A FAMOUS piece of local literature will be receiving a unique new reprint.

A new, full-colour, photographic edition of the 1896 poetry collection ‘A Shropshire Lad’ by A.E Housman will be published to mark the 50th anniversary of Housman society.

The stanzas on each page are matched with pictures of the Shropshire countryside taken by professional landscape photographer, John Hayward, who runs the photography company, Shropshire and Beyond.

“When I’m taking photographs, people often come up and ask me what I’m doing it for," said Mr Hayward.

"When I told people I was taking photos for the new edition of A Shropshire Lad, quite often they’d start quoting the book back to me.

“It’s been great to see the love that people still have for Housman.”

The author of the collection is interred at St Laurence church in Ludlow. He was a respected scholar and poet throughout the late 19 th and early 20 th century, with ‘A Shropshire Lad’ being his greatest success.

The collection, which is told from the perspective of a local young man named Terence, is praised for its themes of love, death and nostalgia.

It was incredibly popular among young men who fought in the first world war and continues to sell well today.

This edition will be published by Merlin Unwin books, who are based in Corve street.

The book will be available to buy online and in bookshops from September 7 for £20.