This is a relief model of the British Isles.
On the west side of England are uplands and mountains.
While on the east are undulating lowlands
where the rainfall is moderate.
Villages are usually located where a good supply of water
is available.
There are two kinds of villages--
one sprawls along a road whilst the other is compact in shape.
Now lowland country is essentially agricultural,
so in all fertile areas of eastern England,
there are many farms.
There are consequently many villages where the workers live
and where the craftsmen carry on those trades
upon which agriculture depends.
Some of the villages were built along a road.
Others have grown up around a square like this village, which
is typical of lowland country and dates
back to before the 9th century.
Every corner of the village is a reminder
of the craftsmen of a bygone age--
of the architects and builders of the past.
Their work has stood the test of time
and mellowed with the years.
The carpenters and masons built these houses
of timber taken from nearby woodlands and plaster made up
from the local chalky clay.
Back in the 14th century, these houses
were built by Flemish craftsmen who, seeking refuge
from religious persecution, settled in England
and introduced the weaving trade.
This locality was a natural choice
for the weaving industry because of its good pasture
for the sheep and its proximity to coastal ports.
The industry prospered.
The wool merchants gave money to the building of a fine church,
and cottages were squeezed in everywhere.
This industry, however, later gave place
to the spinning of fine wools.
Various other industries were, in turn,
practised by the villagers, such as silk weaving,
straw platting, the manufacture of coconut mats,
and horsehair weaving.
However, the villagers once more devoted themselves
wholeheartedly to agriculture, which had all the while
continued to thrive alongside their other industries.
Thus they returned to a livelihood best suited
to their environment.
Early in the morning, the villagers
go off to work on the farms, and the milkman starts his rounds.
As regular as clockwork, the postman
arrives with the letters, and the children just as
punctually go off to school.
After they have taken the younger children to school,
the mothers and womenfolk do their shopping.
But there's always time for a chat before getting down
to the day's housework.
On the farms, the horse is starting his work too,
for in spite of the increasing use of machines,
he is still indispensable for much of the work.
The cows have given their morning milk
and are on their way back to the fields.
But the farmer is out in the fields
already for in late summer and autumn,
there is the harvesting, and from dawn to dusk,
the machines are busy.
Round and round the reaper clatters, and field after field
is cut, and the corn is stacked and fetched.
In another field, the sugar beet crop is ready.
A type of plough loosens the beet,
and the men lift the crops and shake them clean.
The farmers' work varies with the seasons,
and winter is the time for hedging and pitching.
When spring arrives, there is more
ploughing to be done and the rest of the new season's crops
to be sown.
Hoeing and singling root crops are part
of the summer season's work.
Then once again, the grain is ripe.
So revolves the farmer's calendar,
which culminates in harvest.
His year will commence again with autumn ploughing.
Back in the village, the craftsmen
are busy attending to what might be
called the farmer's equipment.
The wheelwright repairing and making new wheels for the farm
waggons.
The village blacksmith carries on his trade
with hammer, forge, and anvil like his fathers
before him for the horse still needs as many new shoes,
and no machine has yet to be made to do the job.
A saddler builds and renews the horses' harness for hands-on
work is still the best.
Thus these trades, unchanging with the years,
keep alive a tradition of the past while serving the needs
of the farmers of today.
Yet the village has always been quick to use
each new form of progress.
Gas was introduced.
Railways and modernised roads were built.
Water was piped into the houses replacing the old system
of wells, and electricity has been put to many uses
in the present community.
These modern appliances and other manufactured goods
come from the towns, and to the towns
go the agricultural products.
Thus town and country are interdependent.
As evening comes down, the horses
are turned into the fields, and the workers
return to their homes.
During the centuries, the village has seen many changes
but has survived them all.
Industry after industry changed, but the spirit of the villagers
remain.
Always the land was around them, so they
took once more to the land, and with the help of modern science
have again reached prosperity.
The village is dependent on the land.
The workers of the land are dependent on the village,
for there they find their supplies.
There dwell their craftsmen.
And there they forgather in the evenings at the local inn,
and in true democratic fashion, over their glass of beer,
discuss their politics and air their views
as their forefathers have done for centuries before them.
Outside in the fields, night begins to fall,
and the hours of rest have come for man and beast.
Tomorrow, work on the land must go on afresh,
for nature has her seasons, and the seasons wait for no man.