Gavin and Stacey’s Larry Lamb says he’s not averse to penning poems

Gavin and Stacey star Larry Lamb is having the rhyme of his life after taking up poetry following a gap of several decades.

The actor, who has also written a novel and autobiography, started scribbling stanzas in 1983, but started again after a poet friend encouraged him to do so.

Larry, who says he is 1% Welsh, said he loves the process of writing as he gets to be in charge.

“I started writing poetry in the 80s, it just came right out of the blue. A whole string of poems about my life and the way I saw things,” the 77-year-old said.

He said that in 2020 he found a file of them in the attic and showed them to a poet friend.

“And he was really impressed and said, ‘We have got to do something with these’.

“So cut to quite recently and I started to write poems again. A lot of them about the same period in my life.”

On 27 September he will be reading his work for the first time, along with some of his favourite poems from his childhood, at Hereford Military History Festival.

“So I’m going to be close to Wales,” he said.

Larry said he surprised himself when he started writing in 1983.

“But now I have got a lot more experience, a lot more time in life,” he told Lucy Owen on BBC Radio Wales.

“It’s just a fascinating procedure making poetry out of life and comparing the way I write things now to the way I wrote them in 1983.

“I’m absolutely loving it. Hopefully I’ll be following up the book tour with a tour all over the place telling stories with poetry.”

He will be promoting his novel All Wrapped Up with a number of UK dates from September to December – visiting Barry on December 2.

He said he would go to Barry beach – the scene of many memorable Gavin & Stacey scenes – for a swim.

Asked if he would be wearing a wetsuit in the winter water, he said: “My birthday suit. I’ll hand out masks so people can just shut down on the visuals.”