Saying goodbye is never an easy thing to do.

But now dear reader, I must bid you farewell, as I’m leaving Royston this week after two years to move on to pastures new.

I say ‘farewell’, but perhaps ‘à bientot’ would be more appropriate.

As some of you may know, I have previous – this is my second stint working here, and last time I left, in 2010, I didn’t think I’d be back, but here I am.

I’m starting to wonder if it’s inevitable that I return to the Crow every so often during my career, coming round again and again like a local newspaper version of Halley’s comet.

Anyway, when I look back on the stories I’ve covered over the last couple of years, the ones that stand out are obviously the weird ones.

Who could forget the chap who found a perfectly round chicken egg and decided to put it up for sale on eBay – I like to think the publicity he received as a result of my efforts helped him flog it for the princely sum of £9 on the internet auction site.

Then there was baby Zafira, who was named after the family car having been born in the back seat of the Vauxhall people carrier on the way to hospital.

That was a fun one to write, and made it all the way to the Daily Mail, which, of course, is what all us local newspaper scribes dream about.

More importantly, it’s been great to see the Royston Picture Palace community cinema open and develop into a real asset for the town.

I was lucky enough to go along to one of the preview screenings just after it had been set up, and was astonished by the comfort and the picture quality it offers.

The customer numbers speak for themselves, and I hope it will continue to be well-used in the years to come, and I know that my Crow colleagues will be doing their level best to make sure its programme is well advertised both in the town and further afield.

I was also sad to report on the departure of Terry Hutt, a man who has been a great help to many – and a thorn in the side of many others – during his time in Royston.

Terry’s energy and cheerful demeanour are certainly an inspiration, and Royston’s loss will certainly be Weston-super-Mare’s gain. I trust that the local newspaper reporters in that particular part of Somerset have some sharpened pencils and plenty of fresh notebooks at the ready!

Finally, a local paper is only as good as the readers it serves and how they respond to it.

I’d like to thank everyone who has helped me out with a story – large or small – over the years.

It sounds like a cliché, but I really couldn’t have done it without you, and I hope you will make my successor, James Scott, feel equally welcome. James can be contacted on 07729 256652, 01438 866206, or you can send him an email at james.scott@archant.co.uk.

And with that, goodbye – again!