolkian people are deeply integrated into the perception of the county.

In 2006 Dr. Ian Gibson, MP for Norfolk North said: “I would imagine [high diabetes rates are] linked to the fact that people in Norfolk are quite inbred.

“If you look at the names in Norfolk, there’s a lot that are the same […] There is an in-breeding complex.”

Geographically yes, East Anglians are the least likely to migrate to other areas of the UK. But this doesn’t mean that they all inter-marry!

Maybe the people of Norfolk stay in the county simply because it’s a great place to live. It has beautiful countryside and coastlines, friendly people and a good sized county capital – Norwich.

So maybe if we started to see the phrase ‘Normal for Norfolk’ as a term of endearment things would change – I personally see it as proof of the ‘Norfucker’s’ ability to laugh at themselves and not take life too seriously.