It's still very attractive but not quite as smart as in the past although I do believe it's been adopted by a couple of local people who have plans to return it to its former glory.
There's something very romantic about sitting in the station tea rooms/buffet watching trains stop and go or hurtle straight past. There's something even better about getting on one of those trains (preferably not the ones hurtling past).
There is still plenty of interest to be seen on the station including a lengthy quote from former poet laureate John Betjeman, part of which has been partially scratched out. I will leave you to work out from the photograph which part of the quote that is and why it's been scratched out.
* * *
It's been a struggle but the latest edition of Hethersett Herald will be online by the end of today (honest).
There really has and is so much happening in the village at the moment. This has included a big debate on the All Things Hethersett Facebook page about further development in the village.
This has arisen because two developers have upped the ante on land in North Hethersett. They have already either built or have 1,300 houses in the pipeline but have suddenly realised that they have land left over. So what to do - put in for another 200. The parish council is against it, our district councillors are against it, most residents are against it. Watch it go through.
One or two new residents have been unhappy about some of the comments made, taking them rather personally to mean that people coming into the village aren't welcome. This is very untrue. What we are criticising is the over development of the village without the facilities to go with it.
It's very much a matter of developers coming in, doing their jobs and then moving onto the next development somewhere else. Along the way they will talk about the wonderful facilities that will come with the development, but many of these are way out of the remit of those developers. For example they may talk expressively about new shops but in reality new shops will only come if there are people or businesses prepared to open them and often there isn't.
This is the message I left on the All Things Hethersett Facebook page on this subject:
"People coming into the village are very welcome and comments aren't aimed at them. The main gripe is that developers promise the earth and deliver very little. All we are asking for is for facilities to keep pace with development and this doesn't happen. Developers have no interest in local communities. They build, make their money and move on. Perhaps a developer would like to refute this comment. It's ok saying that there will be shops on a new development but there won't be unless somebody comes forward to open and run them. Wishing for a supermarket for example doesn't mean that there will be one. We have seen this all happen so many times and there comes a point where new developments strangle a community. I love new people coming into the village many add to the strength of our community."