Laurie Lee’s postbox
Greetings from the postbox in the Gloucestershire village of Slad!
The end of last week was a blur of deliveries and frantic posting of books. I still can't quite believe that Letter from New York is here - thank you all so much for your pre-orders and now actual live orders too! I'm in seventh heaven seeing all your photos and reels featuring the book. I'm certain Helene Hanff would have been tickled pink by all the fabulous feedback.
Anyway, we managed to fit in a quick break from the office and headed to Gloucestershire this weekend for Sunday lunch (and a trip to see the wonderful Gifford’s Circus).
While I love books, authors, illustrators and bookshops and all that literary malarky, I'm afraid to tell you that my one true love is in fact the Yorkshire Pudding - and I have been known to travel the length and breadth of the country in search of a good roast dinner.
At this point, I will say no more, other than to urge you - should you be of the same disposition - to book in for the bestest of Sunday lunches at The Woolpack in Slad.
Anyway ... I digress. I reckon one can find a literary link in most places, so it was wonderful to be able to ramble and then dine with the bestest of friends in the village where poet and writer Laurie Lee grew up. Slad is simply stunning, now as then I suspect, and inspired Lee's 1959 masterpiece Cider with Rosie - the first in a series of autobiographical books.
Although he left the village as a teenager (heading to London and, later, Spain, where he became an International Brigade volunteer in the Civil War), Lee came back to Slad in the 1960s and lived close to his childhood home until he died in 1997.
Lee was a regular at the Woolpack - apparently often to be found sipping a pint at one of the tables. As you can imagine, this absolutely made my afternoon.
Because I happened to have a huge bag of book orders with me, I just had to pop a few parcels in the local post box after lunch, which is right next to the pub. As you can see, it is not exactly large. So I'm not sure which of you wonderful readers will receive your copy of Letter from New York via Gloucestershire, but about 10 of you had your copies posted from a letter box that Laurie Lee probably used himself, once upon a time.
Finally, I just have to mention the Stroud-based radical wordsmith and poster artist Dennis Gould - whose letter-press prints are available to buy from behind the bar at the Woolpack. They are an absolute must, along with the Yorkshires. I bought 8 and I'll let you guess whether I am referring to prints or puddings...
