Rose for Winter – photos by Gail Herbert

Photos copyright Gail Herbert, no reproduction without permission.

‘Rose for Winter’ was a two part adaptation by Laurie Lee of his book of the same name, of his return to Andalusia in 1951 with his bride Cathy years after the Spanish Civil War.  It was produced at Pebble Mill by John King with narration by Laurie Lee.  It was transmitted on BBC 2, on 23 and 24 December 1989.

The two parter starred John Wild as Laurie Lee and Cordelia Roche as Cathy.

John Williams was the cameraman, assisted by Dave Evans, Richard Reynolds was the recordist, with Gail Herbert the PA.

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning – photos from Gail Herbert

Photos from Gail Herbert, no reproduction without permission.

‘As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning’ was a 2 part recreation of Laurie Lee’s journey on foot across Spain in 1934, during the civil war.  It was produced at Pebble Mill by executive producer John King, written and narrated by Laurie Lee.  John Wild played the part of Laurie Lee.

The first episode, ‘From Home to Madrid’ was transmitted on 5/1/1987, with the second part ‘From Madrid to the South’, shown the following night.

The crew included cameraman John Williams, assistant Dave Evans, sound John Parker, lighting Roy Carn.  Gail Herbert was the production assistant.  David Attwood, who was then a production manager in the Drama Department, directed the dramatised sequences.  He later became a freelance drama director.

John King with Award – photos from Gail Herbert


Photos from Gail Herbert, no reproduction without permission.

Pebble Mill, Entertainment Executive Producer, John King, recorded  a dramatisation of author Laurie Lee’s book about his return to Andalusia with his bride after the Spanish Civil War in the mid 1930s.  It was written and narrated by Laurie Lee.  The two part drama was called  ‘A Rose for Winter’, and went out in 1989.

John King accepted this award from the Mayor of Almunecar, in Spain in November 1989, on behalf of Laurie Lee.  It was called ‘The Golden Avocado’!

The second photo shows John preparing for a radio interview in Spain around the same time, with fixer, Trini.

John King died in 1999.