A group of foreign correspondents experienced Great Yarmouth’s rich heritage from architecture and museums to its seafront yesterday.

Eight London-based journalists visited the Tolhouse Museum, Row 111 and the Old Merchant’s House before a fish and chips lunch with mushy peas followed by scones with raspberry jam and cream at Great Yarmouth Pottery. They spent the afternoon up Nelson’s Monument before a guided walk around the Hippodrome circus.

Rakesh Mathur, who produces Sanskrit programmes on Resonance FM, said: “I didn’t know much about Yarmouth before except that parts of it were destroyed in the war. It’s good to see that it has been rebuilt. The way people build and preserve their buildings is fantastic.”

At the pottery, the reporters had a rare chance to drink water from the 300-year-old well.

Mr Mathur said: “They explained to us where the water comes from and how it is filtered. It tasted good –it was different to anything I had had before.

“In London, areas are really different – you have Cockneys in east London then going through Belgravia and Chelsea it’s different. This was our chance to see one of Britain’s many faces. The people we met were all very nice and friendly.”

For most of the visitors it was their first trip to the county and, for some, it was the first time they had been to a British seaside resort.

Jiang Lurong, who works for the London branch of Xinhua news agency, said: “Our trip has been very impressive. I hope more Chinese people come and visit Yarmouth. When you ask Chinese people what they associate with the UK, they always say Buckingham Palace, and everyone wants to see a castle when they visit.”

lucy.wright@archant.co.uk