It is with profound sadness and shock that we report the passing of Laurie Hart, one of our founding members, Trustees and latterly Chairman of the Bricket Wood Station Heritage Trust.
Laurie was one of life’s true gentlemen, and has been a ‘local legend’ in Bricket Wood for very many years. He was there right at the inception of the station project, and indeed was championing the idea for many years before that.
His ability to bring people together, to facilitate and to chair meetings and discussions, to explain and to advocate the idea of what was trying to be achieved, and most of all to encourage others and to generate enthusiasm in that ‘journey’ will never be forgotten. On a personal level he was selfless, kind and hard-working, always had time for and took a genuine interest in everyone he met, and even when he became very poorly in the last few weeks, he was still at pains to insist that he didn’t want to “appear dramatic”.
Laurie’s love of local history and longstanding connections to many people in the village made him the definition of ‘community minded’, and embodied everything that has since been successful about the Bricket Wood station project, you could say his spirit is now embedded in the very fabric of the building. It is fair to say that he considered the restoration of the station one of his greatest achievements in life, and rightly so.
Our thoughts go out to Laurie’s wife, daughter, son, grandchildren, wider family and friends at this difficult time. We will miss him dearly.
