A group of wild ponies over on the far shore of Fritton Lake are drinking deep draughts of water.

On the near shore is a glorious floating sauna, and all about is greenery and nature. It's a beautiful, peaceful scene.

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Lady Somerleyton in the floating sauna (Image: Lucy Taylor) US fashion designer August Getty - great-grandson of oil tycoon Jean Paul Getty - reportedly jet-skied on Fritton Lake last year.

His Instagram feed shows him holding a well-heeled house party during a stay at nearby Somerleyton Hall.

The Norfolk-Suffolk border slices through the middle of Fritton Lake. It provides water for Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth - making it a vital resource as well as a tourism draw.

The holiday park's transition to its current "member's club" status caused a few ripples at the time, but the feedback now is very positive, says Lord Somerleyton.

The man-made beach at Fritton Lake (Image: Lucy Taylor) The measure was initially brought in during the pandemic, when a more formalised form of access was seen as a necessity.

Lord and Lady Somerleyton - owners of the magnificent Somerleyton Hall and its 5,000-acre estate - deemed the scheme so successful it became permanent.

Day-trippers disappeared in favour of guests interested in a more long-term relationship with the site.

The clubhouse terrace (Image: Lucy Taylor) It's all part of Hugh's larger vision of "rewilding" the estate.

He is a founder of Wild East, a leading figure in the region's regenerative agriculture movement and a keen advocate of nature.

Although visitors love the area and he wants to build the tourism side sustainably through the holiday club, he wasn't keen on creating a new Pleasurewood Hills-style enterprise and all that comes with it.

Fritton Lake winter swim (Image: Somerleyton Estate) Instead he and wife Lara have focused on a low-key approach which they feel is in tune with........

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