Copsford

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Copsford is probably one of the most beautiful examples of British nature writing in print. It is also, in many ways, the English equivalent of Thoreau's 'Walden'. Like Thoreau, Walter Murray abandoned life in the city (in this case London) and its materialism - and opted instead for a life of simplicity and solitude in Surrey countryside. With the aid of a friend (who later became his wife) he located an isolated and neglected cottage and rented it for a year, living alone but for a dog he purchased from the postman in a nearby village. His first visit to this cottage is described with considerable beauty:“There was rain in the wind now, and the sky was as grey and sad as ever, yet there was something magical in this lonely countryside with its rough pastures, its unkempt hedges, snowy with ragged blackthorn, its woodlands hazy green, its winding brooks…..As I looked at the view from the top of the hill I thought of summer days. Through the grey curtains of rain that were now drawing across the wooded landscape I saw in imagination, summer blue, when all the shimmering countryside would be at my very door…I saw the possibility of doing what it had often been my great desire to do, to live alone and at one with Nature.”The book then recounts Murray's year living close to Nature, harvesting herbs and gradually transforming into a modern 'Green Man;. However the book is much more than this. Read with care Murray's narrative reveals all of the features of an important Nature Mystic:“It sometimes happens, at rare moments in our lives, we are suddenly aware of an altogether new world, different completely from that in which we commonly live. We feel as though we stand at the threshold of an undiscovered kingdom; for brief moments we understand life interpreted, we perceive meaning instead of things. In those golden minutes I understood every word on a single page of the magic book of life inscribed in a language neither written nor spoken. There was sublime tranquillity in the level white mists of the valley, a symphony like the ascending melodies of Greig in the sun rays that climbed aslant the hill, a quiet strength in the stillness of the trees, a brotherhood of life in all living things. I was no longer a single life pushing a difficult way amidst material things, I was part of all creation…It was a baptism into a saner way of living and thinking. The soreness of the slave-collar was salved. It was an outward and visible sign of my inward awareness of at-one-ment.'Copsford leads us into an appreciation of Nature and appeals to us to take more care of the natural environment around us and its other occupants. Murray himself was something of an enigma - though two of his other works convey the same sort of message - but the passion of his love for Nature makes this a powerful and haunting book, Once discovered, many readers cherish it and come back to it time and time again. Not surprising because the writing is beautiful and the message completely relevant for us today But it is also haunting because it reminds us not only of what we have already lost but of what we are in danger of still losing.It may also be worth noting that the book was not published until several decades after Murray had lived at Copsford. There is also now a Copsford page on Facebook.

Walter Murray decides to take a sabbatical. He will spend a year in isolation, making a living by collecting wild herbs for sale to pharmaceutical companies, and use the peace and quiet to write. He selects a ruined cottage, with neither road nor decent path to it, infested by rats, for his home. Why? It would seem he has a friend living nearby, but he is exceptionally coy when writing about her.The farmer who owns the cottage thinks he is off his chump. The author's romantic project is embarked upon without much research, and proves less of an easy living than he anticipates. Much of the wild herb material he collects rots because he has not prepared it properly. So far, a standard snippet of autobiographical 'up against it' writing. We get a good deal of the author's philosophical musings and a little bit about the collection and use of wild herbs. It is quite a charming little book but, in the last analysis, lacking either powerful atmosphere or unexpected insights. It is a bit like a good magazine article expanded into 207 pages.This book has considerable charm, but the lasting impression one receives is that if the author planned to make a living by writing, he had a way to go - and his subsequent career indeed took him away from journalism. A quick Google reveals little; he published a book on Romney Marsh in 1972 (I haven't read it yet) and one titled 'Nature's Undiscovered Kingdom'. These are the only two books listed on the dustjacket, which tells me that Murray went on to establish an independent school and achieve fame as a wildlife photographer and broadcaster.'Copsford' was published in 1948, and in the years during and after the Second World War there was a great demand for wild medicinal plants from the mainstream pharmaceutical companies. A more interesting book on the subject (although quite different in every way) is Florence Ranson's pocket guide  British Herbs , published to aid those involved in collecting herbs. British Herbs

I have thoroughly enjoyed this book, and can see why it us regarded as a minor classic of nature writing. It seems as fresh and relevant today as when it was written, which in many ways shows the unchanging beauty of nature amongst the ever changing and increasing ugliness of the human world, and their remoteness from it. There is much truth within this book, recognisable to any true countryman today. A little gem of a book, highly recommended.

Most beautiful book i have ever read.I had been recommended this book by a friend and i love it so much that I recommend it to others now.Each page was beautifully written, and I mean beautifully that is no exaggeration.I wanted to stay in that beautiful place where the author took me on each page.I love a huge range of different books but this is my absolute favourite.Its a real wake up book, tantalising all of your senses as you delve deep into his poetic words of each sentence. It just flows its so magical. Makes you stop and think and look around you at all the beauty this world has.

Walter Murray starts a herbalist business supplying wayside plants to wholesalers. He lives in a ramshackle of a self-catering shell with rats for a while. He escapes the city-life though soon marries and lives happily ever after. That was nearly 100 years ago, so nothing's new. I bought it because of the review by Raynor Winn. I would recommend her two books too - both 5 stars.