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| Sunday, 23 April 2006 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Finding
Hethersett in Sri Lanka
A man finds how the colonial past lingers, even though most Sri Lankans may like it that way. But life is like that, and the ways of the world are so queer that a man can be astonished by finding part of his own in a strange country. A sign points to the nearby Hethersett Hills. by Ben Kendall It was almost a case of home from home for a former Norfolk man on holiday in the "elephant island" of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean. Five thousand miles from England, and almost 7,000ft up in the tropical hills, Rob Kirk came across a tea plantation called Hethersett, named after the south Norfolk village where his parents lived for almost 30 years. It was, Kirk learned, founded in 1889 by a planter called W Flowerdew, who came to the British hill station of Nuwara Eliya from Hethersett. The tea he grew on the surrounding hills was good quality; in 1891, tea from his plantation sold in London at 30 times the normal price. Flowerdew's old factory is now a hotel called The Tea Factory, which has won many international awards for conservation. His Hethersett plantation is still producing tea, and Flowerdew's old bungalow still stands in the hotel grounds. As Rob discovered, the Hethersett name is now well-established at the hotel: There's a Hethersett Bar, which serves a cocktail called Hethersett Fog (tea, lime juice, Angostura Bitters and lemonade). An old railway carriage converted to a dining car stands outside at Hethersett railway station. A small working museum outside is called The Hethersett Mini Tea Factory. A sign points to the nearby Hethersett Hills. The serving area in the restaurant is built with Hethersett tea packing cases. Even the complimentary bottles in the rooms are Hethersett Mountain Spring Water. But what captured Kirk's attention most was a framed map of Norfolk's Hethersett on a hotel wall. It was a modern parish map, and clearly showed Malthouse Road, where his parents lived. But more poignantly, it showed the Church of St. Remegius, where his mother's funeral service took place, and where her ashes are interred. "It quite took my breath away to see such a detailed map," said Kirk. "All of a sudden, it formed a real personal link with the place in a very moving way." Kirk is a former pupil of the Hewett School who now lives and works as a journalist with Sky News in London. His father Bob is a retired Eastern Counties Newspapers typesetter, and an Archant pensioner. Bob now lives with his daughter Julie Hunt and family in Lakenham. Courtesy EDP 24 |
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