THE growing army of admirers of the Gloucestershire poet F W Harvey were treated to a superb talk by author Eleanor Rawling who gave the second annual Melville Watts Lecture to society members and guests in Lydney.

The lecture, 'A Blowly Severn-Tided Place', highlighted the importance of the landscape in the works of Harvey and his friend and fellow poet Ivor Gurney.

Guests included Mrs Jane Watts and the mayor of Lydney, Cllr Bill Osborne and his wife, Sue.

Local historian John Belcher opened the evening at The Annex with a reading of Harvey's poem 'The Boy with Little Bare Toes' .

Eleanor was welcomed by the society's Doug McClean.

In an entertaining lecture she explored the landscapes on which Ivor Gurney and F W Harvey based some of their best known works, their love of sailing and the Severn and their tragic wartime separation.

Society chairman Roger Deeks said: "It was a special evening. Mr Melville Watts would have appreciated the talk and we were delighted the mayor Mr Bill Osborne was able to join us because of Lydney's importance in the life of F W Harvey."