Author goes back Awa' the Rough Hills to remember childhood in poetry

Entitled, Awa' the Rough Hills an' Awa', his work is a nostalgic look at life in Wolverhampton's All Saints, Rough Hills and Parkfields areas in the fifties, sixties and seventies.

Mr Bennett, 60, compiled the poems into a single volume after impressing other users on the Wolverhampton Past and Present Facebook group.

"It was a good childhood spent on Rough Hills playing football," he recalls. "We made our own entertainment."

In the late 1980s, Mr Bennett and his family upped sticks and moved to Codsall but he still has family in Rough Hills and visits often.

"Living in Codsall sometimes feels like being on the other side of the world," he added, saying that the locations of his childhood remain his biggest inspirations.

He first picked up the pen a quarter of a century ago. And, after his mother submitted one of his poems, became a regular contributor to the Black Country Bugle.

Half-Scottish, Mr Bennett has also written fondly of his time in Scotland and his father's birthplace of Fife. But despite writing passionately about two locations he's never felt conflicted.

"It's always felt normal. I grew up in a Wolverhampton household with Scottish voices," he says.

But it was the rise of the internet and a hesitant purchase of a computer that has given new life to his career as a poet.

Mr Bennett said: "I never thought I could have done it. It was buying a computer and seeing my work in print and on the Poetry of Scotland website that gave me the confidence to make the book."

"The internet has broadened my horizons.

It has certainly been the catalyst that has allowed him to publish his new anthology. Not only has he and his wife, Lynn designed the book themselves, but they've self-published it as well. It wasn't an easy task.

"It was challenging," Mr Bennett said. "I almost gave up few times. We struggled with finding the right formatting, making it look interesting.

"I did it so that my children and grandchildren can always have access to their roots."

Mr Bennett said he knows that it will not be a best-seller but hopes that it gives people who know the area a smile. And, if nothing else, his biggest fan is nothing but supportive.

"My mother's pleased as punch that I've written about Rough Hills. She's been carrying around a copy for weeks."

Awa' the Rough Hills an' Awa is available to purchase on Amazon for £6.10.