Aldborough¹ is a large village of about 700 inhabitants, located approximately 20 miles north of Norwich along the A140 to Cromer.

The existence of Aldborough can be traced back to the early 1500s, and at that time was located well to the north-west of its current location. A migration probably occurred during the great plague of the 15th Century, when a good proportion of the inhabitants died. As evidence of this the church in Aldborough is almost a mile from the current centre of the village, and various place names refer back to the plague. For instance, 'Doctor's Corner' as it is now, in the 17th Century was known as 'Poison Green'. Whether this was due to the doctors or the plague is unclear.

The village nowadays is centred around a village green of approximately seven acres. This acts as the focal point, with various sports being played on it in both summer and winter. In the summer, cricket is played on the green. A prominent feature of the local community, Aldborough Cricket Club can trace its lineage back to the early 19th Century. The club is quite successful and has approximately 200 members, and draws players from the whole county.

Around the green, all facing inwards, are approximately 50 houses, many well over 200 years old. John Brown's House, currently owned by a Mr and Mrs Padgam, actually features in text from 1720. As well as houses there is a Spar shop, a Post Office, two pubs (The Black Boys and The Old Red Lion), a butchers, and an antique shop. Aldborough school is slightly outside the village bounds, but has five classes and about 130 pupils. These services draw people not just from the village, but from many of the other villages and hamlets in the surrounding countryside.

There are also several modern developments in the village. At the back of The Black Boys lies a 1970s council estate with approximately 70 houses. There are also other new buildings dotted around.

Village life is reasonably quiet, it being a place to live and grow up in, rather than a bustling metropolis. But there are various clubs and weekly events held in the community centre. A Christmas pantomime is performed every year, and the school has numerous events as well, from sports day, to Guy Fawkes night, to Halloween. But undoubtedly the highlight of the year is in midsummer when the travelling fair arrives.

An ancient bylaw, formed when the horse-fair came round the villages, stated that if they failed to arrive by midsummer's day then they could never come again. This passed away from the Horse fair, and onto the travelling one. So every midsummer, huge lorries crawl through and onto the green where they set up a ferris wheel, dodgems, go-karts and a multitude of smaller stalls. This continues for three days and draws people from beyond Norwich.

Aldborough also has a village show in early September, usually September the fourth and fifth. This is again a large event. Radio Broadland arrive to provide the DJs and music, and it is rare that attendance falls below 10,000 for the two days. As well as the usual things like go-karting, there is a model show (of planes) in the community centre, and the North Norfolk Owl Trust turns up with rare species of birds, which they fly in demonstrations of hawking. And there are plenty of other things, like old threshing machines driven by steam.

So life in Aldborough is quite varied, but the pace rarely picks up too much. The setting is stunning, and in summer with blue skies, cricket on the green and a hot sun, it becomes the perfect example of a 'ye olde Englande' village.