The Village

Present day. Bert Middleton is the second oldest man in Britain, and a film is being made about his life and his village. He takes us back to the summer of 1914 when he was twelve years old. Bert and his brother Joe fell in love with the same woman, and Britain declared war on Germany.

March 1916. Conscription is introduced for the first time in British history. Call up papers are delivered throughout the village, and soldiers arrive at the Middleton farm to requisition Bert’s beloved horse, Big Molly.

1st July 1916. The date of the Rondo: an annual wheel barrow race on the cricket field, and unbeknownst to the villagers, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Rumours are sweeping around the village that the local Pals Battalion are taking part in a big battle about to be launched in France.

Joe’s brief leave from the Front has come to an end. He has tried hard to conceal his shell-shock from the family, but Grace knows that something is badly wrong. When Bert learns that he is unwittingly responsible for his brother’s state of mind he takes action, with disastrous consequences for the family.

1920. The war is over, and the village tries to come to terms with its loss. The date of the unveiling of the War Memorial draws close and as the inhabitants debate how best to honour their dead.