By Saul Cooke-Black

JUST under four million viewers tuned in to watch the latest version of Laurie Lee’s Cider with Rosie last Sunday. But who was the real Rosie? The SNJ found out in 1999.

Rosalind Buckland, Laurie Lee’s cousin, was 84 in 1999, and had just been reunited with another of the book’s characters for the first time in 70 years.

Thanks to the efforts of Mike Powell, who was researching Slad and the characters of the book, Rosie was reunited with friend Betty Spring.

The pair, whose school days were immortalised in the famous book, had not seen each other since they left school aged 14.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Rosie told the SNJ in 1999.

“I thought I had lost touch with everybody.

“When I got married I borrowed Betty’s sister’s head-dress.”

Better known as Rosie Green and Betty Gleed from the book, their meeting sparked a wealth of memories about their childhood and Laurie Lee.

She said that Laurie’s account of their childhood friendship differed from Rosie’s own memories.

“I don’t remember drinking cider at that age,” said Rosie, who would have been aged around nine during the period depicted in the classic book.

Rosie married at 21 and moved away from the area.