As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning: Spain 1935

In July 1935 Laurie Lee, a young violinist, landed at Vigo in Galicia. He had spent the previous year labouring in London and had picked up exactly one useful Spanish phrase: "Will you please give me a glass of water?" That was enough for him to decide on Spain. He scraped together a living by playing his violin outside cafés.

Location precision: Lee lands in Galicia and works around Vigo without a named spot; the pin marks the port.

In Galicia Lee joined up with three young German musicians and went around Vigo with them. The group broke up outside Zamora, leaving him to walk on alone. Nights were spent in his blanket under the open sky or in cheap, rough posadas.

Location precision: The memoir says the musicians split up outside Zamora, not where; the pin marks the city.

By August 1935 Lee had reached Toledo. Playing his violin there, he came across the South African poet Roy Campbell and his family, who invited him to stay in their house. The Campbells had settled in Toledo, and Lee recounts the meeting in the Toledo chapter of the book.

Location precision: The Campbells' house is not named in the sources; the pin marks the city of Toledo.

Lee turned west along the Guadalquivir and reached the sea by September, then headed east along the bare coastal shelf of Andalusia. On the way he heard talk of war in Abyssinia. He arrived at Tarifa, with another stop in Algeciras.

Location precision: The memoir gives the town, not a particular street or building; the pin marks Tarifa.

Lee set off for Málaga, stopping in Gibraltar on the way. In his last days in Málaga his violin broke. He had also tried a new line of work as a guide to British tourists, but local guides curtailed it. Then a young German came to the rescue and gave him a violin, so he could go on playing.

Location precision: The sources place these events in Málaga without an address; the pin marks the city.

In the winter of 1935 Lee decided to stay in Almuñécar, which earlier editions disguise as "Castillo", and found work in a hotel. He drank in the village bar with Manolo, the hotel waiter. In mid-July 1936 war broke out, and a British destroyer from Gibraltar arrived to pick up British subjects on the coast; Lee was taken on board. In 1988 the townspeople erected a statue in his honour.

Location precision: The sources do not name the hotel or bar; the pin marks the town of Almuñécar.