The Village
Stradbroke is a village in High Suffolk with a population today of about 1500. Because Stradbroke serves as a natural centre for other surrounding smaller villages and hamlets, it has always had more facilities than this simple population figure might suggest. In consequence, there are still two pubs, several shops and many other local services including a Public Library, a modern Community Centre, a Swimming Pool and a Gym. There is an extensive playing field for cricket and football, three tennis courts and two bowling greens. There is also a Fitness Track and some 12 miles of public footpaths for those who like to run, jog or walk the dog. On the Community Centre Site there is also a Doctor’s Surgery open every weekday and a play area for young children. At Westhall there is another play area and a recreation ground for informal games. Stradbroke also serves as a centre for education for Mid Suffolk and we have both a Primary School and a High School in the village.
Location
Stradbroke lies more or less midway between Norwich and Ipswich and within easy driving distance of the Suffolk coastal towns of Southwold and Aldeburgh. Mainline train services are available from Diss Station, roughly 9 miles away. From there it takes about an hour and a half to get to London. There are also buses which link the village to surrounding towns such as Diss, Ipswich and Norwich.
Agriculture
Stradbroke stands on good land for agriculture, which in the past was its main source of income. The commonest crops grown around the village nowadays are wheat, barley, sugar beet and oil-seed rape. One characteristic which has helped the village to take on its present character was that there were many small farms and no dominating estate or landowner. In recent times the agricultural land has been amalgamated into far fewer larger farms but there is still no dominant one.