oasis norfolk

The rain fell with an insistent rhythm, a symphony of droplets orchestrating a melancholic overture upon the windows of the time-traveling train. It was as if the heavens themselves wept for the era the passengers were hurtling toward – an era cloaked in the shadows of the Second World War. The train, a vessel of steel and enigma, traversed the chasm between epochs, its wheels turning not just upon the tracks, but upon the very fabric of history.

Inside the carriage, a microcosm of human anticipation thrived. Passengers, dressed in a tapestry of styles that spanned the temporal spectrum, gazed out with a mixture of trepidation and fascination. Beside a woman in a polka-dot dress sat a man in military uniform, his eyes fixed on a sepia-tinted photograph clutched in his gloved hand. Across the aisle, a bespectacled woman peered into a newspaper, her brow furrowed by the headlines that announced the unfolding drama of the past.

Of course it takes more than a bit of rain to put off the Oasis gang as on Saturday 5th August, we gathered in the tea room at Dereham station as the Mid Norfolk Railway went back in time to the 40’s. The station was full of people in all types of uniforms, beautiful dresses and suits, pretty little hats and with hair in victory rolls. Bright red lipstick was the order of the day. Fuelled by the winning combination of tea, coffee, cake and hot sausage rolls, we enjoyed a wonderful day riding the rails.

Just now the MNR is not what it was, with a damaged bridge stopping the train journeying all the way to Wymondham Abbey, but still, one can only marvel at the commitment and dedication of the volunteers that maintain and run this wonderful edaphus to the past. With the 40’s weekend the MNR team create an atmospheric voyage back through the decades and an excuses to wear such fabulous clothes, and rub shoulders with soldier, nurses, elegant ladies and gentlemen and the occasional spiv. Fortunately a policeman was there to maintain law and order. We wish them well in the fund raising efforts so the Wicklewood Bridge can be repaired soon.

Thank you MNR and thank you to Andrea, Joanna, Beccie, Amy, Sue, Lauren, Rachel, Serena, Petra and Marcella for accompanying me on our time travel escapade. We rattled our way to Thuxton, and then broke our journey at Yaxham where we met some French soldiers before consuming yet more tea and a tonne of lemon drizzle cake.

And so, with hearts brimming with gratitude and spirits uplifted by the shared journey, the Oasiseers dispersed into the world beyond the station, each carrying with them a piece of the joy, camaraderie, and serenity that had graced their train ride. As the train itself prepared to depart once more, there was a sense that its own journey, like the journeys of those it carried, would continue to unfold with new adventures and happy endings yet to be written. It certainly wasn’t a train in vain.
Until we meet again
Love
Lilly
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