It all began, naturally, with an incident involving mashed sweet potato and her one-year-old son’s ear. When Bella leaned down to clean it up with a spray of cleaning fluid so chemically overpowering it made her eyes water, a lightbulb moment followed: there had to be a better way. And so, there in her kitchen – the place all the best businesses take root – Norfolk Natural Living was born.
But in truth, the seeds were sown years earlier. Bella had long been drawn to aromatherapy, noticing how scent can anchor memory (nothing summons the past quite like smell), lift moods and instil a sense of wellbeing. Turns out she wasn’t alone. Today, Norfolk Natural Living has eight shops across Norfolk (including Wells-next-the-Sea and Holt), Suffolk (Aldeburgh, Southwold and Woodbridge) and London (Columbia Road and Lamb’s Conduit Street). Its rise has been stratospheric – something we put down not only to the products, but to Bella herself, whose warmth and likeability shine through her weekly missives to an ever-growing legion of disciples.
As its name suggests, Norfolk is the bedrock from which everything else has followed – and here, Bella guides us around her very favourite spots in this North Sea-licked land of big beaches and even bigger skies.
For someone who’s never been to Norfolk before, what’s the first place you’d take them to make them fall in love with it and why?
Brancaster Beach. It works in about thirty seconds. The sand goes on forever the skies are enormous and constantly showing off and you immediately understand why this is Turner Country. Turner basically looked at Norfolk and thought yes, I will paint this forever. Those skies were actually the starting point for my En Plein Air perfume because I wanted to bottle the feeling of light racing across the landscape. Bright bergamot and lemon fizzing away with muguet and then a warmer hum of amber-pink pepper and elemi. It is that early morning moment when the dew catches the light and everything looks suspiciously perfect and slightly unreal.
If you only see one thing in Norfolk, make it ___ because ___.
Our perfumeries in Wells-Next-The-Sea or Holt, because you will leave smelling fantastic and wondering why you do not smell like this all the time. Then you realise that you can.
What’s your favourite place in Norfolk that most visitors don’t know about but absolutely should?
Weybourne Beach, which feels like a very good secret. At first glance it is all pebbles. But go at low tide and suddenly there is sand that stretches out for miles – and not another single human being. On a hot day when the sun has warmed everything, it feels almost glamorous, which is not something you expect from the North Sea and therefore makes it even better.
Describe your perfect Norfolk day from morning to night. Where are you and what are you doing?
Morning starts with one hundred jumps to wake myself up – and prove I am still alive – whatever the weather. Then excellent coffee and the paper. I’ll usually head into Holt and visit our perfumery to say hello and smell everything. Then there will be a potter around the Holt Bookshop with the children, followed by a hopeful browse in the Spotted Tiger in Holt, where I convince myself that one day I will own the yellow sideboard they have in there. God, it’s beautiful. Lunch is at The Dun Cow, which never ever lets you down. Then a long walk on the beach collecting shells, skimming stones and having Very Big Thoughts. A visit to PinkFoot Gallery in Cley-by-Sea, followed by cake from Picnic Fayre because culture without cake is joyless. The day ends collapsed in front of the fire at The Gunton Arms feeling smug and deeply content.
What’s your favourite walk in Norfolk and what makes it special at different times of year?
Holkham Beach, which absolutely counts as a walk and possibly several. You start beneath the pines and then suddenly everything opens out into sand and sky and scale, and you briefly feel like you are in a film. It is wild, cinematic and different every single time. It even inspired our Coastal Walks perfume, so I am emotionally invested. Nothing else quite competes.
Which three shops in Norfolk do you always find an excuse to visit and what do you love about each?
Our Norfolk Natural Living perfumeries in Holt and Wells-next-the-Sea because they smell wonderful, feel instantly calming, and everything is handmade just down the road in King’s Lynn, which somehow makes it even nicer. Red Dot Gallery in Holt is dangerous, because it is always full of something I suddenly decide I NEED. And if I find myself pottering around Norwich, which I do far more often than I should, I cannot not go into The Garnet - excellent coffee and even better gifts. And for clothes, Atwin is gorgeous and deeply tempting in that just one look sort of way.
Where do you go when you want a really good no fuss lunch or coffee and what makes it special?
Coffee at Two Magpies in any town (there are several across Norfolk and Suffolk, notably in Holt and Blakeney). Lunch at Sculthorpe or The Ship at Brancaster. Relaxed, quietly stylish and the food is excellent, which is frankly all anyone wants.
And where do you go when you’re celebrating something or showing Norfolk off to friends?
The Gunton Arms every time. My best friends had their joint fortieth there and it was one of those weekends that sets an unhelpfully high bar for all future celebrations. Everyone stayed. The rooms are beautiful thanks to Robert Kime. The food is heavenly. The sitting rooms encourage dancing, laughter and minor chaos. Add the deer park and artworks scattered through the grounds, and everyone leaves happier than they arrived.
Where do you go in Norfolk for a real culture fix and why does it matter to you?
Wolterton Hall for its glorious art exhibitions and Mannington Hall for the book festival which is always brilliant. I saw Adam Buxton there last year and he was hysterical. I love that Norfolk delivers culture confidently and without any fuss.
Is there a place in Norfolk that feels especially yours somewhere you return to again and again and why that spot?
The sea. Always the sea. It resets everything immediately and reminds you that whatever you were worrying about probably does not matter.
What do you think people get wrong about Norfolk and what’s the reality?
People think Norfolk is sleepy which is completely wrong. The food scene is excellent. Eric’s Fish and Chips is legendary, and his pizza toppings are inspired and slightly unhinged in the best way. There are brilliant fashion brands like Yarmouth Oilskins and Carrier Company, all made locally and beautifully. And there are endless wild swimming spots, if you enjoy cold water and questioning your life choices.
Complete this sentence. If you really want to experience Norfolk properly you should ___.
Get stuck behind a tractor and stop fighting it. Breathe. Look at the hedgerows and long grass. Notice the road sign politely telling you to ‘slow you down’ and finally take the hint. You feel instantly better for it.
