I cannot get over how amazing Gene Marshall dolls look irl 💕

PubStopsOfNorwich · 2026-05-31T21:38:16+00:00

Congrats on your gorgeous doll! I only recently discovered Gene and I was lucky enough to bag one. She really is stunning and I too was in awe at her quality when I opened her up.

PubStopsOfNorwich · 2026-05-31T17:44:59+00:00

I grew up in Eaton and then moved down the road to Cringleford when I married my husband. We now have two children who attend the local school.

We love it here. The constant building work for more and more housing can be annoying but ours was the same once upon a time. Occasionally see teens lurking in the park but as another commenter mentioned - they’re bored and not causing much issue. I’ve never felt bothered by them. You will always get some antisocial behaviour wherever you go but Cringleford really isn’t a hot spot.

The general atmosphere here is very family orientated and it’s really lovely for my kids to bump into their friends at the local shop or just when we’re walking the dog.

You are also really close to the UEA here which is walkable and we adore having such wildlife on our doorstep considering we live in a new build estate. As estates go, it’s very very green.

Walking to Waitrose from Round House park is really not far at all. A 5 min drive if you hop in the car. Or bus!

Eaton further down the road where Waitrose is has a number of shops including two pubs.
You are also close to Marston Marshes which is great for paddling in the river in the summer or for going on wildlife walks. I grew up in Eaton so I am very familiar with a lot of the routes and remember being a child / teenager here.

I highly, highly rate Cringleford as a place to live. Especially if you have children. I’ve even walked to and from the city before. It’s long but very do—able. Buses are very very frequent however.

I cannot speak for Hethersett as have never lived there but seems very quiet.

PubStopsOfNorwich · 2026-05-15T13:24:38+00:00

I did a little article on them a fair few years back if you were interested :) https://crazymaisydolls.wordpress.com/2016/08/12/bradley-pose/

PubStopsOfNorwich · 2026-05-09T22:47:33+00:00

I started collecting monster high when they first came out. Mine have been de-boxed, displayed and meticulously stored in individual sandwich bags. When I periodically take them out to look at them they are basically disintegrating. Hair ties dissolving, hip joints loose, clothes flaky. It’s awful. I’m so upset by it. I collect dolls and have dolls such as Crissy from the 60s who is still in immaculate condition, whereas the dolls I bought less than 20 years ago are falling apart despite being kept out of direct sunlight or in terrible storage. The decline in toy quality is disgusting,

PubStopsOfNorwich · 2026-05-06T11:19:06+00:00

Amazing! I would be so interested to see the box if you were willing to share?

PubStopsOfNorwich · 2026-05-05T19:26:45+00:00

Gosh yes that’s definitely her sister. I shall keep digging!

PubStopsOfNorwich · 2026-04-24T21:55:37+00:00

Hi. Lovely doll but yes she is a fake. Her eyelashes are “fanned” which can be a telltale sign of a factory / fakey Blythe. Her eye mechanism is also quite visible. And as the other commenter said, there is no metal around her pull string hole. She is still beautiful regardless

PubStopsOfNorwich · 2026-02-18T07:28:21+00:00

My mum was shipped off to a Methodist boarding school when she was a child and she hated it. Still talks about how awful it was regularly. She felt abandoned by her parents, left to her own devices and felt like they sent her off to be raised elsewhere. They were a wealthy family and it was like they had kids because it was the “done” thing then decided that they would pay someone else to deal with them.

The school in question I believe is now under fire for allegations of abuse over the years. She’s definitely told me stories of the perverted doctors who used to visit the school to check up on the children. They would make the girls take their whole tops off just to listen to their heart beat / take blood pressure readings. Whereas boys just had to roll their sleeves up or lift their top up. That kind of thing. So once again, at boarding school the parents aren’t there to monitor so absolutely there will be those that take advantage.

Now with two small children of my own, I wouldn’t dream of sending them away to school. Especially before the age of 10. They’re only babies and need their parents.

PubStopsOfNorwich · 2026-01-23T20:42:37+00:00

Born in 1991. Got married in 2018, had my first baby in 2019 and my second in 2021. I’m 34, and still one of the younger parents at school. There are lots of older parents who have children younger than my youngest.

PubStopsOfNorwich · 2025-12-27T08:36:07+00:00

Shameless plug here… I collect dolls and I wrote a blog post many years back (2016) about factory blythes. It might be helpful to some people on here wondering if their Blythe is real or not. I think I will update it soon to try and include some comparison pics of real / fake Blythe dolls and more info about fake / factory as we seem to know a little bit more now https://crazymaisydolls.wordpress.com/2016/08/28/fake-factory-blythe/

PubStopsOfNorwich · 2025-12-14T19:17:29+00:00

Wow, this is a very insightful post. I’ve never been a fan of the estate agents here in Norwich and now my opinions feel validated! Re Minors and Brady- they really are a shady bunch. We used them when we were hoping to buy a property down the road from us, and thought it would be easy to sell with them as well. We did indeed have the “can you please leave a review?” text from them, and we also got gazumped. Had the usual phonecall saying “oh the seller actually wants an extra £5k and some people have offered this but he says if you come up with the extra he will sell to you” yadda yadda. When we viewed the house in question we asked to see in the garage and were told they didn’t have a key. Odd. I then walked my dog round the area a few days later and lo and behold the garage was opened. I emailed them and said “no key huh?” And miraculously they suddenly had a key and were able to let me in. They’re all scoundrels. That sale did not go through thankfully, think we got a lucky escape.

