{"product_id":"9781908213709-copsford","title":"Copsford","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn the 1920s Walter Murray rented a derelict, remote cottage in Sussex, without running water or electricity. Most of the windows were broken, it was dirty and dark. For the next year, he made his home there, making a living from drying and selling herbs. Copsford is his account of that year, a book that bears comparison to Thoreau's Walden\u003cbr\u003eWalter Murray was a young man tired of living in the city. Early in the 1920s, he persuaded a Sussex farmer to rent him a derelict cottage, which stood alone on a hill, with no running water or electricity. Most of the windows were broken, it was dirty, dark and ran with rats.  He bought a brush and pail in the village, forced the rats to retreat, brought in rudimentary furniture. The local postman found him a dog, and with his new companion he began to explore his surroundings. In that year at Copsford he made a living from collecting, drying and selling the herbs he found locally: agrimony, meadow-sweet and  yarrow. He became alert to the wildlife and plants around him. His life was hard - he supplemented his income with occasional journalism, but it was here he met his future wife, who he calls The Music Mistress, and with whom he would later found a school. Copsford is an extraordinary book. Bearing comparison to Thoreau's Walden, Murray's intense feeling for his place is evident on every page. It is, though, no simple story of a rural idyll - life at Copsford was hard, and Murray does not shy away from the occasional terrors of a house that had its hauntings.  A publishing success when first published in the late 1940s, this new edition has an introduction by Raynor Winn, author of The Salt Path.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":31891978059873,"sku":"9781908213709","price":11.93,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/orig_28052605.jpg?v=1722945402","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9781908213709-copsford","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}