{"id":384990,"date":"2026-01-22T22:28:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T22:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/384990\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T22:28:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T22:28:07","slug":"5-reasons-to-visit-fakenham-after-brutal-tiktok-review-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/384990\/","title":{"rendered":"5 reasons to visit Fakenham after brutal TikTok review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n The men behind Towntickers, a TikTok duo on a quest to review every town in England, criticised Fakenham as a place with “zero atmosphere” after paying a visit on a quiet non-market day.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n A measly score of just four out of seven cemented the town, known as the “racing capital” of Norfolk due to its thriving horse racing scene, as among the worst in the county.\n<\/p>\n

\n Adding salt to the wound, TownTickers recently knocked down their score of the Fakenham to a measly three and a half out of seven.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n Here are five reasons why its farfetched to call Fakenham a “dead” town… as long as you’re willing to drive around and explore all its nooks and crannies.\n<\/p>\n

1. A diverse and thriving market<\/p>\n

\n There is a market in Fakenham every Thursday (Image: Newsquest)\n<\/p>\n

\n One of the biggest critiques of TownTickers’ review was the day they chose for their jaunt.\n<\/p>\n

\n The duo visited the town on a quiet non-market day, perhaps explaining why they did not see much excitement in the streets.\n<\/p>\n

\n One commenter, upon hearing the reviewers visited on a Saturday, said: “Fakenham comes alive on Thursday, when the market and auction room are open.”\n<\/p>\n

\n Another hit back by saying: “It’s not usually this quiet. Cannot judge on one visit. Come on a Thursday, it\u2019s brilliant.”\n<\/p>\n

\n While another simply said: “You picked the wrong day.”\n<\/p>\n

\n Perhaps unbeknownst to the reviewers, Fakenham Market boasts a plethora of traders every Thursday – selling everything from handbags to curry sauces.\n<\/p>\n

\n Highlights include Bronte’s Plants, Brian & Val Bric-a-Brac, Jake’s Kitchen and Aagrah Curry Sauces.\n<\/p>\n

2. Racecourse<\/p>\n

\n Fakenham is known as the “racing capital” of Norfolk (Image: Ella Wilkinson)\n<\/p>\n

\n The reviewers definitely missed a lively trick by skipping over the electric horse racing scene in Fakenham.\n<\/p>\n

\n Steeds have been galloping about the racecourse for more than 100 years, since 1905.\n<\/p>\n

\n Information about when you catch a race at the stadium can be found here.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

3. Quirky places to stay<\/p>\n

\n Sculthorpe Mill was named as the best hotel in the East of England by The Sunday Times (Image: Andrew Waddison\/AW P)\n<\/p>\n

\n Forget about a boring hotel or a bog standard Airbnb, because there are plenty of quirkier places to stay when in and around Fakenham.\n<\/p>\n

\n Off-grid spots include stargazing bell tents at Godwick Hall<\/a> and yurts in a wild meadow\u00a0at the Raynham Estate.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n There are also rooms\u00a0at Sculthorpe Mill, a historic pub inside a windmill that was built atop the River Wensum in 1757.\n<\/p>\n

\n The historic pub was even named as The East of England’s Best Hotel by The Sunday Times in 2021.\n<\/p>\n

4. Award-winning food and drink<\/p>\n

\n Sculthorpe Mill boasts a range of luxurious menu offerings (Image: AW PR)\n<\/p>\n

\n The north Norfolk region is no stranger to receiving accolades for its good grub.\n<\/p>\n

\n For starters, Sculthorpe Mill features in The Michelin Guide,<\/a> serving up luxurious meals such as confit duck leg, braised red cabbage, and duck fat potatoes.\n<\/p>\n

\n And for a more hands-on meal, the Fat Cow, which serves burgers and ice cream<\/a> from a trailer in a wildflower meadow\u00a0on the outskirts of Fakenham, is also a good choice.\n<\/p>\n

5. Explore nature at Pensthorpe<\/p>\n

\n Pensthorpe boasts an array of wildlife and even has a popular on-site caf\u00e9 (Image: Pensthorpe)\n<\/p>\n

\n Pensthorpe Natural Park, a wildlife haven on the Norwich side of Fakenham, is the perfect place to spend a day while staying in the town.\n<\/p>\n

\n It was once home to the BBC Springwatch series and boasts one of the largest collections of cranes in the UK.\n<\/p>\n

\n The on-site Courtyard Caf\u00e9 – which serves coffee, cake and snacks – recently underwent a \u00a31m renovation and is now cosier than ever for anyone in need of a sit-down during their visit.\n<\/p>\n

\n In December, the park even confirmed the presence of a wild beaver on its reserve, following several weeks of monitoring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The men behind Towntickers, a TikTok duo on a quest to review every town in England, criticised Fakenham…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384928,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1397,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-384990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}