Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- [1943]-1999, 2015 (Creation)
Level of description
Sub-series
Extent and medium
1 small box (0.009 mᶟ)
Context area
Name of creator
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Correspondence of Freda Aykroyd, largely comprising letters exchanged between Freda Aykroyd and John Pikoulis in the course of Pikoulis's research into the life and work of Alun Lewis. Together with a printed email titled 'Memories of Alun Lewis' by Gillian Somerville-Large, daughter of Freda Aykroyd.
Dates noted are those of original letters, not of photocopying.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Dated correspondence arranged chronologically (some letters bear suggested date only). Undated correspondence from Freda Aykroyd to John Pikoulis kept in marked folder.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Freda Aykroyd, née Buttery, was born in Shropshire and grew up in London and South Africa. In 1930, she married Wallace Aykroyd and moved with him to Coonoor in the Nilgiri Hills of Southern India, where Wallace had been appointed Director of the Nutrition Research Laboratories. The Aykroyds kept open house for recuperating officers at their home, Highfield, and it was there that Freda met Alun Lewis in July 1943 when the latter was on sick leave during his military service in India. Freda and Alun enjoyed a brief but passionate love affair from this time until his death in March 1944. In 2006, Freda published Alun Lewis's letters to her under the title A Cypress Walk (Enitharmon Press, 2006), along with a short memoir on Lewis and their brief time together. See also John Pikoulis: Alun, Gweno & Freda (Seren Books, 2015).