W. G. Hoskins

When I went up to Exeter University in 1968 I was well-supported financially by the student grant system. In addition to my termly allowance of, I think, £120, I received a travel allowance, and also, I think, a books allowance. I also received a reading list for the six courses I would be following: English, History, French, Music, Biology, and the History and Philosophy of Science.
I bought many of the books of the list, but most turned out to be of little use, except for one" W. G. Hoskins's 'The Making of the English Landscape'. This truly opened my eyes to the landscape around me, in particular because of the contrast between the urban south Manchester of the Whalley Range and Moss Side of my childhood, but also the Cheshire countryside that surrounded my childhood council house home, against the rural landscape of Devon that I knew so well from my grandparents' farm at Dowland, near Iddesleigh. I read and reread this and other books by him, and his inspiration meant that I spent time most days in the Devon Record Office, then housed at County Hall in Exeter.
Following my graduation I went on to study for an MA in English Local History at the University of Leicester, which I paid for out of my very limited savings. I admit I learnt little new on the course, but my dissertation on the development of Strangeways, Manchester, 1769-1869, led me to explore and study something very different from the rural Devon I knew so well.
I did meet Professor Hoskins once, when he gave a talk to a historical society in St Albans when I was living there in the 1970s. Sadly he was past his prime, and affected by the alcoholism that blighted his later life, but I was still happy to sit at the feet of this inspirational historian and writer. He helped me too when I was still an undergraduate, and wrote to him concerning a medieval deed I had discovered concerning Dowland, and containing a curious placename. His reply was courteous and helpful.