John Moore was Gloucestershire’s best-known and loved author of the Twentieth century –
Moore was a naturalist, and his love of the countryside was central in his work. Long before conservation became fashionable, John Moore spoke of the threat to our countryside from technological progress. The relevance of his writings is even more keenly felt in today’s climate of environmental upheaval.
Moore’s best selling trilogy, published in the immediate post-Second World War years – Portrait of Elmbury, Brensham Village and The Blue Field – was followed by a series of novels and self-styled ‘country-contentments’.
He contributed a weekly column on rural matters to the Birmingham Mail for eighteen years and was a frequent broadcaster on Midland’s radio. A talented naturalist from schooldays, he was an early campaigner for the preservation of everything connected with the rural scene. He fought to conserve the architectural heritage of Tewkesbury, his native town, and was also the founder and driving force behind the Cheltenham Literary Festival.
Bibliography:
Dixon’s Cubs (1930)
The Book of the Fly-rod (ed, with Hugh Sheringham) (1931)
Dear Lovers (1931)
Tramping Through Wales (1931)
English Comedy (1932)
King Carnival
The Walls are Down (1933)
The Welsh Marches (1933)
The New Forest (1934)
Country Men (Biography) (1935)
The Angler’s week-end Book (ed, with Eric Taverner) (1935)
Overture, Beginners! (1936)
The Cotswolds (1937)
Clouds of Glory (1938)
A Walk Through Surrey (1939)
The Countryman’s England (1939)
Life and Letters of Edward Thomas (ed) (1939)
Wit’s End (1942)
Fleet Air Arm (history) (1943)
Escort Carrier (1944)
The Navy and the Y Scheme (1944)
Portrait of Elmbury (1945)
Brensham Village (1946)
The Blue Field (1948)
Dance and Skylark (1951)
Midsummer Meadow (1953)
Tiger, Tiger (short stories) (1953)
The Season of the Year (1954)
The White Sparrow (1954)
The Boy’s Country Book (ed) (1955)
Come Rain, Come shine (1956)
September Moon (1957)
Jungle Girl (1958)
Man and Bird and Beast (1959)
You English Words (1961)
The Elizabethans (1962)
The Year of the Pigeons (1963)
Best Fishing Stories (1965)
The Waters Under the Earth (1965)
