Morpurgo play about to tour

Michael Morpurgo is an interesting chap.

I'll always remember interviewing him about the 2001 foot-and-mouth epidemic (he lives in one of the worst hit areas in Devon) and he described it as "the closest to a war situation we've seen in 50 years".

He's best known as a former Children's Laureate, but with his wife Clare started a fantastic charity, Farms For City Children, in 1976 which has since allowed over 50,000 urban kids to have a week living and working on its three farms.

I've just heard today that one of his books, Farm Boy, has been adapted for the stage and is about to go on tour - so I'll definitely be going to see this.

A sequel to his novel War Horse, it's an account of the changing face of the English countryside, focusing on the bonds between a grandfather and his grandson.

The man who's playing Grandfather, John Walters (pictured above) was recently in Richard Benson's The Farm.

The tour runs from September 28 to October 31. Full details are here.