Stradbroke

Stradbroke ( /ˈstrædbrʊk/ STRAD-brook) is a village in Suffolk, England, United Kingdom. It is in the Mid Suffolk District and part of the East of England Region of England. Stradbroke is near to the small Suffolk town of Eye and the larger Norfolk market town of Diss. It has a population of around 1330 (mid 2005).

Stradbroke is midway between Norwich and Ipswich and within easy driving distance of the Suffolk coastal towns of Southwold and Aldeburgh. By train from Diss it is an hour and a half to London.It has a Mon-Sat bus service. Sunday service withdrawn and most routes as of the 1st April. For a full list look at the page List of bus routes in Central Suffolk

The village is the centre of a working rural community set amidst quiet rolling countryside. It has a Post Office, 3 pubs, convenience store, a library, butcher, baker, a swimming pool and gym, playing fields, community centre, doctors surgery and numerous social and sporting activities. The village has a traditional primary school and a secondary school.

The village is dominated by All Saint's Church which can be seen from miles away; it has a 15th century tower. Several photographs and more information is available on the Suffolk Churches Website

There is an annual Real Ale and Jazz Festival held on the weekend after the May Day Bank Holiday at the Queen's Head public house until 2010. This event attracts visitors from East Anglia and further afield.

The village also used to host a more unusual event on the last Saturday in July known as Navy Day. This mourns the end of the Royal Navy's rum ration and as part of the celebrations a tot of rum is processed around the village. Quite how a Suffolk village some 18 miles from the sea has come to host such a celebrartion has been the topic of an interesting post on the Village Website Forums. The last Navy Day was held in 2007.

Stradbroke also has its own Radio Station called Radio Stradbroke which broadcasts live events over the Internet and podcasts for download, this started in Easter 2006 with the broadcast of Marty's Go-Go Roadshow from the Queens Head pub in the village to hundreds of listeners around the world.

Stradbroke High School is the smallest secondary school in Suffolk and one of the smallest in England with only some 360 pupils.