So today I would like to put the spotlight on Hethersett Railway Station which was once an important stopping point for Hethersett Races as we saw in a previous blog.
HETHERSETT Railway Station was built in 1845 and in the 1960s as many as 12 trains a day in each direction stopped there.
Hethersett was on the Great Eastern Railway main line between Norwich and Thetford/Ely. In the 1960s the majority of trains stopping there were part of the Norwich to King’s Lynn/Wells Next the Sea service.
The station was almost 2 km from the main part of the village, down what is now Station Lane which is divided by the main A11. In 1966, the station was considered to be surplus to requirements and was closed. The platforms were removed and today there is very little left although there have been some moves to build a replacement although, if I was a betting man, I don't think we will see this happening anytime soon.
The station went the same way as so many others under the Beeching cuts. It used for instance to be possible to get from Wymondham to Wells on the North Norfolk coast. I guess that means that you could get a train from Hethersett to Wymondham and then on to Wells.
For a time the station buildings were used as part of a tyre store. Subsequently the station building was left derelict and photographs of its poor state are available on the internet. Another interesting part of the station's history saw sidings put into place leading to a Ministry of Defence oil depot during the Second World War.
The photographs on this page are courtesy of the Hethersett Village Archive.