i8a BRANDSBY SHOWS THE WAY 



The provision of comfortable cottages is undoubtedly 

 the first indispensable requisite in any well-considered 

 scheme for inducing the labourer to stop on the land. 

 It assures him home life. But there is the question of 

 village life as well. In this direction Mr. Fairfax- 

 Cholmeley established at Brandsby a reading-room, 

 or village club, which is now managed entirely by the 

 members. Any local resident is eligible for member- 

 ship on payment of a subscription of one shilling 

 per quarter. The club is located in one of a row of 

 cottages, and, though quite unpretending in appearance, 

 it fully answers the desired purpose as a centre for 

 social converse. It is affiliated to the Working Men's 

 Club and Institute Union, and is well supplied with 

 literature from the lending library of that institution. 



There is also at Brandsby a public bath-house, 

 which was erected in commemoration of the Diamond 

 Jubilee of Queen Victoria. The internal fittings were 

 provided by public subscriptions after it had been 

 handed over by Mr. Fairfax- Cholmeley to the Parish 

 Council, which body now maintains it, at a very small 

 cost to the local rates. There are in the small building 

 two hot and cold water baths, available once a week 

 for men, and once a week for women and children. 

 No charge is made for their use, but the bathers have 

 to provide their own soap and towels. 



In these various directions there were introduced 

 into the parish new conditions directly bearing on the 

 daily life of the farm-labourers whom it was desirable 

 to retain, and it was, indeed, these labourers who were 

 mostly concerned therein. Of small holders (as distinct 

 from the allotments held by the labourers themselves) 

 there are only seven or eight on the estate, and these 

 farm from 7 to 25 acres each, though all have some 

 other occupation besides. One is a carrier, one is 



