Summer Over England

Poet Nigel Forde presents a seasonal reflection.

Summer more than any other time of year is richly represented in the recordings held in the BBC Archive.

Summer Over the British Isles' was a famous 1937 feature programme evoking the moment when the country could perhaps relax a little, ease its braces and its stays, and stretch out in the long grass ...and hope it wouldn't rain. It was also a vaguely patriotic and - with hindsight - prophetic programme capturing an era that was about to be blown apart by the off-stage murmurs of war from Europe.

But there's much more - Laurie Lee recalling the 'Hill Cricket' played on summer days in the Cotswold villages of his youth, Alistair Cooke describing a day at Lords and that other immortal voice of cricket, John Arlott, recalling long shadows and steepling catches.

Vita Sackville-West describes the joys of great summer gardens; Henry Williamson forsakes otters to hymn the beauty of Devon and we catch the sound of conflict in 1964 when Britain's seaside became a battleground for disaffected youngsters...

Producer: Simon Elmes

First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in January 2010.

An evocation from the BBC Archive of summers past, of long grass and long days and rain.