Parish Pump was a series of articles that ran between January 1971 and September 1975 in The Country Gentleman's Association monthly magazine. Written by Julian Grey, the articles detailed life in a fictional East Anglian village between the 1930s and the 1970s.
"Ancient men full of guile, bigotry and craftsmanship supping from chipped mugs at an ancient settle, they are long gone. No Parish Pump remains the same forever, and ours - like all the others - has had to change with the times." (Jan 72)
Grey is a writer and a townie, and as such is initially viewed with much suspicion by the mainly agrarian natives when he arrives in 1937. However, over time he is accepted as a harmless, if dilettante, member of the community. He brings his family up and sees the village change as technology and social change reach the depths of the countryside.
Location
The centre of the drama is unnamed, but referred to as the community around the Parish Pump. This is one of three satellite hamlets[1] surrounding the more dominant Greater Seething. They in turn feed into a market town called Steepleborough[2] (May 1975). A parish council still exists[3]
Within the village
The Parish Church, dedicated to St Mary, the Blessed Virgin (August 1973)
One Non-Conformist Chapel ( Sept 75)
The Village Hall (May 72)
A post office ( Jan 73)
An unadopted spur, Watchitt Green (May 72)
Poacher's Wood ( Oct 75)
The Greensward (Jan 71; passim)
none of which approach in importance the true hub of the community, The Star and Wheelbarrow
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