A3 (c. 16"x12") print on:
Permajet Gold Silk (£26)
Innova Soft-textured matt (£24)
This is not actually one of my favourite pictures - it's a bit too 'chocolate-box'-y for me, even
though I took it. But the book that this cottage inspired is a favourite. This is Mrs. Lee's
cottage, and this is where little Laurie grew up and subsequently - thankfully - gave us all 'Cider
with Rosie'. I would have taken the picture even without the cottage, as meadows like this
are so rare these days.
You can go and sit in Laurie Lee's pub, the Woolpack, in Slad, Gloucestershire, practically next
door, and you can visit his simple grave, almost opposite the cottage in the churchyard, and
you can walk any of the many country walks around these quiet hills and meadows. Or you
can write to Gloucestershire County Council and object to their crass plans to redevelop the
beautiful little valley that starts here in this quintessential corner of England.
It wouldn't be true to say that if the local ale, Uleys, was good enough for Laurie Lee then it's
good enough for me, as I don't think it can hold a candle to some ales in Suffolk, for instance,
or to London Pride or Sam Smiths. But it is still a pleasure to quaff one in the pub that one of
England's favourite writers knew so well, with its view down the valley and the road, out of
Slad, that he took in his next book, As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning.
This is not actually one of my favourite pictures - it's a bit too 'chocolate-box'-y for me, even
though I took it. But the book that this cottage inspired is a favourite. This is Mrs. Lee's cottage,
and this is where little Laurie grew up and subsequently - thankfully - gave us all 'Cider with Rosie'. I
would have taken the picture even without the cottage, as meadows like this are so rare these
days.
You can go and sit in Laurie Lee's pub, the Woolpack, in Slad, Gloucestershire, practically next door,
and you can visit his simple grave, almost opposite the cottage in the churchyard, and you can
walk any of the many country walks around these quiet hills and meadows. Or you can write to
Gloucestershire County Council and object to their crass plans to redevelop the beautiful little valley
that starts here in this quintessential corner of England.
It wouldn't be true to say that if the local ale, Uleys, was good enough for Laurie Lee then it's good
enough for me, as I don't think it can hold a candle to some ales in Suffolk, for instance, or to
London Pride or Sam Smiths. But it is still a pleasure to quaff one in the pub that one of England's
favourite writers knew so well, with its view down the valley and the road, out of Slad, that he took
in his next book, As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning.
A3 (c. 16"x12") print on:
Permajet Gold Silk (£26)
Innova Soft-textured matt (£24)