TAKE a guided walk through Laurie Lee’s Slad Valley, the inspiration behind Cider with Rosie, at a special Cheltenham Literature Festival event on Tuesday, October 7. Led by Roger Mortlock of Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and poet and author of A Thousand Laurie Lees, Adam Horovitz, participants will discover the work of Gloucestershire’s most famous 20th century writer and the landscape that inspired him.

The walk will follow the Laurie Lee Wildlife Way - a new waymarked route through the Slad Valley that was created by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust to celebrate the Laurie Lee centenary. The Wildlife Way takes in all four of the Trust’s Nature Reserves in the Slad Valley, including Laurie Lee Wood which was bought by the Trust from the Lee family in 2013. It features 10 poetry posts inscribed with Laurie Lee’s poetry. As well as the links with Laurie Lee, the walk will highlight the wildlife importance of the valley, and how the steep Cotswold valley, untouched by many modern farming techniques, remains a haven for birds, butterflies, ancient woodland and species-rich grassland. It will also describe some of the rich history of the valley and the influence of the wool trade over centuries.

The route will take in most of the poetry posts and will cover about four or five miles. The homeward stretch includes a pitstop in the Woolpack pub and the churchyard in Slad where Laurie Lee is buried.

This Cheltenham Literature Festival event takes place on Tuesday, October 7, from 1.30pm – 5.30pm, and departs by coach from Imperial Square, Cheltenham.

Tickets (available via www.cheltenhamfestivals.com) include a glass of cider at The Woolpack Inn.