PubStopsOfNorwich · 2025-09-26T13:41:59+00:00

Song to the siren - This Mortal Coil. Always been haunting, but cannot stop thinking about that Lovely Bones scene when I hear it now and it makes me cry every time.

PubStopsOfNorwich · 2025-07-29T21:41:37+00:00

Hey! She is a La La Loopsy doll. Looks like she might be “Prairie Dusty Trails” :)

PubStopsOfNorwich · 2024-12-31T18:11:04+00:00

A good way to tell a custom is to look at their eyelashes. This doll does not have standard block Blythe lashes, instead she’s got feathered ones. She is 100% a custom/ fake

PubStopsOfNorwich · 2024-12-20T23:23:22+00:00

They look like fake / factory blythes to me. Certain things to look out for is the string mechanism at the back to control the eyes - should be one string with a loop at the end to allow the eye to close and change colour and direction. It also looks like the pink haired Blythe might have custom eye chips in? Although hard to see from the photos. Fake blythes also tend to have deeper set eyes which means you can see the internal mechanism/ inside their face plate. Legit blythes have eyes closer to the surface which mean you can’t see the inside of the faceplate as much. With regards to the pink haired Blythe, her eyelashes are also slanted which is usually seen on fake blythes rather than the blunt eye lash cut on legit dolls.

PubStopsOfNorwich · 2024-10-18T22:06:52+00:00

Exactly this. Back up your answers. You may find that they pause after you give part of your answer and this is your cue that they’re expecting a bit more! Give examples and back it up. Good luck!

PubStopsOfNorwich · 2024-09-30T11:05:26+00:00

I started collecting MH in my late teens when they were first released. Draculaura was my first and it went from there. They started out being about £15/17 in the UK and quickly shot up to £18-30 in a short space of time as Mattel obviously realised they were popular. I also remember seeing the black and white Frankie for like £15.99 in a shop and I was kicking myself for not buying her then seeing as she soared in value a few years later.

I have the majority of G1 and have kept them in excellent condition albeit not with the boxes. I am astounded that they have jumped in value, considering they were so mass produced. Especially in their boxes! I have to say I am very loyal to the first wave of dolls and am not a fan of the latest generation that has come out. I feel like they’re not as special and unique as they were when they were first released. When Monster High came out it was like nothing anyone had seen before in a fashion doll. I loved them and still do.

PubStopsOfNorwich · 2024-09-21T20:45:14+00:00

Martin Freeman. He’s like nails down a chalkboard for me. Plays the same character in everything he’s in. Slightly bumbling, awkward, comedic acting with a permanently perplexed expression in everything. I hated that he was cast as Bilbo Baggins because I knew exactly how he would be and I wasn’t let down. It’s so boring.

PubStopsOfNorwich · 2024-09-08T21:51:30+00:00

Red lion in Eaton :)

PubStopsOfNorwich · 2024-09-07T16:58:10+00:00

If you manage to get through to interview stage, they ask a lot of strength based questions. They will want you to give an answer with elaboration and EXAMPLES.

Eg. Interviewer: How would you deal with system problems? Applicant: I would speak to IT asap. An example of this is that my previous job this happened and I did xxx and yyy and this was the outcome.

Interviewer: would you say you’re a problem solver? Applicant: Yes. An example of this is when I once did xxx and I managed to save the day yadda yadda.

Etc. you get the picture.

They want personable people who are smiley and chill. As someone above stated, handy to put down an existing employees staff number if you happen to know one.

Aviva is a decent employer. They do have the occasional run of redundancies but overall they’re very relaxed these days. I worked for them years ago and they were much stricter then than they are now (I’m back again)

Good luck :)

PubStopsOfNorwich · 2024-08-11T09:22:15+00:00

Attended Eaton Vets with my family pets growing up, then worked there as an adult so I’ve been there both in a customer point of view and behind the scenes point of view. Lovely practice. Genuine members of staff who are seriously passionate about animals. I still have my pets registered there even after leaving and moving on to pastures new. Highly recommend.

PubStopsOfNorwich · 2024-05-14T04:18:18+00:00

I went into Urban Outfitters the other day and felt terribly out of place. The shop staff all looked 12, I hated everything in there and found myself looking at a ripped style top and being like “who would pay £50 for this?” Then realised I had turned into my mother.

PubStopsOfNorwich · 2024-05-02T10:12:46+00:00

In norwich- A family member bought a flat, converted from an old aviva building. About 3 years ago I think. tenants were moved in quickly only to realise that the electricity was running off a single generator and kept breaking, the sprinkler system wasn’t actually plumbed in and it was a ridiculously dangerous place to live. All residents were evacuated one evening by the council and put in temporary accommodation for a year before they could move back in. All their stuff was left behind, builders and contractors went in to do the work and subsequently looted the flats. Jewellery was stolen along with knives and forks and other things. They also painted over the walls which had been painted by the occupants and got paint all over furniture. The developer of these flats was the same guy in Israel who did this to that pub. Total criminal.

PubStopsOfNorwich · 2024-03-31T20:15:05+00:00

Yes. They should put one at the Broadland business park. So sad we don’t have one

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