Ledbury is set to celebrate one of its most famous sons this weekend.

The town council and Ledbury Traders are celebrating the town’s former Poet Laureate John Masefield this year and in particular his children’s story A Box of Delights.

Masefield was Poet Laureate, the highest honour in the UK for a poet, for 30 years and grew up in Ledbury. 

You can find out all about him on the Ledbury Poetry website, which features a film of a Ledbury Poetry lecture on Masefield made in 2023.

A Box of Delights has been called ‘the greatest children’s book ever written’ by The Times and is packed with adventure.

It’s a magical tale of wolves, scrobbling and a box that can travel through time which Kay will have to fight to keep! 

The Royal Shakespeare Company has created a magical show of The Box of Delights which runs through winter 2023.

You can find out more at www.rsc.org.uk/ 

In Ledbury, town centre shops will be decorating their Christmas windows with ‘A Box of Delights’ themes celebrating this beautiful winter children’s book. 

Ledbury Poetry is running a creative art workshop on Saturday, November 25, creating A Box of Delights artwork for window displays. Everyone is welcome.

Ledbury Poetry House will be open too, as Sally Crabtree “sprinkles magic and delight” with her Sweetshop of Words at Ledbury Poetry House on Thursday, November 30, Friday, December 1 and Saturday, December 2.

Drop in for free activities plus jamboree bags for children with fun activities such as edible poems and ‘pop a poem’.

On a light-hearted level, the Sweetshop of Words is a nostalgic reminder of the agonising choice we had as children when we couldn’t decide what to spend our pocket money on.

On a deeper level it raises the question of choice. Voltaire said ‘the most important choice you can make is to be in a good mood’ and the Sweetshop of Words aims to help people to do this.

The Ledbury Traders are donating all funds raised by the Bumper Christmas Hamper Raffle, packed with goods from all the traders, and the sale of local mistletoe, to Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity.