We got back to see the second and third sets and the standard of tennis was poor and at the end the winner just wandered up to the net, showing not the slightest bit of emotion as if she had just won a qualifying match or a game on the local park.
Ok I don't want to see someone leaping around like a wailing banshee but a little bit of emotion wouldn't have gone amiss. I have found this year's women's competition rather dull and the standard of tennis disappointing.
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So just to finish off our latest trip to North Norfolk with a slew of photographs. On our last visit, I wandered along to the very picturesque Weybourne station but the battery on my camera ran out. So yesterday I returned and in a small side room were a number of boards showing that the station had been featured in BBC comedy shows including Hi De Hi, Dad's Army and Allo Allo which included a scene where the station was blown up. Of course this was all a trick.
The station has had a number of incarnations: It was Walmington-on-Sea Railway Station in the Dad's Army episode "The Royal Train." It was Crimpton-on-Sea Railway Station in Hi De Hi and Clayfield Railway Station in the Backs to the Land series.
You can see some of the story boards in today's photos. One of these mentions Ruth Madoc who became famous for her portrayal of Welshness in her role as Gladys Pugh in Hi De Hi. Ruth sounded Welsh, her character was totally Welsh but did you know that Ruth was actually born in Norwich? She is now 79. Also did you know that tennis wheelchair champion Alfie Hewett comes from Norwich?
Weybourne Station was part of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway route between Melton Constable which I mentioned a couple of days ago and Cromer. I also mentioned the possibility of a Norfolk Orbital Railway which is very exciting because it means you could catch a train from Wymondham, which is a couple of miles from where we live, and go all the way to Sheringham on the coast.
One of the things that has always confused me is why railway stations are often so far from the centre of a village or town. Vauxhall Station at Great Yarmouth is almost a mile from the sea front whilst a station on the sea front was closed. Norwich Thorpe is similarly almost a mile from the centre of Norwich whilst a station in the centre was closed many years ago. Our own Hethersett Railway Station (now no more) was a long long way from the village and the station at Manningtree in Suffolk isn't even in Manningtree if I remember correctly.
Similarly Weybourne Station is a good mile from the centre of the village and even further from the beach. This is because the site it occupies wasn't originally intended to be a station but was opened in 1901 to serve a hotel that no longer exists.
But what of the Norfolk Orbital Railway? Well it would combine two heritage railways - The North Norfolk and the Mid Norfolk and it would be 83 miles in length. 75% of it is already served by heritage railways. I think this is very much a case of "watch this space."
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Finally returning to Weybourne. Was pleased to see a planning notice on the former Weybourne Maltings Hotel aimed at bringing the place back to life. When I worked in the area back in the 1970s the Maltings was a well known restaurant and hotel. Today it is very very scruffy but let's hope it will soon burst back into life.