Strumpshaw is a small Norfolk village; the home to 500 residents and the envy of property developers.  Its 1350 acres is a buffer zone for the well-developed neighbourhoods of Brundall and Lingwood.  Two pubs flourish, engine enthusiasts flock to its steam museum and bird-watchers descend on the RSPB reserve of Strumpshaw Fen.  On May Bank Holiday, all roads for steam enthusiasts lead to Strumpshaw.

Every Boxing Day morning the ‘poor’ of the village gather at the porch of St Peter's church, each to receive a share from four bushels of wheat.  This Strumpshaw tradition, unbroken for 250 years came from the last will and testament of a local farmer, William Black, who died in 1756, decreeing the distribution should be made from his estate forever.

William Black's benefaction is a most tangible link with the past of this remarkable village.  Its geographical fate was fixed during the Ice Age and remains evident to this day through one of the highest viewpoints in the county.  At the Domesday survey King William laid claim to his share of Strumpshaw.

For centuries the village survived on agriculture when each ten acres of farmland meant employment for one Strumpshaw labourer and the blacksmith would shoe three horses before breakfast.  Now the farmers have gone, yet the fields are fully cropped.

There was a time when the community sustained a dressmaker, undertaker, brick-maker, shoemaker, fish curer and Strumpshaw clay was fired into fine earthenware at Bristol and London. 

From the threat of Napoleonic invasion to the risk of nuclear attack during the Cold War, Strumpshaw’s geographical contours played an integral part in Britain's defence communications.

“Think of steam: think of Strumpshaw” is a chapter devoted to the museum and its steam rally in The Book of Strumpshaw being published by Halsgrove in October.  It charts the history of Strumpshaw’s steam association from the time William Key’s great great grandfather, William Holmes bought the Hall estate in 1881 to the years his grandfather, Wesley Key amassed a collection of steam engines.

The Book of Strumpshaw by Stephen Peart (ISBN 978 0 85704 061 9) is the biggest book ever published on the village’s history.  As a subscriber edition it will not be repeated.  Copies ordered in advance of publication can have the buyer’s or a loved one’s name printed in the book’s list of subscribers.  The large format hardback (A4), of 160 pages has more than 300 photographs, costs £19.99 and can be ordered from Halsgrove Direct, Halsgrove House, Ryelands Industrial Estate, Bagley Road, Wellington, Somerset TA21 9PZ.  Tel: 01823 653777, E-mail sales@halsgrove.com or by clicking  Here