THE Dymock Poets will be among the subjects discussed during the third week of the Autumn in Malvern Festival.

The pre-First World War group - Lascelles Abercrombie, Wilfred Gibson, Rupert Frost, Rupert Brooke, John Drinkwater and Edward Thomas - formed a colony in the village, using its idyllic countryside to inspire their work.

They will be the focus of a lecture by Sean Street, author of a book on the group.

The writer, broadcaster and poet's talk, entitled The Shadowed Garden: The Dymock Poets and the Idea of Arcadia, will be held at Hellens, in Much Marcle, at 11am on Sunday (October 5).

Tickets for the event, being held in association with appreciation society The Friends of Dymock Poets, cost £6.50, from the Malvern Theatres box office on 01684 892277.

At the same venue, at 7.30pm on Sunday, Rupert Brooke's life and work will be honoured in a sequence of music, poetry and prose.

Directed by Jane McCulloch, founder of the English Chamber Theatre, the production, Rupert Brooke - A Memoir, stars Jamie Glover and Lucinda Curtis. Tickets cost £10.50, available from Malvern Theatres.

Sandwiched between the celebration of the poets, the Martinu String Quartet of Prague will perform at the Downs School, in Colwall.

Joined by pianist Christopher Langdown, the foursome will perform Frank Bridge's Piano Quintet, Smetana's Quartet No 1 From My Life, and Prokofiev's Quartet No 2 in E major.

The concert begins at 3pm with tickets, from Malvern Theatres at £8.50.

The week is completed by a showing of Alexander Nevsky (PG) at the Forum Theatre at 8.15pm on Thursday. The 1938 Russian film, with English subtitles, features music by Prokofiev. Tickets cost £4, concessions £3.