Brooke
Brooke is a village which lies approximately 7 miles
south of Norwich - between
Poringland and Kirstead. George Ewart Evans(1909-1988) - the oral historian -
lived in a cottage here - overlooking the mere. He moved
to the village in 1968 after his wife retired from
teaching. He had previously lived at Blaxhall in Suffolk
where he began to gather together reminiscences about
East Anglian country life. Evans was not a native of
either Norfolk or Suffolk but a Welshman - but found a
rich vein of local history and knowledge here to inspire
his work. His books include Where Beards Wag All
(1970), The Days That We Have Seen (1975) and
The Strength of The Hills (1983). Evans was working
in the same territory as the Suffolk writer Ronald
Blythe who is best remembered for his enchanting book
Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village (1969).
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