Visiting Laurie Lee In Slad.

Rosebank Cottage.

Following our expedition to see George Orwell’s grave recently, one evening in the pub I suggested to my neighbour that it might be interesting to visit the village of Slad in The Cotswolds which was the home of the author Laurie Lee. There is actually a link between the two writers because they both fought in the Spanish Civil War and wrote famous books about their experiences. It is only about 44 miles from Westbury to Slad, so we set off yesterday morning at about 11.00. The journey was quite uneventful to begin with. We went via Trowbridge and Bradford-On-Avon. Before Bath we headed north, across the M4 and up the A46 through some scenic countryside and interesting villages and towns. 

Laurie Lee's Grave.

One small village had the unusual name of Petty France. I googled it this morning and found that it got the name because of the number of Huguenot refugees who once lived here. There is also a village called Dunkirk for the same reason. The town of Nailsworth looked very attractive, if somewhat hilly. All went well until we reached the town of Stroud where we got completely lost trying to find the road to Slad. We ended up doing a detour of several miles until we stopped and asked a passer-by who put us on the right road. Finally, we arrived in the picturesque village of Slad nestling in the Slad Valley.  Parking spaces were at a premium, so we had to drive through the village and park in a kind of lay-by and walk back. Almost the first place I noticed was Rosebank Cottage which is immortalised in Laurie Lee’s classic memoir Cider With Rosie. He arrived here with his six brothers and sisters in 1917 aged three. In the book he says, “I was set down from a carrier’s cart at the age of three; and there with a sense of terror and bewilderment my life in the village began”. 

He related how the cellar would flood during heavy rainfall and they would have to clear the storm drain. Seeing the house in reality, you can understand that because it is situated down a steep incline from the road. I took a couple of photos of the cottage, and we moved on. On the right side of the road is the small Holy Trinity Church where we easily found Laurie Lee’s resting place just by the pathway. The headstone simply reads, ‘He Lies In The Valley He Loved’. On the reverse side of the headstone is a verse from his poem April Rise, ‘If ever I saw blessing in the air, I see it now this still early day, Where lemon-green the vaporous morning drips, Wet sunlight on the powder of my eye’. 

In The Woolpack.

It was all very interesting, but unlike other famous graves I have visited, I was beginning to realise that this whole village is a memorial to Laurie Lee. Right next to the church is the School House which Laurie attended until the age of twelve. He also wrote vivid descriptions of that experience. Straight across the road from the school is the Woolpack Pub. It was busy with tourists and walkers who were on the Laurie Lee Wildlife Walk. It is a five-mile circular walk around the Slad Valley and is marked at certain points by Poetry Posts which have appropriate verses on them. There is one right outside the pub. The sun had emerged by now and it was quite warm, so we sat at a table outside and admired the wonderful view. I would have loved a pint of cider in honour of Cider With Rosie, but knowing we had an hours drive ahead I thought it would be more sensible to just have a glass of wine. 

Books by Laurie Lee.

Laurie Lee and his wife moved back to Slad in the 1960s after over 30 years away. He could often be found holding court in the bar here. He once recounted how there were occasions when people would ask him in the pub if he knew where Laurie Lee was buried!, not realising he was still alive and they were talking to the great man himself. I had a little tour of the pub’s interior, and it is quite fascinating. There is a bookcase containing lots of rare editions of his books. There are photos and paintings of himself. I particularly liked a large, framed poster of the cover of my favourite book by him called  As I Walked Out One Mid-Summer's Morning. It is the second book of his memoir trilogy. It tells the story of when he left Slad, and his experiences in Southampton and London and then walking all the way through France & Spain, surviving by busking with his violin. One of the places he stayed in is Tarifa which I remember from our journey to Morocco back in 74. In Almuñécar, Andalusia there is actually a memorial to Laurie Lee. He was finally evacuated by a British destroyer as the Spanish Civil War got underway. 

When I was young, that book inspired me to want to go travelling almost as much as On The Road by Jack Kerouac. The third part of the trilogy called A Moment Of War is about Lee’s return to Spain in 1937 to fight against Franco. I haven’t read that one though. Anyway, after a most enjoyable visit to Slad we headed homeward. Thankfully, finding our way out of Stroud was a lot easier on the return journey. When we got home, I went to the pub at 5.00 and ended up drinking five pints of cider in honour of the great Laurie Lee.