On Saturday 6th July 2013 at 2.00 pm the Society presented: ‘Looking Back at Harvey’s Minsterworth’, at Minsterworth Village Hall.
This was an illustrated talk with readings from poetry inspired by F.W. Harvey’s home village, with Dr Anthony Lynch and Terry Moore-Scott. The talk was combined with a visit to Bill Pugh’s Cider Press nearby, courtesy of Pat Haisell-Neves. Terry recently published his latest Minsterworth book, and with well-known local figure Anthony Lynch, he drew on his deep personal knowledge to paint a picture of Minsterworth at the start of the twentieth century.
Minsterworth was an abiding influence on the poetry of F.W. Harvey who grew up in a prosperous farming family at the Redlands. His father was a very successful horse dealer and his mother a saintly figure who encouraged her son to read scripture and learn music. However, his great joy was to be out mixing with local people: agricultural workers, elver and salmon fishers and cider makers. It is their voices and characters that populate many of his poems, particularly those written in the local dialect.