Broadway, Somerset
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Broadway is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated three miles west of Ilminster and five miles north of Chard in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 616 .
Bordering the village of Horton, Somerset, Broadway has always been seen by the locals as a 'poor substitute' for living in the higher class of the two villages, an animosity that has its roots as far back as the 1890s when, it is rumoured, a group of up to 17 individuals from Broadway banded together and attempted to physically take over a small group of houses in an area just to the east of Horton. They failed on this attempt but they are reputed to have tried again no less than 4 times, finally managing to overcome the locals and move into the area. The lane on which the houses stood became known as 'Crooks Lane' later to be re-named Crook Street then, fearing a bad reputation for the village, was finally formally named Crockstreet, a name which survives today.
Broadway houses a small village school, Neroche County Primary which, despite the removal of the swimming pool and the, some might say, crime of selling off some of the playing field to land developers, remains one of, if not the, only school in the village, boasting annual competitions for such converted titles such as 'student most likely to get good grades at GCSE' and the fiercely fought over 'chess champion' trophy which was forged by a local students father during the mid 1970s yet still survives to be won every year by the next 'Village Kasparov". Past winners include John Lewis, and probably Duncan Poole at one point.
[edit] References
- ^ Somerset County Council, 2002. Population estimates.