It was a surreal moment for bestselling author Bill Bryson, when Hollywood star Robert Redford sat next to him at the premiere of the recent film adaptation of his book, A Walk in the Woods.

Redford plays Bryson in the movie, which charts the story of his attempts to connect with his American homeland by hiking the Appalachian Trail with one of his oldest friends (played by Nick Nolte).

“Watching it was very strange for the first couple of minutes, when the movie started and Robert Redford was answering to my name. But I liked the film,” the unassuming author recalls.

“He’s an extremely charming man, very intelligent and very interesting. I was happy to hand over the film rights, knowing that he makes intelligent films.”

Bryson’s most recent journey has been in Britain on what he calls “the Bryson Line”, from Bognor Regis to Cape Wrath in the Scottish Highlands, as he set out to rediscover the country that he thought he knew but doesn’t altogether recognise any more.

His experiences and observations of our “wondrously beautiful, magnificently eccentric” land are charted in The Road to Little Dribbling, a follow-up to Notes From a Small Island, published 20 years ago, which celebrated his adopted country and was voted the book which most represents Britain.

It was in this publication that Bryson detailed his two years working as a sub editor at the Bournemouth Echo. He has since received an Honorary Doctorate from Bournemouth University and has taken an active role in the Streets of Bournemouth project.

“Little Dribbling” does not exist, but it’s a name which conjures images of the quaint, quintessentially British villages or towns you might come across.

It’s a highly amusing read, which begins with Bryson, 63, having to take a knowledge test to become a British citizen last year. He now enjoys dual citizenship – American and British.

“I’m American, but in the same way I’m left-handed. It’s what I was born with, it’s the basic part of my being. But I cheer for England now in the World Cup, until they get kicked out.”

While he details some changes to the UK in his latest book – the increase in litter, the decimation of village centres tarnished by modern, ugly housing, the traffic jams, the internet – he still loves it.

“The best part about Britain is that things haven’t really changed. It’s still a decent, pretty sane and reasonably compassionate and well-meaning place.

It’s somewhere you can be quite pleased and proud of,” he reflects.

Brought up in Des Moines, Iowa, the son of journalists, Bryson arrived in England as a backpacker in 1973 after dropping out of college, fell in love with the country and with Cynthia Billen, a nurse he met when he landed a job at a psychiatric hospital in Surrey. They’ve been married 40 years and have four children and nine grandchildren.

He worked for many years as a journalist, for the Bournemouth Echo and later The Times, eventually settling in Yorkshire before returning to the US for a few years, so his children could experience life in another country.

Bryson now lives in Hampshire and has a flat in London, more money than he will ever need and relative anonymity when he’s out and about.

He hopes to cut down on his workload next year to spend more time with his wife, without whom he couldn’t have enjoyed such success, as she patiently brought up their children while he was busy forging his career, working late shifts and then grabbing a few hours in the morning to work on his books.

Now they have more time, Bryson is enjoying the grandchildren.

“Being a grandparent is wonderful,” he says.

“It’s terrific – you get to enjoy them and can then give them back.

“I’m somehow more enchanted with them as babies as I’ve more time to appreciate that. When my own children were small, I was very busy with my career. If I was home at weekends, I was trying to get books written.”

The books will continue but he hopes to cut down on other duties. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society, former chancellor of Durham University and was president of the Campaign to Protect Rural England for five years, so has had his fingers in lots of pies.

“I’m definitely hoping to slow down. I want to spend more time with my wife. She didn’t travel with me when I was writing Little Dribbling, but now she comes with me a lot more often and we’re going to make the most of our time together,” says Bryson.

“I want to go to new places and not necessarily have to write about them.”

The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson is published by Doubleday, priced £20. Available now