SWINDON-BORN author Richard Jefferies has had two of his books translated into German for the first time since they were published in the 19th century.
One of the books, The Story of My Heart, an autobiography, describes in the opening pages how the walk from his home at Coate to Liddington Hill uplifted his soul.
Mr Jefferies was born in 1848 at Coate Farm which is now a museum preserved in his memory and is best known for his prolific writing on the countryside of late Victorian England.
He was widely acknowledged as being an inspiration to other writers such as Henry Williamson and John Betjeman.
His family farmed a smallholding of about 40 acres at Coate and Jefferies spent much of his time walking through the local countryside.
His favourite haunt was Liddington Hill, a height crowned with an ancient Iron Age fort commanding views across to Swindon.
It was on this summit that he drew inspiration for The Story of My Heart.
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