[Village scenes]

The day-to-day life of the residents of Brooke.

High-angle shot of a street in Brooke. People are filmed around the weather vane in the village. Women push prams and escort toddlers along a road to a mother and child clinic in the village hall, a former army hut. They are met by the nurse at the door. As they leave, one of the mothers is carrying twins. The next scene shows men at work on the haysel, stacking grass by pitchfork. This is on a field between the village and the main road. This field is now a housing estate. A double decker bus, number 11A, stops in the main street with the Kings Head Public House on the right. To the right is a poster advertising a speedway meeting with Belle Vue. Some light traffic and people pass along the street. There are shots of shops including S. Copping, saddlery and Harness Maker. Mr. Copping discusses some work with a customer. Mr. Roper is filmed outside his filling station with a bicycle, which he also repaired. There is an exterior shot of Cossey's blacksmiths. A woman plays with a dog. A couple and then a woman push prams through the village. Shots of houses and shops show assistants carrying boxes of groceries out of the village store. A shot of some new council housing, built by Taylor and Green. The gardens are growing vegetables. Children in the gardens play with a wooden horse and with a bicycle. Farm scenes show cattle in a farmyard, next to the Church. There are shots of the round towered church and of the graveyard. These include a shot of the grave of Ada Mary, a stranger in this parish treated with much kindness and was here interred. Cows are driven along the lane. The Vicar leaves the Church. There are shots of a bowls match and of a tennis match. Two boys (presumably boy scouts) pitch a tent. A horse and cart passes through the village and people ride horses. A brief shot of the schoolyard and further scenes in the village as the children leave school. A postman gives letters to a woman on a bike. There are shots of children on their way to school and shots of them outside the school at the beginning of the morning. A bus arrives in the village and two cars pass. At the end of the film there is a group of women, possibly the Women's Institute gather outside the Village Hall.

Featured Buildings

St Peter's Church, Brooke; Brooke Village Hall

Keywords

Village life

Other Places

Brooke

Background Information

Information about this film was provided for the East Anglian Film Archive by Mrs. Fookes for the video Scenes of Norfolk Life. In the school scenes are shots of boys tending the school garden. This same patch is now a conservation area. The village store was also a drapery, bakers and sold gardening equipment.