Nantwich Bookshop & Coffee Lounge

Reporter Jonathan White

Local TV director David Parker is giving an illustrated talk entitled ‘Laurie Lee - The Lost Recordings’ at the Nantwich Bookshop & Coffee Lounge, 46 High Street in the centre of Nantwich on Thursday 21st November 2019.

The talk will include reflections on love, landscape, writing, poetry, childhood, music and much more from the voice of Laurie Lee - one of the great English writers of the last century.

In 1994, the year of his 80th birthday, Laurie Lee shared his memories of an 'eventful' early life in a series of interviews with the film maker David Parker. It was quite a coup, as Laurie did not 'do' television!  In the recordings he talked with sublime eloquence about his life in the Slad Valley, and the influence of the landscapes and memories of his childhood on his subsequent writing.  In this session David, who grew up in Crewe, will introduce the recordings, and using extracts from them reveal what they tell us about one of England's finest chroniclers of our times.

‘Laurie Lee - The Lost Recordings’ is out now on DVD and audio CD. 'Laurie Lee - Down in the Valley - A Writer's Landscape' edited by David Parker is published by Penguin.

David Parker grew up in Crewe and knows Nantwich very well. He is an award-winning television programme maker whose credits include, ‘Mud, Sweat and Tractors’, ‘Shooting the War’, ‘The Golden Age of Steam’ and ‘The Golden Age of Canals’ for the BBC and ‘Flying Scotsman with Robson Green’ for ITV. He was the producer of Johnny Kingdom's programmes about Exmoor for the BBC and is author of ‘Johnny Kingdom's Wild Exmoor’ (Halsgrove 2016).

Tickets are £7.50 per person and include delicious snacks and a £2.50 discount against purchase of David's book on the night. There will also be a cash bar. Doors open at 6:30pm for a 7pm start.

Other author events in the near future at the Nantwich Bookshop & Coffee Lounge:

-Tuesday 12th November (new date) - Local author Anne Draper will come and talk about her book 'Audlem Remembers'.  This book is an attempt to tell the stories of the 41 men from Audlem who lost their lives in WWI, and the sacrifice they made. Tickets are £7.50 per person and include our delicious snacks and a £2.50 discount against book purchase on the night.  Doors open at 18:30 for a 19:00 start.

-Wednesday, 13 November – ‘A Cosy Storytime With Green Bean & Friends’ (10:30-11:30am) - Green Bean & friends, take children on an adventure of learning and understanding, highlighting key vocabulary and identifying areas of interest for children. Suitable for babies to children aged 5 years.  Free entry.

For further information please contact Nantwich Bookshop & Coffee Lounge via phone: 01270 611665, email: info@nantwichbookshop.co.uk , or Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NantwichBookshopCoffeeshop/