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Great Yarmouth

The flashing lights and buzzing noises which blaze out from Great Yarmouth's amusement arcades illuminates the town's position as one of the country's top seaside resorts, but this brash façade overshadows the town's compelling history.

Now home to around 50,000 people, its location next to the sea has been its lifeblood for hundreds of years and led to it becoming England's fifth richest town during the 1400s.

The coast off Great Yarmouth was once one of the best places in the world to fish for herrings, but it was in Victorian times the town's standing as a holiday resort started to become as important as its fishing industry.

Today, the sea off Great Yarmouth is home to one of the country's biggest offshore wind farms, supplying energy to 41,000 homes. And a huge redevelopment of the town's outer harbour marks new investment in shipping and transport in the area.

Nelson, Norfolk's most famous son, has a strong association with the town. His battleship made a victorious return to the coastal resort after the Battle of Copenhagen. On South Denes you will find the town's Nelson Monument. Standing at 144ft high, the monument was erected in 1819, 24 years before the one in London's Trafalgar Square.