Gladys' Leap is the fourteenth studio album by Fairport Convention originally released in August 1985. It was recorded in April and May 1985 at Woodworm Studios, Barford St. Michael, Oxfordshire, UK. It was produced and engineered by Simon Nicol, Dave Mattacks and Dave Pegg and the assistant engineers were Tim Matyear and Mark Powell. The album features the first contributions to a Fairport album by founding member Richard Thompson since Rosie in 1973. Thompson wrote the opening track "How Many Times" and played lead guitar on "Head in a Sack".
The title comes from Gladys Hillier, who was a postwoman for Cranham, a village near Stroud in Gloucestershire, England. As a short-cut, to save a two-mile walk, she used to jump the three feet (~ 1 metre) across a stream on her round.[2] In 1977 the Ordnance Survey agreed to name the spot in her honour, and in 2005 a footbridge was built across the stream.[3] Fairport heard the story, and named the album in Gladys' honour.
