Knitted Norfolk: Great Yarmouth recreated in wool

A seaside town in Norfolk has been celebrated in a rather unusual fashion - through the medium of knitting.

In its heyday, tens of thousands of holidaymakers would flock to Great Yarmouth and its famous Golden Mile.

It has been re-created in wool by 89-year-old Margaret Seaman who knitted for around 12 hours a day for a year.

• Click below for Rob Setchell's report

From Joyland's famous snails to the historic Wellington and Britannia piers, the knitted model shows Yarmouth's Golden Mile in the 1970s.

The maestro behind the knitting needle is 89-year-old Margaret Seaman, a proud Yarmouth girl for more than 60 years.

Margaret Seaman said: ”I think I'm safe to say I did something with it every day for about 12 or 15 hours a day for a whole year.

"I even took my knitting on holiday with me and did what I could when I was on holiday.

"The word we hear most is amazing. They just stop and look and say amazing.

"Several of them have said I'm speechless... so then I got my confidence and knew it was alright."

The model has quickly become the centrepiece of Norfolk Makers Festival at The Forum in Norwich.

But it's not Margaret's first masterpiece - for several years her crocheted creations have been raising tens of thousands of pounds for palliative care charity the Louise Hamilton Trust.

And she's often called for back-up from a small army of Norfolk knitters - helping to add delicate details like the two thousand individually stitched flowers keeping Woolly Yarmouth in bloom.

Anne Bateman, a knitter, said: "We'd been working hard for two years. First the butterfly garden and then the enchanted wood - which has raised thousands for the trust.

"I said to Margaret when we finished here last year - Margaret, we need a break. That's enough. The next day she came to me and she said: 'Anne, I've had an idea.' I thought 'oh no'."

The model's incredibly intricate - from the holidaymakers to the names of the entertainers who had once had their own go at leaving pier audiences in stitches.

For Margaret, the knitting's been more than just a hobby. It gave her purpose - and stopped her getting lonely - when her husband Fred died six years ago.

"When I lost him I completely lost myself," she said. "We were married for 65 years and I just didn't know what to do with my time.

"It gave me something to do and it was good therapy. It helped me back on the road to good health again."

The model is on show until the festival finishes on February 24th.