The East of England Region from Above

Top contributor Joshua Paul Gardner brings us this fantastic captioned drone video from England's North Norfolk Coast.  The video opens with a great shot of the Happisburgh Lighthouse, the oldest working lighthouse in East Anglia and the only independently owned lighthouse on the island of Great Britain.  Overstrand, Cromer Pier, Beeston Bump, Sheringham, the Poppy Line Railroad, Weybourne, Salthouse, Cley-Next-to-the-Sea, Blakeney, Stiffkey, Wells-Next-to-the-Sea, the Holkham Estate, Burnham Overy Staithe, and Old Hunstanton.

Here's an aerial dronelapse tour of two counties in the UK's East England region, which is (for these purposes) considered part of the greater Midlands region.  Suffolk and East Essex sit to the northeast of London, south of Norfolk, in a large piece of land north of the Thames River which protrudes into the North Sea.  Suffolk is the northern of the two counties.  Together with Norfolk, they made up the historical Kingdom of East Anglia, which merged with Wessex to form the Kingdom of England.   

A beautiful port on England's Norfolk Coast is the subject of this beautiful drone video by content creator and pilot Joshua Paul Gardner.  Wells-next-the-sea is now not quite appropriately named, as extensive silting which has occurred in the harbor means that the town is now a mile from the North Sea.  It is situated on the northern part of the great Norfolk coastline in the East Anglia (East of England) region.  This is the seventh of a multi-part series by this contributor on England's Norfolk County.

Check out this magnificent drone video of a well-known wetland area in eastern England, compliments of AirVuz contributor and pilot Creative Drone.  It's the area around Tollesbury on the coast of Essex, about a two hours' drive east of London.  It's part of the Blackwater Estuary, at the mouth of the Blackwater River, between Maldon and Mersea Island.  The extensive wetlands and marshes here are one of the United Kingdom's great national treasures, and are critical to supporting the country's bird life. 

AirVuz contributor and pilot seb-depp brings us this excellent captioned aerial tour of some important spots in the UK's East Anglia region.  The first stop is Baconsthorpe Castle, an English Heritage manor in North Norfolk.  The next stop is North Elham Chapel, originally a Norman church which was converted into a fortified manor house in the 14th century.  Then it's on to Castle Acre, a well-preserved town in central Norfolk.  Other locations include Grime’s Graves, Thetford Priory, Warren Lodge, Weeting Castle, Denny Abbey, and more.  

England's Norfolk coastline bulges into the North Sea, creating significant navigational challenges for ships in these perennially busy waters.  Since 1790, the Happisburgh Light House, which sits near the northeastern apex of the coast, has been critical to protecting ships in the area.  With a focal height of 41 meters (about 135 ft.), it's the oldest working lighthouse in East Anglia.  In this drone video from Joshua Paul Gardner, you can see this famous landmark from a bird's eye perspective.  

Joshua Paul Gardner created this amazing drone video of one of the most important cultural sites in Norfolk County in England's East Anglia region.  Castle Acre is a town in the interior of the county, away from the North Norfolk coast.  The two sites of interest are the castle and the priory, both of which were established by the Normans following their conquest of England in the 11th century.  The two landmarks are regarded as some of the most important surviving examples of Norman architecture.    

Check out this drone video of a well-known religious site in England's County Norfolk, compliments of content creator and pilot Graeme Taplin. It's called the Wymondham Abbey, and it's located in a town of the same name near the middle of the county.  Now the parish church, it was originally founded as a Benedictine abbey in the early 12th century.  A church was soon added to the monastery, which proved fortuitous four centuries later when monasteries were dissolved during the English Reformation.   

Contributor Mikołaj Dolata used a DJI Mavic Air drone to create this aerial video of Peterborough Cathedral, one of the more well known churches in the greater English Midlands.  It's in the county of Cambridgeshire, part of the East Anglia region. The original structure dates to the pre-Norman period, but it was substantially rebuilt to its current state in the 12th century.  The seat of the Anglican Bishop of Peterborough, it's considered one of the best-preserved buildings of its period in the UK.  

Check out this drone video of a well-known manor in southern England, compliments of contributor oszibusz.  Located in Hertfordshire, Hatfield House was built early in the 17th century on the orders of Lord Cecil, the Early of Salisbury, who was the chief advisor to King James I.  Hatfield House has been featured in over a dozen feature movies, most prominently as the home of Queen Anne in the Favorite (2018), as well as TV shows such as the Netflix series the Crown.  Still owned  by members of the Cecil family, it is open to the public.  

