During the late 1930s Henry Williamson became a broadcaster of some repute on the BBC. This is a collection of twenty-two of his talks, broadcast on the wireless between December 1935 (his very first appearance in front of the microphone) and 1954. Subjects include reminiscences from his own inimitable viewpoint of the West Country and its flora and fauna; the significance in his life of the barn owl; four talks on the lives of English animals (otter, badger, stoat and red deer); and the difficulties encountered on becoming a farmer in Norfolk.

With an Afterword, 'Henry Williamson and the BBC', by John Gregory; approx. 140 print pages, paperback, Henry Williamson Society, 1992; e-book 2014

During the late 1930s Henry Williamson became a broadcaster of some repute on the BBC. Spring Days in Devon collects twenty-two of his talks, broadcast on the wireless between December 1935 (his very first appearance in front of the microphone) and 1954. Subjects include reminiscences from his own inimitable viewpoint of the West Country and its flora and fauna; 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 were a live outside broadcast); and the difficulties encountered on becoming a farmer in Norfolk, following his move there in 1937 to reclaim a derelict farm. As an Afterword, the history of the working relationship between the BBC and Henry Williamson is told in ‘Henry Williamson and the BBC’, by John Gregory.

It is clear from his scripts that Williamson put as much care into the writing of these as he did into his books; they are of a high and immediate quality, and remain immensely readable today. All surviving scripts have been gathered into two volumes and published as Spring Days in Devon and its companion Pen and Plough.

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