lEONARD cLARK
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1905 - 1981
Poet, literary editor, and educationalist, Leonard Clark was awarded an OBE and counted fellow poet Sir John Betjeman amongst his many friends. He was a prolific writer, producing hundreds of poems during his life time, with many written specially for children. His poetry often reflected his love of nature, much of it describing the woods, fields and village life of his childhood and adolescence in the Forest. He also wrote biography and auto biography, as well as children's stories. Working as a schools inspector he also advised on education and edited many collections of poetry for children. A plaque marks his final resting place in Stephen's Church, Cinderford - back once again in his much loved Forest of Dean. |
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EARLY LIFE
Leonard Clark was born in 1905 on Guernsey in the Channel Islands. His birth-mother was a governess in London. In a Britain unsympathetic to women who had children outside of marriage, she had gone away to have her child, far from anyone she knew. Leonard, a baby only a few months old, was sent to be fostered by a widow, Mrs Sarah Annie George of Belle Vue Road, Cinderford. In his book Green Wood he describes his arrival at Newnham-on-Severn station, and being met by the sound of a brass band. Known as the ‘adopted son’ of Cinderford, reflecting his origins outside the Forest, his illegitimacy and fostering always troubled him, and he never felt as though he truly belonged anywhere. The Forest, however, became his great passion and inspiration. He grew up in a loving family and came to think of Mrs George as his real mother in everything but name. His three (foster) brothers were older but Leonard was close to them. William died in 1918 during WWI and Leonard dedicated his first poetry collection to him. He remained in touch with his brothers in later life and they often met up. He attended St Stephen’s Church and was part of the choir there. He was also organist at near-by St John the Evangelist church. He developed a love of music and reading. He attended Cinderford's Bilson Primary School, then Double View School in the town where his talent shone. He was awarded a scholarship to the locally prestigious Monmouth School, but lack of finance restricted his further education so he became a pupil teacher offering a route into the teaching profession. From his earliest days he was known to his family and friends as ‘Bob’ - his foster brothers reportedly deciding that Leonard was not the right sort of name for a Forester!
becoming a writer
Sarah instilled in him a love of poetry and stories, as too did one of his primary school teachers Beatrice 'Beatie' Young. Leonard’s English master at Monmouth, Robert Wilson Cruttwell had won the prodigious Newdigate Prize for poetry when he was at Oxford University. Crutwell encouraged his pupil, and Leonard began to show him everything he wrote. Writing in Grateful Caliban (1967) Leonard remembered his teacher: “My inner ear remembers the grandeur of the music of the words which you bequeathed us.” As a teenager and aspiring poet, Leonard came to know Will Harvey – former soldier and POW, published poet, solicitor and keen cricketer. Harvey became a mentor and inspiration to the young Leonard, and a huge influence on his early writing. He later helped him publish, and wrote a preface to, Leonard's first poetry collection Between the Hills (1925). He would later reflect on Harvey's role in his own development as a poet writing that “Will Harvey opened the magic casements of poetry for me” in Grateful Caliban (1967). Leonard also frequently had poems printed in the local newspapersThe Citizen, Gloucester Journal and Dean Forest Mercury.
As Leonard's poetry writing developed and his work was increasingly recognised, he began to secure other literary work. He became Editor of the Longmans Poetry Library series, and Consultant Editor of Chatto & Windus Poetry Books for the Young, and for Thornhill Press in Gloucester. He wrote for both adults and children, producing more than fifty books of poetry and prose and editing about twenty others. Early in his career he wrote a biography of Alfred Williams, the working class self-taught poet and railway worker from Swindon. He was interested in the works of other poets and edited collections of poetry by Andrew Young, Walter de la Mare, and Ivor Gurney. He become highly regarded by many of his contemporaries from the world of literature, and feted with numerous awards and accolades, including:
He only became a full-time writer in 1970 when he retired as HM Inspector of Schools. Writing had though been his vocation since a teenager. He was incredibly prolific as a poet, but also as memoirist, essayist, compiler of anthologies, editor, literary biographer, non-fiction writer, reviewer, and broadcaster. He also wrote several collections of poetry and stories for children. His later volumes of poetry for adults, such as The Way It Was (1980) represent some of his finest work and reflect on his life and particularly his time in the Forest.
As Leonard's poetry writing developed and his work was increasingly recognised, he began to secure other literary work. He became Editor of the Longmans Poetry Library series, and Consultant Editor of Chatto & Windus Poetry Books for the Young, and for Thornhill Press in Gloucester. He wrote for both adults and children, producing more than fifty books of poetry and prose and editing about twenty others. Early in his career he wrote a biography of Alfred Williams, the working class self-taught poet and railway worker from Swindon. He was interested in the works of other poets and edited collections of poetry by Andrew Young, Walter de la Mare, and Ivor Gurney. He become highly regarded by many of his contemporaries from the world of literature, and feted with numerous awards and accolades, including:
- Awarded the OBE in 1966
- Literature Panel of the Arts Council
- Westminster Diocese School Panel
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
He only became a full-time writer in 1970 when he retired as HM Inspector of Schools. Writing had though been his vocation since a teenager. He was incredibly prolific as a poet, but also as memoirist, essayist, compiler of anthologies, editor, literary biographer, non-fiction writer, reviewer, and broadcaster. He also wrote several collections of poetry and stories for children. His later volumes of poetry for adults, such as The Way It Was (1980) represent some of his finest work and reflect on his life and particularly his time in the Forest.