Thecastlehunter brings us this aerial video of a well-known castle ruins near London, England.  It's called Hadleigh Castle, and it's located on the Thames Estuary in County Essex just east of the United Kingdom's capital city.  The castle was built for King Henry III in the early 13th century and later significantly expanded and remodeled by King Edward III.  The property fell into disuse after that, coming under the ownership of the Ministry of Works after World War II.  Today, it's an English Heritage site.   

Former Drone Video of the Week Finalist benhawkinslive brings us this outstanding nighttime drone video of the busiest container port in the United Kingdom.  The Port of Felixstowe is located in its namesake city in Suffolk, one of the counties of the East of England region northeast of London.  Situated on the North Sea, more or less due west of the Dutch city of Rotterdam, the port handles nearly 50% of the UK's containerized shipping traffic.  Its two main terminals handle about 4 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU's) per year.  

Mersea is one of the UK's larger tidal islands, as well as its easternmost.  It's located just off the coast of Essex, about an hour's drive east and north of London.  Once a seaside retreat for Britain's Roman overlords and later a hiding spot for pirates, the island was heavily fortified during the World Wars for fear of it being used as an invasion route.  Its population has grown considerably since then as it's become somewhat of a bedroom suburb to London.  You can check it out from above in this drone video by binesh. 

Top AirVuz contributor Joshua Paul Gardner brings us this fantastic drone video of a historical railway in eastern England.  It's variously called the North Norfolk Line or the Poppy Line railroad, and it runs a course of about 8 km (5 mi) between the towns of Sheringham and Holt in County Norfolk.   Located about a two hour drive north of London, the route is part of a larger rail system which once served the region.  The preserved stretch dates to the late 1800's, and it includes maintenance sheds and other relics of the original line.

AirVuz contributor Dji mini 2 brings us this excellent drone video of the historic town of Stamford in the United Kingdom.  Located in Lincolnshire in the East of England region, it's one of the oldest continually-settled towns in the country.  Located on the banks of the River Welland, Stamford's namesake town on the outskirts of New York City was founded by pilgrims who largely emigrated from this area of England.  With much of its architecture dating to the 17th and 18th centuries, Stamford has appeared in numerous movies and TV shows.  

The Thetford Forest is one of the legendary woods of England.  It's located in the East Anglia region, covering portions of Counties Norfolk and Suffolk.  The forest covers about 200 square km (around 75 square mi.) and is the largest pine forest in the UK.  The area was set aside for preservation after (the timber-devouring) World War I.  The forest has held a number of legendary concerts, and it was used as a filming location for the wildly popular Dad's Army TV series in the late 1960's and 1970's.  

Rye House was a substantial manor in the countryside near the town of Rye in Hertfordshire, England.  The house dated to before the Hundred Years' War and had undergone numerous modifications.  In 1683, it became forever associated with a plot to murder King Charles II of England and his brother James.  Discovered before the plans could come to fruition, over a dozen of the plotters were executed and many more imprisoned.  You can check out this historic location from above in this drone video by oszibusz.

Contributor and pilot JohnLivesey created this beautiful drone video of the area around the town of North Fambridge in Essex, one of the counties of the United Kingdom's East of England region.  Much of the video was shot along the River Crouch, a short waterway which flows eastward into the North Sea and which forms the southern boundary of a landform known as the Dengie Peninsula.  The town of North Fambridge is very old, having earned mention in the 11th century Domesday Book survey as Fanbruge.  

Check out these lovely drone views of the beach of Hunstanton in the United Kingdom, compliments of AirVuz contributor Dji mini 2.  Hunstanton is located in County Norfolk, part of the East of England region northeast of London.  It sits on a body of water known as the Wash, a bay (as well as a river estuary) of the North Sea which marks the boundary between Norfolk and Lincolnshire Counties.   Due to the shape of the bay, Hunstanton actually faces to the west despite being on the east coast of England.    

Multiple Drone Video of the Week Finalist benhawkinslive brings us this excellent aerial view of the English countryside in winter.  The video was filmed over Essex County, which is located in the East of England region, a bit to the northeast of London.  The current county is part of the larger ancient county, which roughly corresponded to the territory of the Kingdom of Essex, one of the seven kingdoms which comprised Anglo-Saxon England prior to their unification under Æthelstan in the 10th century AD. 

