Michael Morpurgo comes to Okehampton for book signing event following release of memoir

Bestselling children’s author Sir Michael Morpurgo and his wife Clare visited Okehampton on Saturday (October 31) to celebrate the release of his latest work with a book signing event.

Fairplace Church hosted the event, organised by independent bookstore Dogberry and Finch, which was attended by dozens of residents eager pick up copies of his latest book and get them signed. There was even a chance to hear Sir Michael read from his own book, Michael Morpurgo’s Christmas Stories.

Year 11 students from Okehampton College also volunteered at the event for a chance to gain work experience, improve their CVs and participate in a memorable event.

Sir Michael is best known as a children’s novelist, but Down Burrow Lane: Life and Love on the Farm, is one of his few adult, non-fiction titles. The memoir chronicles his family’s move to Devon and decision to set up the charity Farms for City Children.

Prior to the event, owner of Dogberry and Finch bookshop, Kate McCloskey, said: “We are thrilled to be hosting a book signing event this autumn for Down Burrow Lane. This long-awaited, tender, and inspiring memoir recounts Michael and Clare Morpurgo's 50 years living on a working farm deep in rural Devon, and the charity they started there in 1976 - Farms for City Children - which has to date transformed the lives of over 100,000 children.”

This year Sir Michael and Clare Morpurgo are celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of their charity Farms for City Children, which provides countryside and farming experiences to children living in urban areas. As part of the celebrations Princess Anne visited Nethercott House, the original Devon farm. Princess Anne has been patron of Farms for City Children since 1991.

Today, the charity operates three farms in Devon, Gloucestershire and Pembrokeshire, providing residential trips that allow children to spend a week living and learning together on working farms.