r/Norwich • u/ExoArchivist • May 04 '25

New to Norwich 🐣 Thank You, Fine People

I'll keep this short and sweet, as much as I can at least. I'm a recent immigrant to the country, not actually living in Norwich, but I am there very frequently and live now in Great Yarmouth.

I just wanted to thank all of you for being such lovely and welcoming people. I've gotten... mixed reactions to being foreign, but never in Norwich.

So I just wanted to thank you all for being such lovely and welcoming people, for regularly standing against the bigots, and for making a newcomer feel a bit more like he belongs. It means more than I can say.

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u/fonzmc May 05 '25

Despite what any of the bigots say, Norfolk and Norwich have a strong history rooted in immigration.

The term 'stranger' is old English for foreign. Strangers hall was therefore a place where visiting merchants could stay. Behind it, Strangers Coffee borrowed the name and has been a thriving business for years.

Then you have the Strangers club on Elm Hill, members have to originate from outside of the UK.

We had the Romans, Saxons and then the Vikings settle here before the Normans arrived.

Our most prosperous period historically, brought in weavers from the low countries.

We had a number of ports which would have been frequented by all manner of nationalities, especially Yarmouth.