The Norfolk Broads is an area of lakes and rivers in the East of England region of the United Kingdom.  Seen in this drone video by AirVuz contributor visionsabovemedia, the Broads (which also extend into neighboring County Suffolk) consist of seven (7) rivers and over 60 "broads" or lakes, most of which are extremely shallow.  Originally thought to be naturally occurring, in the 1960's it was discovered that the Broads were actually formed by deliberate flooding of peat excavations during the Medieval period.  

Check out this drone video of a beautiful beach in eastern England, compliments of John Livesey.  Dunwich Beach is located in County Suffolk.  It's part of the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB (Aera of Outstanding Natural Beauty).  The beach's namesake village was actually the capital of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of East Anglia in the early Middle Ages.  Its port was comparable to London's as late as the 13th century, until the area was devastated by a storm surge in 1286 and a larger flood the following year.  

Bradwell-on-Sea is a village in Essex, an English county northeast of London.  It lies on a landform known as the Dengie Peninsula, which is bounded by the Rivers Crouch and Blackwater.  In this drone video by JohnLiversey, you'll get an aerial view of the area, which has been settled since Roman times.  Filmed using a DJI Mavic Air drone, the video includes footage of the nearby St Peter's Church and the Maldon Salt Flats, including numerous wooden ships which are permanently beached there.  

England's Mersea Island lies in the estuary of the Blackwater and Colne Rivers in Essex, northeast of London.  A tourist destination going back to Roman times, it's long been associated with fishing, particularly oysters.  In this drone video by AirVuz contributor and pilot John Livesey, you'll get an aerial view of the island's western side, known (appropriately enough) as West Mersea.  The video features footage of the West Mersea beaches, its West Mersea Yacht Club, and the mainland beyond which is connected by causeway.  

Contributor Joshua Paul Gardner put together this amazing compilation of drone video footage of fireworks displays across England's County Norfolk.  The fireworks are integral to the Guy Fawkes Night celebration which occurs on November 5th each year.  The holiday commemorates the arrest of Guy Fawkes in 1605 in connection with the Gunpowder Plot, a foiled attempt to blow up the House of Lords with explosives.  The drone filming was undertaken in collaboration with the event organizers.

Hunstanton is a town in County Norfolk of eastern England.  It sits on the eastern side of a small North Sea inlet known as the Wash, facing east (unusually for the UK's east coast).  The town is located about 165 km (around 100 km) northeast of London, and a bit less than half as far to the northwest of the city of Norwich.  The town is perhaps best known for its coastal cliffs, which are part of the Hunstanton Formation.  Seen in this drone video, the formation is distuinguished by its reddish limestone layer topped by a white chalk layer.  

Check out this epic drone video of the Poppy Line railroad, a historical steam railway line in Norfolk, England.  The 8 km (5 mi) track connects the towns of Sheringham and Holt, through a beautiful stretch of the countryside of the East Anglia region.  The railway is accessible via a roughly two-hour drive from London.  Content creator and pilot Joshua Paul Gardner does an excellent job of aerially filming the locomotive and six cars along the length of the track, once part of a larger railroad system that served the region.

Stamford, UK (after which the city of Stamford, Connecticut is named) is a river town in Lincolnshire, northeast of London.  It's best known landmark is what you'll see in this drone video of Stamford by Thomas92: the 16th century manor built for Queen Elizabeth I's great treasurer-advisor Lord Burghley.  Burghley House has played a starring role in numerous movies (most famously, the 2006 blockbuster the Da Vinci Code) as well as in multiple high-profile TV shows including the hit Netflix series the Crown.  

AirVuz contributor and pilot Sedmunds created this drone video of an air force station in East Anglia, England which was used during the strategic bombing campaign against Nazi Germany in World War II.  Thorpe Abbots, near Norfolk, was completed in early 1943 for use by the Royal Air Force.  However, it was soon handed over to the US 8th Air Force, and was an important base for B-17 Flying Fortress medium bombers flying precision daylight missions over Germany through the duration of the conflict.

North Norfolk is an east-west stretch of coastline of Norfolk County in the East Anglia region of England.  It is known for fantastic wildlife, glorious beaches, seaside communities and a hinterland of rolling countryside and picturesque market towns and villages.  Contributor and drone pilot Joshua Paul Gardner, a native of East Anglia, used his DJI Phantom drone to create this spectacular aerial tour of some of the most scenic spots on one of the most beautiful coastlines in the United Kingdom.