Henry Williamson Society Publications

BOOKS BY HENRY WILLIAMSON published by the Society
	Henry Williamson, A brief look at his life and writings in north Devon in the 1920s and ‘30s. (HWS, 2001, 52pp, £3). Includes a mini-biography by Anne Williamson, with 15 extracts from HW’s ‘Devon’ writings, chosen - and with accompanying explanatory text on the real life locations and personalities - by Tony Evans. With 16 photographs and 2 maps (including Williamson's own illustrated map of Georgeham, the village where he lived for a great deal of his life). This book has been produced to fill the gaps created by a lack of information about HW within the ‘tourist’ market, i.e. a cheap and cheerful book for the casual reader. Williamson’s early work is not in print and so this is a very good and informative introduction to stories which are really among his best work. It is available from outlets in north Devon or you can buy it from the Society.
	INDIAN SUMMER NOTEBOOK (HWS, 2001, 88pp, £7.95). Ed John Gregory. A selection of work from a number of sources, including book introductions, contributions to anthologies and magazines; a series of articles in the Evening Standard and a significant essay . If there is a theme, then it is one of people, places and events which had a far-reaching effect on Henry's life - his schooldays, the Christmas truce on the Western Front in 1914, Richard Jefferies, Francis Thompson, his Norfolk farm and North Devon. The book is dedicated to Fr Brocard Sewell, who died on April 2, 2000 and was a champion of Henry's writing. In tribute to Fr Sewell, his article 'Henry Williamson: Old Soldier, first printed in John O'Londons' Weekly in 1961 has been included.
	WORDS ON THE WEST WIND: *Selected Essays from The Adelphi, 1924-1950, April 2000, £7.95. Many of you may well be aware of HW’s contributions over the years to this distinguished literary magazine, edited first by John Middleton Murry, then, for 3 issues in 1948/49, by HW himself, and afterwards by George Godwin. Those of you who are fortunate enough to have copies of The Adelphi* will also know how fragile they have become over the years! This present selection, though not exhaustive, contains both gems and important essays, most (though not all) by HW, that deserve resurrection, including the five editorials by HW from which this book takes its title. Also included are items by James Farrar, and the distinguished poet Charles Causley. Anne Williamson contributes on the background, whilst Richard Williamson waxes lyrical on ‘That damned motorcar’ (the temperamental Aston Martin). Published in the same format and style as the original Adelphi, WORDS ON THE WEST WIND might almost be thought of as a special and final issue.
	THE NOTEBOOK OF A NATURE-LOVER. Foreword by Loetitia Williamson, 117pp, illustrated by Mick Loates, paperback, 1996, £9.50. Recalling the Devon of sixty years ago, this is an enchanting anthology of articles originally written for The Sunday Referee while HW lived at Shallowford. Early essays in the series were collected in THE LINHAY ON THE DOWNS, to which this forms a perfect companion volume.
	GREEN FIELDS AND PAVEMENTS: A Norfolk Farmer in Wartime. Introduction by Bill Williamson, 174pp, illustrated by Mick Loates, cloth, £11.50. Published to mark HW’s centenary, this collection of the contributions that HW wrote for the Eastern Daily Press between 1941 and 1944 makes irresistible reading. It presents a picture of life on the home front during the darker days of the war: of the countryside and its wildlife; the problems of a small farmer; and literature and art with reviews of contemporary books. ‘This is a bedside book of high quality; delightfully written and well illustrated, full of fascinating detail and description. I recommend it warmly.’ – Country Life.
	THRENOS FOR T.E. LAWRENCE and Other Writings [together with] a Criticism of Henry Williamson’s TARKA THE OTTER. Introduction by J.Wheatley Blench 134pp, illustrated, paperback, 1994, £7.50. The title essay was written in 1954, and published to pre-empt Richard Aldington’s controversial book on Lawrence. Two other important essays follow: SOME NATURE WRITERS AND CIVILIZATION (on Richard Jefferies and W H Hudson) which was the Wedmore Lecture given by HW to the Royal Society of Literature, and IN DARKEST ENGLAND, the Presidential Address given to the Francis Thompson Society, telling of his discovery of Thompson’s poetry in the crater-zones of Flanders in the Great War. In addition there is a collection of scarce Prefaces and Introductions, and to conclude, the text of the letter written by T E Lawrence giving a detailed and entertaining criticism of TARKA THE OTTER.
	PEN AND PLOUGH: Further Broadcasts Introduction by John Gregory, 105pp, illustrated, paperback, 1993, £7.50. Transcripts of a further 21 talks on the countryside and farming, and books and writers, this companion volume to SPRING DAYS IN DEVON completes all HW’s surviving BBC radio scripts. The talks read as freshly as any of his books, and both titles are strongly recommended.
	SPRING DAYS IN DEVON and Other Broadcasts Foreword by Valerie Belsey, 124pp, illustrated, paperback, 1992, £7.95 Twenty-two talks, broadcast on the wireless between December 1935 (his very first) and 1954. Subjects include reminiscences of the West Country; the significance in his life of the barn owl; four talks on the lives of English animals (otter, badger, stoat and red deer – the last memorably given from the studio as if it was a live outside broadcast); and the difficulties encountered on becoming a farmer in Norfolk.
