What the heck is happening to public services?
We used to have four buses an hour go through our village. After COVID it was cut to two and now buses are being cancelled and we are lucky to get one an hour. Now we stand at the bus stop like lemons awaiting a bus that may or may not turn up.
First Buses put it down to a lack of drivers, but they have already cut our service by half. And local people may have noticed the number of broken down buses as well. I have seen at least four over the last couple of weeks. I guess there's a shortage of mechanics as well as drivers.
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I had particular reason to complain about the service and patient care at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital this week as well. I don't want to go into this in great details apart from to say that my wife was due for a minor op day procedure. I dropped her off only to receive a phone call an hour or so later to say she needed picking up because they wouldn't go ahead due to the fact I have a cold.
She had a pre-assessment phone call a week ago where she was told my cold wouldn't be a problem for her provided she didn't catch it herself, which she didn't. We both tested negative for COVID and we then isolated for three days which meant I couldn't celebrate my birthday with my family.
OK I know operations get cancelled and they have to be careful, but why couldn't this be cancelled following the phone call and why did we have to isolate for three days? But the worst part was (bearing in mind we had avoided contact with anybody for 72 hours) they made her wait in a public area for over 40 minutes while they made a decision as to whether to go ahead with the op. During this time she was sitting close to a door that was continually opening and closing, was close to the parking ticket machines and she was passed by numerous people not wearing masks.
When I picked her up she was very cold, very tired and in tears. Now I'm sure the hospital has a patients' charter which explains the care you can expect when attending the hospital. I bet nowhere in that charter does it mention sitting freezing in a public area and having to wait over 40 minutes to be informed of what is happening, whilst running the risk of getting COVID.
I really don't like having a go at the NHS because by and large they do a very good job under very difficult circumstances, but on this occasion they fell far short of the standards expected and their communication with us was not acceptable. We will be very wary when the op is re-arranged.
And while all this is going on the Government forge ahead with building thousands of new houses in Attleborough, Wymondham, Hethersett and Cringleford. They will probably claim that thousands more people coming to live in South Norfolk will produce more doctors, more nurses, more bus and HGV drivers and more facilities. The problem is things never seem to pan out that way!
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Yesterday I spent a very poignant hour and a half with Bobby and June Harrison. They lost dad and husband Ian to cancer a few weeks ago.
I was meeting with them to get some details of Ian's life to do a tribute piece for the Eastern Daily Press newspaper and my Hethersett Herald e-magazine. It's already been published on the EDP 24 site and can be viewed at:
https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-ian-harrison-of-wymondham-aged-71-8410994
Over coffee I heard what I already knew. Ian was a thorough gentleman, a great family man, a very snappy dresser and somebody whose enthusiasm rubbed off on others and whose smile lit up any room he was in.
Ian touched many lives over his 71 years and I sincerely hope that my tribute piece reflects what a wonderful human being he was.
A number of people commented with the most moving coming from Danny Gaskin who described Ian as: "One of the kindest, most supportive, funniest and happiest people I've ever had the privilege to know."
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One of my readers, Karen, asked if I would do a blog about the days of horse racing in Hethersett.
I have probably covered this before so if you know about this you might want to stop reading now. For those new to the area or who have no idea what I'm talking about here goes.
It seems incredible now with the B1172 and A11 so busy with traffic and a park and ride and major interchange at Thickthorn that once upon a time horse racing took place in the fields across from the B1172.
For many years Hethersett was famed for its regular races which attracted large crowds. Special trains ran from both Norwich and Fakenham and the London train stopped at Hethersett Station which was close to the racecourse.
The first recorded race meeting in the village may have taken place on 9th March, 1875, and was organised by the 19th and 20th Hussars Regiment. This is not a definite date and races could have taken place earlier. Racing stopped for a time but then recommenced in 1904 under the auspices of the Norwich Hunt. These meetings continued until the outbreak of World War One.
The course was over 120 acres and was sold in 1927 to a Mr R. J. Read and a Hethersett Race Committee was set up to run the events. Their first meeting was on Thursday 8th March, 1928. The races attracted large fields and were well supported by local people. The final meeting before the Second World War intervened took place on Thursday 4th May, 1939. After the war the course was used by Norwich Staghounds for point to point races between 1953 and 1963 and meetings finally ceased in 1970.
It is likely that part of the A11 Dual carriageway is on land that would have been part of the racecourse. In the early days of racing it is likely that there was a wooden grandstand.
A number of years ago I had contact from Bill Morton from Canada who gave me details of the races. Sadly Bill has since died.
He was born in 1920 and brought up in Hethersett.
“Hethersett had its own race course and when I was a boy there were half day races held every summer. The course was off Station Lane. There was a small lane which led to the course which was to the north of Station Lane. The course had jumps of various types and people referred to it as a steeplechase.
“The course had no buildings and when races were held tents of various sizes were erected. It was a gathering place for the breeches and bowler hatted brigade. Men turned up with shooting sticks and women strutted around in Jodhpurs. The first time I saw a man perched on a shooting stick I was puzzled and wondered where the top of the stick ended It was not until the man stood up and walked away that I saw that the stick had a folding sort of saddle on which he sat.
“I have clear memories of races, the horses and their riders in their silks. I also have memories of the smells which pervaded the course. The smell of the horses which included their droppings and urine, but also there was a lot of beer drunk and the toilet arrangements were somewhat primitive, which all added to the atmosphere. To us village boys, it was all very interesting, particularly watching the bookies and their tic tac men signalling the odds.
“There was a stream which ran through the course which provided a water jump, this was where riders would often fall and finish up in the water. I heard one woman say to another that Bunnie had come an arser which I understood to mean he had landed on his rear end. I do not know when the Hethersett races ended but I suspect the onset of the depression had something to do with it. “
Mel Perkins MBE was born in Ketteringham, but has lived in Hethersett most of his life. He too has a vivid memories of race days at Hethersett.
“Many people walked to the races through Kissing Alley and down Suckling Lane. There was a definite class structure with the toffs going one way and ordinary members of the public the other. I remember going to one race day with my mum and dad when I was about 12. That would have been in 1961 or 1962. I later went in 1967 when I was courting.
“I remember watching the start of a race and then running across fields towards the railway line, watching them over a couple of jumps and then running back to see the finish. It was a reasonably good standard of racing.
“There was a beer tent and a rather crackly public address system with an announcer with a very posh voice. It was a good day’s outing for people from the village. I think it was about five shillings (25p) to get in but £5 for the car park and that was a lot of money in those days.
“Much of the land for the races is now part of the bypass. Up to about five years ago part of one of the fences was still in a hedge but it is no longer there. It was quite a long course going down as far as what is now Thickthorn Services.”