Up until about a year ago, Elizabeth and I, and our children Becky (13) and Tim (5) were living in Florida. Why (you might ask) would anyone give up the warmth and sunshine to come and live in Norfolk? With the freezing weather this month we sometimes wonder ourselves, but the reasons included family connections in the UK, schooling and did we really want our children growing up in America? When we made the decision to sell up in the US and come ‘home’ we also decided we wanted to live in a part of the country that we liked, not on the outskirts of London or the Thames Valley. This part of Norfolk is an area we love – particularly the Broads with its sailing opportunities. So in December 2001 we flew back to the UK and rented a house in Wayford for 6 months while we looked for a suitable business to buy.

We weren’t particularly looking for a village shop, but when we saw the Post Office and Village Stores in Coltishall it seemed to fit our requirements very well. Firstly it was in a superb location, both as a place to live and as a place for a business. Secondly, but equally important it was big enough for us to make a reasonable living from it. Many small rural post offices (and these are the ones that are sadly closing) are simply not big enough to support a family. To cut a long story short we made the decision to buy, and after a process that lasted several months, took over at the end of October.

The first two months have been hectic to say the least, but I think we are now getting on top of things. I can’t remember much of November – it seemed to pass in a whirl of trying to take on board everything involved in running both a Post Office and a newsagents and December was busy in the Post Office with everybody sending parcels all over the world. Now, with the New Year, we have chance to breathe, take stock and start planning for the future. We are not planning any major changes at the moment, but we do hope to start some redecorating and refurbishment over the next few months.

It is wonderful to be at the heart of a community and we are very impressed with the friendliness and welcome we’ve received here. We’re looking forward to getting to know everyone much better over the next few months.

Steve Haines