COTSWOLD Feature
Celebrating a literary legend
This year will see the 100th anniversary of the birth of celebrated author Laurie Lee. By Sue Smith
The writer who immortalised Gloucestershire’s Slad Valley in his book Cider with Rosie was a colourful character who packed a lot of living into the 83 years before his death in 1997. The opening lines of Cider With Rosie
start with Laurie’s memories of moving from Stroud to Slad at the age of three. In the first chapter he describes the
terrors of country living as seen through the eyes of a small child from the long blades of grass teeming with crickets to the larks tearing up the sky above. Laurie Lee grew up in a tiny cottage with his mother and three older half
54 COTSWOLDESSENCE | March - 2014
sisters and two brothers. His father was largely absent and Lee made no secret of the fact there was no love lost between the two of them. The former Marling School pupil
(formerly The Central Boys School) had already been singled out as having a ‘strong imagination’ and the ability to write ‘clever and amusing stories’ while still attending the local primary school. But his education was plagued by bouts
of sickness including pneumonia and bronchitis resulting in long periods of absenteeism. From school he joined Randall and
Payne chartered accountants in Stroud but the work didn’t suit him and in 1934 he decided to walk to London and make a living busking with his violin. A year later he travelled to Spain where
he became interested in the Republican cause. He joined the International Brigades to
fight in the Civil Spanish War but after a medical he was declared “physically weak” and sent home. His experience in Spain resulted in his
book As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning. Laurie Lee’s own personal life could
www.cotswoldessence.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88