Country Reporter

David Foot, alias Matthew Fouracre, joined the Western Gazette in Yeovil as a copy boy. The year was 1946 - a time of great social and political change, of widespread hardship and deprivation, as the nation struggled to get back onto its feet after six exhausting years of war. But for 16-year-old Matthew, growing up in the beautiful Somerset countryside and about to embark on an exciting new career, there are compensations enough. The book covers the first two action- packed years of Matthew's professional life, in which he makes the grade as a reporter, cycling hundreds of miles on his three-speed racer to cover (often with hilarious results) stories on practically even' aspect of rural life including, with some foresight, an interview with a future prime minister. He flirts with Fleet Street, courting libel, and falls frustratingly in love with a 'fast' waitress at the Cadena, the reporters' favourite hangout. The author's early days at the Gazette are recalled with a reporter's eye (and ear) for detail, with humour and an affection never marred by sentimentality. As one lively episode follows another, we are introduced to a vastly entertaining cast of characters. But this is also a book about the countryside, before the invasion of the motor car and city commuter. A world, alas, we can now only read about - albeit, in this case, with delight. At the heart of things is the author's own beloved village of East Coker - already a literary landmark via T. S. Eliot's celebrated poem - which like everywhere else is destined to change in the name of progress. At the end of the book Matthew leaves home to do National Service. The country reporter has filed his last report - for the time being. Cover illustration by Sir Hugh Casson.