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| Candlestick Press August 2025 My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this pamphlet |
Round a bend at the end of a deep lane where trees “lean in over the track” we find ourselves in a hidden Gloucestershire valley. This richly lyrical essay by leading naturalist brings us owls and wrens, hibernating ladybirds and an old orchard where windfall crab apples melt into the soft earth.
Humans and animals alike are hunkering down ready for the cold season ahead. Tasks such as sweeping leaves and clearing gutters are woven into the parallel rhythms of the natural world, so that indoors and outdoors are brought into intimate harmony:
“Another dusk. Rain-mist muffles everything, softens the valley’s curves. It’s a different sort of time here. Leaf-slip time, brown and gold and copper leaves, of whitebeam, beech, alder. A churring comes from somewhere. A deer barks, and the night becomes creaturely again, breathes at the lit windows.”
Written with loving attention to the lives of plants, insects and animals, these words are best enjoyed by a blazing fire or curled up in a favourite armchair after the curtains have been drawn
Poems by Ronnie Goodyer and Stanley Plumly.
Cover illustration by Simon Palmer.
📖 My Review..
I woke this morning to the beauty of a day shrouded in mist which reminded me that, as we come to the end of September, we are heading into the true sense of autumn. I can think of no better reminder of the pleasure of my favourite season than by reading this beautiful pamphlet which evokes such a sense of quiet autumn days.
Evocative of the change of the season The Autumn Valley: A Different Sort of Time takes us on a special journey into the author’s surroundings as she describes, in such lovely detail, the place she calls home.
“ At night it becomes a small place in a big darkness…”
I am envious of the peace and tranquillity she finds in the ancient timbers of her house and yet through the beauty of her words I can walk beside her as she describes the natural wonder of the life she has and of her discoveries in the surrounding valley.
“ The path leads through the fallen leaves and thistle heads and into the woods. The sound of our footfall accumulates in the leaf litter…”
So beautifully written and gently reminiscent of a quieter world and one we too could find for ourselves if we just take a moment to stop, look and listen. Go and find a woodland, stand for a moment and feel the silent companionship of tiny creatures, or the gentle sigh of an oak leaf as it flutters to the ground. Autumn magic is there in the small corners of the natural world.
The two poems which start and end the book capture the mood perfectly:
From Off A Side Road Near Staunton by Stanley Plumly
Some nothing afternoon, no-one anywhere,
an early autumn stillness in the air…
From From the Teign Valley by Ronnie Goodyer
In our cottages , the fruit wine holds the sun
you are barefoot in the stream that thunders the valley
and I am slumped under the old willow, watching you.
The beautifully designed cover opens a peek into gentle world. The Autumn Valley: A Different Sort of Time is definitely something to treasure and would make the perfect gift instead of a card for anyone who loves the autumn season, or for a birthday, or anniversary, which may fall during this special time of year.
About the Publisher
Candlestick Press is a small, independent press publishing sumptuously produced poetry pamphlets that serve as a wonderful alternative to a greetings card, with matching envelopes and bookmarks left blank for your message. Their subjects include Mountains, Clouds, Walking, Birds, Wine and Happiness. Candlestick Press pamphlets are stocked by chain and independent bookshops, galleries and garden centres nationwide and available to order online.
Twitter/X @poetrycandle#TheAutumnValley
Blue Sky @candlestickpress.bsky.social
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