Becoming a teacher
After leaving Monmouth school Leonard became a student teacher then assistant teacher at Double View School in Cinderford. Towards the end of this period, in the academic year 1927-28 he was also working as a lecturer at the Forest of Dean Mining School in the town. In 1928 Leonard took up a place at the teacher training college at Bangor, North Wales and following graduation, in 1931 he secured a teaching post at Oliver Goldsmith Council Boys’ School, Camberwell, in London. In a letter of reference his former Head at Double View, J. A. Emery wrote of Leonard " He is an excellent teacher: keen, enthusiastic and absorbed in his work" (Forest of Dean Writers Collection at Dean Heritage Centre). It was during this time that he drew on one of his many passions, gardening, and also began teaching horticulture at Deptford Men's Institute.
In 1938 Leonard became one of His Majesty's Inspector of Schools - firstly as Assistant Inspector. This was undoubtably a reflection of his talent and wide of experience as a teacher, but also an aspiration of the service to recruit younger inspectors. He would soon become of the service's senior inspectors and he continued in this role until his retirement.
In 1938 Leonard became one of His Majesty's Inspector of Schools - firstly as Assistant Inspector. This was undoubtably a reflection of his talent and wide of experience as a teacher, but also an aspiration of the service to recruit younger inspectors. He would soon become of the service's senior inspectors and he continued in this role until his retirement.
MARRIAGE
Whilst teaching in London Leonard became engaged to a Gloucester librarian and school teacher, Florence Tobias, and they returned to Cinderford to get married in St Stephen’s Church in 1933 - Will Harvey was best man. They moved to Plymouth where Leonard was made Assistant Inspector of schools. Sarah (his foster mother) passed away in 1941. In 1942 Leonard and Florence’s young son died from diphtheria and a year later the couple divorced. In 1953 Leonard became engaged to musician & teacher Jane Callow, and they were married in April 1954. The couple settled in Highgate, London. A year later son Robert was born, and in 1961 daughter Mary-Louise.
later life
In 1980, on his 75th birthday he visited the Forest and featured in local newspapers, where Dennis Potter, Winifred Foley and other Forest authors acknowledged his influence. He used the opportunity to visit childhood places with his son and make specific wishes about his funeral arrangements. He died the following year and his son returned to the Forest with his ashes. One half were scattered from Symonds Yat viewpoint and the other interred in St Stephen’s Church.
POETRY
His early work was heavily influenced by Will (F.W.) Harvey, clearly looking up to him, and to an extent modeling his work and outlook on the character of his tutor. Leonard's poems were written in the Georgian tradition and very structured. This made his work particularly accessible to children for whom he also wrote poems around a single theme;
'poems that have the young in mind, according to their stage of experience, as well as those poems that have been composed specifically for them because they are young.’
His early poetry for adults continued a theme inherited from the Gloucestershire poets, Harvey and Gurney, an appreciation of beauty in the natural world. He built much of this work around places and people he knew in and around Cinderford. He also incorporated Devon and Yorkshire in his poems, but he often returned to his favourite Forest places such as Abbots and Chestnut Woods for his best and later work.
Some of his later work touched the feelings evoked by events in his life and had a particular resonance with those who shared his experiences. His poem Stillborn is written in the voice of a mother who wonders if ‘you rejected us?’ and is still widely used by groups supporting people who have experienced a still birth.
Some of his later work touched the feelings evoked by events in his life and had a particular resonance with those who shared his experiences. His poem Stillborn is written in the voice of a mother who wonders if ‘you rejected us?’ and is still widely used by groups supporting people who have experienced a still birth.
LISTEN...
Recordings by kind permission of The British Library, British Council and Leonard Clark estate.
Robert Clark describes the origins of two of his late father's poems:
AUTOBIOGRAPHical writing
His biographical works (see below) reflect his time growing up in the Forest and paint a picture of a bygone era with trips to Gloucester (the nearest city) taken by horse and cart. They contain rich and warm portraits of people and places. They can be seen as a slightly sentimentalised and romantic version of Forest life but are none the less applauded as historical sources. His use of chapters to structure comedic stories were later picked up by Winifred Foley and others writing about their own experiences and Forest humour. Papers in the Forest of Dean Writers Collection at Dean Heritage Centre and information from Leonard's son Robert confirm that much of the content in his 'Forest memoirs' was originally written as radio scripts designed to fill the intervals in classical concert outside broadcasts - Leonard reading them live on air.
books
A selection of just some of the many books written & edited by Leonard Clark:
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Autobiographical
A Fool in the Forest, (1965) Green Wood: A Gloucestershire Childhood, (1962) Grateful Caliban, (1967) An Inspector Remembers, (1976) Poetry The Mirror English Morning and Other Poems, (1953) The Broad Atlantic, (1974) The Hearing Heart, (1974) The Way It Was, (1980) An Intimate Landscape, (1981) As I looked Over Jordan, (1984) Edited collections of others’ poetry Andrew Young Walter de la Mare Ivor Gurney |
Stories for Children
Robert Andrew Tells a Story, (1965) Robert Andrew by the Sea, (1965) Robert Andrew in the Country, (1966) Mr. Pettigrew's Harvest Festival, (1974) Mr. Pettigrew's Train, (1975) Mr. Pettigrew and the Bellringers, (1976) Edited anthologies for children Drums and Trumpets: Poetry for the Youngest, (1962) Common Ground: An Anthology for the Young, (1964) Flutes and Cymbals: Poetry for the Young, (1968) The Magic Kingdom: An Anthology of Verse for Seniors, (1937) The Open Door: An Anthology of Verse for Juniors, (1937) All Along, Down Along: A Book of Stories in Verse, (1971). Other Who Killed the Bears, (1964) |
For requests to use material written by Leonard Clark, contact The Literary Executor of Leonard Clark:
[email protected]
[email protected]
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