The writer 'Edward Morgan Forster lived at Rooks Nest House from 1883 to 1893, from the ages of 4 to 14. In later life he returned there often, as the guest of composer Elizabeth Poston.

E.M. Forster age 13

• human relationships,
• conflicts of loyalty               
• the need for connection between apparent opposites such as commerce and culture, poetry and prose,                      

He is constantly quoted in newspapers and has the distinction that one of his short stories is available in full on the Internet.

The Fame of Forster Country
In 1946, when he took part in the first campaign to save the countryside around his old home from development, Forster said in a radio broadcast,
“I was brought up as a boy...in a district which I still think the loveliest in England .”

In 1961 the Guardian newspaper coined the name “Forster Country” for this area north of Stevenage. By this name it is known throughout the world. Students, scholars and the general public come here from Europe, America, Canada, Australia and Japan. In 1979, the centenary of Forster’s birth, over 2,000 people came to Stevenage on account of the Forster connection.