Thread by @TristanCorkPost

THREAD: I was back in the Stroud Subscription Rooms for the first time in years today & had a flashback to a moment there that’ll stay with me forever, involving the legendary Cider With Rosie author, Laurie Lee.
1/22
#CiderWithRosie

I have so many stories about Laurie, it was an honour to know him, albeit in his final years.
But this one I’ll share now.
Perhaps memory & time has given it extra dramatic flourish in my mind. Perhaps there are others there who will remember better too.
2/22
#CiderWithRosie

It was, I think, 1996 & his beloved Slad was under threat from housing developers, who wanted to expand Stroud into his green & beautiful valley.
3/22
#CiderWithRosie

There was opposition. Perhaps unwisely, they set up a public meeting to present their plans.
The Sub Rooms were packed.
There early, I set up a little table at the front, side on, so I had the developers on stage on my left & the rows filling up on my right.
4/22
#CiderWithRosie

The door to the hall was in the far corner. The room filled up with concerned residents & the first developer man stood up to begin his welcome & safety announcements etc.

5/22
#CiderWithRosie

He handed over to the main developer man to talk us through why building several hundred homes in the Slad Valley would be a good idea.
6/22
#CiderWithRosie

He stood up & opened his mouth and the door at the far end opened.
He hesitated, squinting over the heads of his audience as a figure shuffled in.
7/22
#CiderWithRosie

I saw it was Laurie straight away: His hat, shape, figure & movement were all unmistakable.
He walked slowly, with a stick by this stage, & went forward through the doorway to the back of the centre aisle, between the rows of filled chairs.
8/22
#CiderWithRosie

All eyes were front so no one else clocked him
The developer began his opening statement but hesitated again because, instead of taking one of the few spare seats at the very back, the old latecomer turned right & came down the aisle like a bride at a wedding
9/22
#CiderWithRosie

And, like a bride at a wedding, heads in each row in turn that he passed, turned to see.
People gasped with recognition & a murmur followed behind him like a wave he could surf to gently push him, will him, urge him, to the front.
10/22
#CiderWithRosie

Eventually he reached the first row. It felt like it took 10 minutes.
The developer man had tried to start with a ‘So our plans will...’ and a ‘We will be sympathetic to, er...’ but gave up as the old man got closer.
11/22
#CiderWithRosie

People had obviously hoped Laurie might be there, but few thought he would. His visits down the valley to Stroud were fewer & farther between now, especially in the evening.
12/22
#CiderWithRosie

We’d been used to finding him in Stroud in the mornings, but by lunchtime he liked to be back in Slad, usually at the Woolpack.
He liked to not be thirsty, & by the evenings, let’s say he wasn’t on as top form as mornings.

13/22
#CiderWithRosie

So to see him looking slow but straight & determined this evening fortified the audience.
14/22
#CiderWithRosie

He reached the front & someone jumped up to let him have their seat.
He saw me & doffed his hat in recognition.
He turned back to the man standing a few feet above him now on the stage, & raised his stick as if to apologise.
But did it like it was a sword.

15/22
#CiderWithRosie

You could hear a pin drop.

16/22
#CiderWithRosie

As he sat down, he spoke in a loud clear voice
Laurie, this man who painted landscape paintings of his valley worthy of Constable or Turner, but with words
Laurie, this man who left but returned in later life to be once again enveloped by its folds & woods.

17/22
#CiderWithRosie

“I’m so sorry I’m late.
Do go on...
you were saying?”

The place erupted.

18/22
#CiderWithRosie

From silence to rapturous applause & cheering.
There was no way, NO WAY, these developers from London or wherever, were going to get permission now.
19/22
#CiderWithRosie

The developer people wilted, visibly crumpled, on stage.
They recovered to go through the motions of their presentation, but no one really listened.
Everyone knew they were wasting their time.

20/22
#CiderWithRosie

The battle did continue, they were refused, appealed, lost.
Laurie died the following spring, & the heavens opened as he was laid in the churchyard, in a spot he chose so it would be close enough to hear if the Woolpack was having a lock in.
21/22
#CiderWithRosie

The developers came back sporadically & were beaten each time by his ghost, or maybe just the threat that he might have a ghost.
Slad is as lush today as it was when Laurie didn’t really help with the harvest in the big field.
22/22
#CiderWithRosie