Inside The Woolpack, Slad

Of course, while in Slad, it was imperative to visit Laurie Lee's favourite watering hole, The Woolpack.

Absolutely loved the central bar area in The Woolpack:

It was highly traditional and ordered with ale, cider, and bottles of shorts to perfection:

 

And the cider that I had, probably a scrumpy, was incredible, quenching my thirst in no time at all:

And, of course, parts of the pub were almost like a shrine to Laurie Lee:

What was also nice about the Woolpack visit was chatting with the barmen about Thomas Hardy and D.H. Lawrence, two of my favourite English writers.

Halfway through my first pint of cider, my travelling friend came hobbling in and he, too, appreciated the traditional decor and atmosphere of The Woolpack:

Probably our favourite part of the pub was a back window looking out to the Slad countryside:

After sinking two pints of cider, I left The Woolpack to look at Laurie Lee's old childhood home:

Which was kind of everything I had imagined it to be:

One of the barmen told me how to find it near some roadworks.

Lee moved here with his mother and siblings (including some from his father's first marriage), in 1917.

Also got to see Lee's old village school before leaving Slad:

While I walked back to Stroud from Slad village, my travelling friend stayed in The Woolpack for several more pints of cider, and he was given a lift back to Stroud by a kind barman after he'd finished his shift.