Poet well-versed in local life (From Stroud News and Journal)

Poet well-versed in local life

A WANDERING teacher who came home to the Five Valleys after a lifetime away has published a collection of poetic reflections on the Cotswolds.

William Reid's A Country Poet is a debut collection of 28 works subtitled Poems of the gritty Cotswolds: past and present.

"I was born in the Stroud area and went away," says the Amberley resident. "When I came back in 1990 I decided I was going to retire here and started looking at the countryside again and this sort of stuff began to come out over a period of ten years.

"Recently I looked at it and thought it didn't look too bad, maybe I should make a collection out of it and that is what I've done."

He is a published author in the field of education both here and in America, where he lived and lectured at the University of Texas, amongst other institutions.

"I've written quite a number of books in the education field - books on what should be tried in schools," he says.

He began his teaching career at Brimscombe Secondary Modern School, in an old canal warehouse later demolished.

Afterwards he moved to a grammar school in Cambridge, becoming local president of the National Union of Teachers, before moving on to lecture in the University of Birmingham's faculty of education.

His travels have helped to paint his origins in stark contrast and inspire these lyrical elegies to his homeland. "This is coming back to the roots, having gradually got further and further away," he says. "This is where it all began."

A Country Poet by William Reid, priced £5, is published by Chantry Press and available from Stroud Bookshop (ISBN 0954923707) or from the author at Senkley Cottage, St Chloe Green, Amberley, Stroud GL5 5AP on 01453 873380.