Memories of Pulham Market
An Oral History of the 20th Century

Introduction to the book



In Pulham Market a local farmer, Mr Peter Blackburn, who had always had an interest in local people and their memories of life in the early part of the twentieth century, started sometime in the 1950s interviewing and recording friends and neighbours. Over the years Peter interviewed more than 70 people, each offering fascinating facts about life in this Norfolk village.

The Pulham Market Society felt that this unique archive needed to be transcribed into a written document and its Committee decided to apply to Awards for All (part of the Lottery Fund) for funding. This proved to be a long process but was successful and the funds were put to work. The first task was to call a meeting to set out an action plan. The second was to employ a transcribing company in Essex to produce a written document. As the text became available it was sorted under various headings and it was decided that there was probably sufficient material for ten chapters of a book.

This process of chapter editing involved one of the biggest learning curves on this project, but after many hours of hard work the book began to take shape. The work started in the summer of 2005 and by the summer of 2007 most of the chapters had been edited and made ready for printing. Meanwhile, a small group had searched for suitable photographs to illustrate the chapters, a difficult task at times, but eventually a good selection was made showing people and places.

A few words about the setting of our story. Pulham Market lies approximately 15 miles south of the city of Norwich, just off the A140 main road, and has good access to several nearby towns. The village is built on high land to the north of a streamlet known as The Beck. Its origins date back at least to the 10th century, when the land belonged to Ethelwold, the Bishop of Winchester, who later gave it to the abbey of St Ethelred at Ely. The name Pulham is believed to signify the “place of pools”. The monks purchased the market, which became regularised by the Plea Rolls in 1249. The village prospered and became sufficiently wealthy to build its own church; the present building was begun in the 14th century.
In Tudor times the village became famous for its cottage industries, manufacturing hats, dornicks and coverlets. It had its own Guildhall (no longer standing). Eventually the market lost its appeal because of the larger one at Harleston, and many of the cottage industries were dispersed to other parts of Norfolk.



Over the period covered in this book the village was served by the Waveney Valley Railway, that ran from the east coast to the main Norwich to London line at Tivetshall. There were several shops, including a post office, a bank, a garage and four public houses. The village has always had strong links with agriculture and this has influenced the way the village has developed. Today visitors will see some changes, but the main structure of the village has been preserved.

The Committee of the Pulham Market Society wishes to thank all those who helped to edit the chapters: Pauline Webb, Ann Ford, Stephanie Howard, Jan Thorpe, Richard Emms, Brian Carr, Fred Howard and John Rudge, and many others who had an input.
Special thanks are offered to Jocelyn Rawlence, who kept the whole team focused although she fell ill midway into the project.

We wish to thank Douglas Brown for his help and advice on final editing and book layout.

Thanks are extended to the Countryside Agency for its help with funding.

We thank all who gave photographic material for use in this book.
And for you the reader we hope the experience of reading about life in the mid 20thC in a Norfolk village enriches your life as much as it has for us.
A copy of this book h as been given to every household in Pulham Market. Also many of the local schools will benefit from a copy.

The Pulham Market Society recommends the booklet A Walk around Historic Pulham Market, which gives details of the many interesting buildings. It is available from the Pulham Market Society.
 You can contact the society by e-mail fred_howard@tiscali.co.uk

£8.50

+ £1.50 postage to any place in U.K

Please send a cheque to:

Brian Carr, Lands Farm
Pulham Market
IP21 4YD
Tel: 01379 676292


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