In the Woolpack

The Woolpack Pub in the village of Slad was the writer Laurie Lee's local. This year we are celebrating the birth centenary of LL, who died in 1997 and is buried in Slad churchyard. As a writer/performer I have participated in other events throughout this year, but this was by far the most intimate.

Despite my loss of voice, I wanted to go ahead with the reading, because my reading partner had unfortunately had to pull out. I managed to find a replacement, the wonderful Anna, via Facebook, so we set off in good heart this evening. The pub is made up of three little rooms, and we took over the one at the Stroud end, snuggling in around bench seats or settles, backed up against the walls. About twenty people could turn up to listen, at a squeeze. Anna and I read from Cider with Rosie and As I Walked out one Midsummer Morning (Laurie Lee's tramping around Spain as a young man with a fiddle). Then there was a break, we read some more, and finally the musicians came in with some folky, bluegrassy numbers.

The quality of listening/attention was wonderful, and I felt there was great respect for the written word. I could not take a picture while the musicians were playing, as my camera was on the other side of the room, and they were in the centre. So I've chosen this after-shot, of one of the musicians, Fergus Anderson, and an artist, whose name I don't know, who was sketching people throughout the evening. The woman in the woolly hat, also unknown to me, makes up the Stroudie set nicely. If you look closely at the pub table, you'll see there's a teapot, a candle, and a sketchbook. Not Wetherspoons, is it? Thank God!

I was delighted that my friends Symon and John, who were on the walk I blipped back on 10th August, had turned up, also as a result of my facebook networking. They brought a friend, Carol, and it turns out they all want to go on another walk of the Horns and the Heavens valleys. which happen to be right behind my house! We're going to do a reccy some time. Symon's been following my blips, it seems, and has invited me and CleanSteve to visit his farm some time soon, as he says it's full of things to photograph! I haven't actually worked out what animals they may have, apart from dogs, but all will be revealed.

So, all in all, an excellent evening, and now I only have to find a way to sleep sitting up tonight, as the cough is bad when I lie down. CleanSteve is now getting ill, too.