Fifty years ago, Michael and Clare Morpurgo packed their young family into a car, left London and headed for a remote farm in Devon, reached by a narrow track called Burrow Lane. Neither could have known quite how profoundly that decision would shape the rest of their lives.
It was there, surrounded by animals, fields and the changing seasons, that Michael became a writer. The landscape and people he encountered would find their way into many of his best-loved books, including War Horse and Private Peaceful. But the farm also became the setting for another extraordinary story, one that Michael and Clare created together.
In 1976 they founded Farms for City Children, based on a simple but radical idea: that children growing up in towns and cities should have the opportunity to spend a week living and working together on a farm. Fifty years later, more than 100,000 children have experienced the countryside through the charity.
The instant Sunday Times bestseller Down Burrow Lane tells the story of those five decades. It is a book about a marriage and a family, about farming and writing, triumphs and setbacks, and about the thousands of children who arrived down that Devon lane and discovered a world very different from their own.
For this special Falmouth Book Festival event, Michael will be joined by Clare to look back together on the life they have built, the ideas that have sustained it and the extraordinary legacy of their work. At its heart is a story about what can happen when idealism is put into practice, and about the enduring importance of giving children a connection with animals, landscape and the natural world.
As Frank Cottrell-Boyce writes of Michael: “His masterpiece is the life he made with Clare.”
About Michael Morpurgo
Author of Down Burrow Lane
Michael Morpurgo is one of Britain’s best-loved writers, the author of more than 150 books including War Horse, Private Peaceful and Kensuke’s Kingdom. A former Children’s Laureate, his many honours include the Whitbread Award and the Eleanor Farjeon Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 1976, Michael and Clare Morpurgo founded Farms for City Children at Nethercott Farm in Devon, giving children from towns and cities the opportunity to live and work together in the countryside. More than 100,000 children have since taken part. Down Burrow Lane tells the story of their marriage, family and the remarkable fifty-year project they created together.