	A BREATH OF COUNTRY AIR, Part One Foreword by Richard Williamson, 101pp, illustrated, paperback, 1990, £6.75 A BREATH OF COUNTRY AIR, Part Two Foreword by Robert Williamson, 127pp, illustrated, paperback, 1991, £7.25 These two books bring together for the first time HW’s weekly pieces in The Evening Standard, written between 1944 and 1946. Part Two also includes a 15-part serial, QUEST, unpublished since 1946, which forms a postscript to the Norfolk farm. The articles are concerned with everyday happenings on the farm, his young children (especially Robbie and Rikky, contributors of the two Forewords), country life, and most poignantly, the sale of the farm and the family’s move to Botesdale in Suffolk.
	FROM A COUNTRY HILLTOP 131pp, illustrated, paperback, 1988, £7.00 A charming collection of 58 essays, written between 1958 and 1964, and published in the Co-operative Society’s Home Magazine and The Sunday Times. They show HW’s descriptive powers at their best, and nowhere better than in THE LAST SUMMER, an evocative re-creation of that golden summer of 1914.
	CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE WEEKLY DISPATCH 54pp, paperback, 1969, reprinted by the Society in 1983. £3.95 The very earliest published writings of HW, which appeared in the Weekly Dispatch between July 1920 and January 1921, during his short-lived Fleet Street career. They include THE COUNTRY WEEK (short nature sketches) and ON THE ROAD (a weekly column on light cars). HW’s fictionalised account of this period appears in THE INNOCENT MOON (Macdonald, 1961; reprinted Sutton Publishing, paperback, 1998).
	*STUMBERLEAP and other Devon writings: Contributions to the Daily Express* and Sunday Express, 1915-1935.** Introduction by John Gregory, x, 170 pp., 40 illus., paperback, 2005, £9.50. Beginning with the entire text of the Express’s article on the famous 1914 Christmas Truce, which featured Henry’s letter to his parents describing the event, there follows some of his earliest published writings, from 1921 onwards, with nature essays and sketches of village life in Georgeham. The book also includes some of his finest writing on the Great War, with the two series ‘And this was Ypres ’ and ‘The last 100 days’, together with the moving ‘I believe in the men who died’. It finishes with some of Henry’s classic short stories: ‘Stumberleap’ (which the Express called ‘The Finest Animal Story Ever Written’), ‘Whatever has happened?’, and ‘The heller’. While much (though not all) of this material was later used by Henry in his books, they have all long been out of print, and Stumberleap is an anthology which everyone will enjoy.
	*CHRONICLES OF A NORFOLK FARMER: Contributions to the Daily Express* 1937-1939.** Introduction by John Gregory, ix, 166pp, 30 illus., paperback, 2004, £8.50. Covering his last months at Shallowford in Devon, the move to Norfolk, the difficulties first encountered by a total beginner to farming, the disastrous crash in the price of barley in 1938, and the opening months of the Second World War, these 45 articles by Henry form a fascinating contemporary record of those times. Ten million Express readers enjoyed them then – now you can join them. Also included are 4 of Henry’s classic short stories set in Devon .

VIDEOS AND AUDIOCASSETTES
	TARKA COUNTRY: The Secret Country of the Two Rivers (Video, colour, c.75 mins), £12.99. Produced for the Tarka Country Tourism Association, the video opens with archive film of HW striding across Exmoor, and includes a conducted tour of his Writing Hut by Richard Williamson. Essentially it follows Tarka’s wanderings across Exmoor and Dartmoor, with stunning shots of the Devon countryside and wildlife through the seasons. There are references to HW throughout, and it closes with a moving tribute to him.
	THE PEREGRINE’S SAGA (c. 80 mins), £2.00 This superb reading by the late Sir Michael Hordern was originally produced for the Royal Society for Nature Conservation, and offers remarkable value.
	THE DEVONSHIRE LIFE OF HENRY WILLIAMSON (45 mins), £6.50 Presented by produced by Phillip Hunt for BBC Radio Devon, this features interviews with the Williamson family – Loetitia, ‘Windles’, Robert, Margaret, Richard and Anne – together with Lois Lamplugh and Dr Wheatley Blench. These personal memories of Henry and his life are both captivating and moving.
	THE PERFECT STRANGER (60 mins), £6.50 An opportunity to hear first-hand memories of HW as farmer, with Mrs Loetitia Williamson, Robert Williamson, Douglas Jordan and Bob Pearson (both ex-Old Hall Farm workers) and Bill Gidney, retired Stiffkey blacksmith, with readings from THE STORY OF A NORFOLK FARM. Produced for BBC Radio Norfolk in 1989 by David Clayton and Neil Walker.
	HENRY WILLIAMSON: OLD SOLDIER (60 mins), £7.00 A paper read by Fr Brocard Sewell, with readings from HW’s work by the late Frances Horovitz. Recorded to professional standards by Harry Williamson at the very first Annual General Meeting of the Society on 1 November 1980.