I’ve lived in London for almost a decade now but I was born and grew up in Norwich. It is Norwich that we are planning, with torn hearts it has to be said, to move back to this summer. Norwich is lovely and the houses are A LOT cheaper than they are in London which means we can finally trade our flat up for a house, something which is impossible here in London and something my family needs. We are sad, very sad, to say goodbye but we also know Norwich and we know we are going somewhere we can love.

We all spend a lot of time there anyway as my Mum and Jonny’s family are still there as are lots of our friends. The children have been so much with me that they even call my Mum’s house their other home. There are loads of things we love doing when we’re there and we will embrace them all. Bewilderwood will have to have an annual pass bought, there will be lots of trips to Cromer and we will be able to see my Mum all the time! That;s the best bit I think!

Norwich is one of those places you don’t really go to unless you are going TO it! It’s in the right hand bump of England so not really a drive through place yet Norwich is well and truly on the map! It has TWO cathedrals, a castle, a City Wall, it’s famous for Colman’s Mustard, Norwich City (who are going to Wembley for the play offs today as it goes), and a host of famous faces live there like the mum crush Adam Buxton, Good old Delia Smith and Stephen Fry not to mention the Queen who’s rather partial to visiting her Norfolk Estate! Well… We’ll be in good company then!

Another thing Norwich is famous for is Startrite Shoes! Their history dates back to 1792 with the birth of the modern shoemaking industry in, you guessed it, Norwich! The Start-rite head office is still based there today and we often go up to the factory to buy shoes when we are visiting. James Smith was a cordwainer (or leather worker) based in a small shop behind Norwich market (another reason to be in Norwich is the fab market). He was the first shoemaker in the country to offer an alternative to bespoke footwear that few could afford by offering ready-made, off-the-peg foot-wear to a wider audience.

Today, all these years later, Startrite are still going strong with their main focus being on children’s fitted footwear. They know it’s important to develop shoes that look after children’s feet and help them to develop to their full potential and are passionate about producing beautiful quality shoes that will fit children of all ages and include styles and designs that you won’t find on the high-street. My children’s first shoes were from there and they still wear Startrite shoes today!

Florence and Jimmy were asked if they would like to choose a pair each to try out from the Startrite summer range and interestingly they chose things that I would have chosen for them! I must have trained them well! we looked at sandals rather than canvas shoes and Florence chose my second favourite pair in the range (my top choice would have been the Juliana white patent/silver sandals which are just gorgeous) the Moon Flower sandals in Pearl while Jimmy went for the Blue Climb sandals.

They’re lovely and the children have been wearing them for a couple of week’s now. I took the photographs only yesterday so you can see that they have withstood scuffs pretty well. I love the pearl colour of Florence’s sandals as it’s an off white colour which means that if they get a bit dusty and dirty then you can’t really notice. They’re very pretty and Jimmy’s are just perfectly old-fashioned and SO much nicer than any other boy’s sandals I have seen. The real bonus is that he can put them on and off himself!

Look how lovely they look being worn!

We were sent the shoes for the purpose of an honest review. All the clothes in the post are by Little Bird By Jools at Mothercare and you can see more of them here.

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