Corduroy was first published in 1930. It was followed by Silver Ley in 1931 and The Cherry Tree

in 1932. Together they form a trilogy that has been described as 'the classic account of a twentieth-century Englishman's conversion to rural life'. In Corduroy the author's experiences as a farm apprentice in Suffolk are described. The tone is affectionate, humourous and not in the least patronizing. At times there is an elegiac strain not dissimilar to Edward Thomas. The three books constitute a threnody for, what was then, a vanishing, pre-mechanized way, of farming and rural life.