Take 12th September, 2015, for instance. It was a great day in the history of Hethersett when we celebrated an event that took less than a minute.
I'll pause for a moment when you ask the obvious question: "How can something that took less than a minute go into the annals of village history."
Those who lined the roads of the village will remember that minute well. It was the day that a major cycle race rushed through the village - entering down by the Queen's Head and exiting along Great Melton Road.
It was one of those blink and you'll miss it events. I would hazard a guess that the number of people out on the village streets per second of the event is probably higher than that of any other event in the entire history of Hethersett.
For me it was a busy day. There was lots of preparation for the arrival of the Tour of Britain race. I helped get refreshments ready at the Methodist Church and then took a banner belonging to Hethersett Sports Association down to Queen's Road where Dr Anne Edwards kindly tied it to her fence - just in case any television companies turned up to film. We had a limited number of tee shirts promoting the race and I went to take a photograph of the staff of the Queen's Head who were all wearing them. Then took photos of other parts of the village as an historical record of the day. It was a day when heavy rain was forecast but thankfully it stayed dry.
The race came through at 11.35 am.
The race was through in a flash although I did get some decent photos by putting my camera on sport mode and just keeping my finger on the shutter. The race was preceded by police outriders ensuring that the path was clear. The roads had been shut to the public but I still remember some idiot trying to get his car off of Tescos just before the race came through. This really could have proved a dangerous action.
There were plenty of support vehicles as well. Then the riders whooshed through and weeks of planning were over within that one minute. That wasn't the end of my sporting day though. In the afternoon we saw Norwich beat Bournemouth 3-1 (If you are old enough you might just remember when Norwich won a football match)!
This is what I wrote about the race on an old Hethersett web site:
Saturday 12th September, 2015, will live long in the memory of all those who took to the streets of Hethersett to watch the national Tour of Britain cycle race pass through.
Hundreds of residents lined Queen's Road and Great Melton Road as the penultimate stage of the 2015 event made its way from Fakenham to Ipswich. The race entered Hethersett through Colney Lane, before going past the parish church and turning into the village at the Queen's Head. It then went the length of Queen's Road and Great Melton Road before turning left towards Wymondham.
Bunting and specially made banners welcomed the riders into the village with the race entourage of police motorbike outriders and team back-up cars also adding to the colour of the event.
Months of planning at a national level and weeks of organisation in the village culminated in the race which was through the village within minutes but which will have left a memory for young and old. Refreshments were served at Hethersett Queen's Head and Hethersett Methodist Church, there was a special sculpture on the playing field at Hethersett Junior School, the village sign was decorated and Hodge Podge shop in Oak Square organised games for children.
Early morning rain thankfully gave way to warm sunshine in time for the race to pass through. A breakaway of a handful of riders was followed by the peloton (or pack) of riders. For the record the stage was won by German Andre Greipel and the entire tour went to Edvald Boasson Hagen from Norway who was riding for the BTN Qhubeka team.
I hope you enjoy just a few of the photographs I took of the day.