Pete Postlethwaite & the Shropshire Lad

Pete Postlethwaite played some excellent roles; perhaps it is only after his death that we recognise his achievement. My particular favourite was his portrayal of Giuseppe Conlon in the 'The Name of the Father' - the story of the Guilford 4.  Postlethwaite came from Cheshire, but later in life moved to the county below - Shropshire. He was a regular at the Three Tuns public house in Bishops Castle (a beautiful small town well worth visiting). The Three Tuns has a brewery attached. Anyway, Postlethwaite fell in love with Shropshire and made a big contribution to local life there. He particularly liked the poetry of A.E.Houseman (best known for the poem 'The Shropshire Lad'). It is poetry that I really like too; Postlethwaite did some poetry readings of Houseman's material. His voice was perfect for the melancholy lines. Earlier on the radio I heard him read these lines:

On Wenlock Edge

On Wenlock Edge the wood's in trouble;
  His forest fleece the Wrekin heaves;
The gale, it plies the saplings double,
  And thick on Severn snow the leaves.
 
'Twould blow like this through holt and hanger
  When Uricon the city stood:
'Tis the old wind in the old anger,
  But then it threshed another wood.
 
Then, 'twas before my time, the Roman
  At yonder heaving hill would stare:
The blood that warms an English yeoman,
  The thoughts that hurt him, they were there.
 
There, like the wind through woods in riot,
  Through him the gale of life blew high;
The tree of man was never quiet:
  Then 'twas the Roman, now 'tis I.
 
The gale, it plies the saplings double,
  It blows so hard, 'twill soon be gone:
To-day the Roman and his trouble
  Are ashes under Uricon.