A word to the wise… make a date in your diary for the last weekend of June when the Wealden Literary Festival springs into life in the enchanting setting of Boldshaves Garden just 15 miles from Barnfield House Kent. Now in its fourth year, this family-friendly festival fizzes with words, ideas, local food, arts and crafts, outdoor activities and creative workshops. Over the course of the weekend, renowned authors, poets, artists and makers will converge on this gorgeous corner of the Weald of Kent to share ideas and inspiration on nature, wilderness and the spirit of place. Both days are jam-packed with activities to keep all the family delightfully entertained as well as informed.
Book into workshops on creative writing with Tanya Shadrick (Wealden’s writer in residence for 2019), botanical illustration with Emma Mitchen, natural dyeing with Francesca Baur, willow-weaving with expert basketmaker Julie Gurr, spoon carving with Jill Swan, bookbinding and design with Hope Fitzgerald ,Wealden’s artist in residence for 2019, and – intriguingly – the mindful observation of sounds in nature with musical composer Laurence Rose.
Wander the gardens and woodland at Boldshaves in a wildlife safari Mark Cocker, celebrated naturalist and author of best-loved books about nature including Crow Country and Our Place. Learn firecraft with Phil from Badger Bushcraft or go foraging with Rural Courses founder Michael White.
Sip award-winning English sparkling wine hand-crafted by Woodchurch Vineyard made from grapes grown less than a mile away from the Festival site. Tuck into a rustic vegetarian feast served up by the Plant Pantry. And feed your spirit with daily meditation and yoga.
Perhaps the heart of the festival is the opportunity to meet with authors and hear them in conversion or reading from their published works. Here are a few sessions that grabbed our attention.
29th June 11.45 – 12.45
PETER MARREN – EMPERORS, ADMIRALS AND CHIMNEY SWEEPERS: THE NAMING OF BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS
Let Peter Marren take you on a journey back to a time before the arts and science were divided – when entomologists were also poets and painters, and when a gift for vivid language went hand-in-hand with a deep pre-Darwinian fascination for the emerging natural world. One of the country’s most celebrated naturalists and author of books including Chasing the Ghost, Bugs Britannica and Rainbow Dust, Marren’s latest book Emperors, Admirals and Chimney Sweepers is the first comprehensive guide to the names of butterflies and moths.
29th June 15.00 – 16.00
LAURENCE ROSE & JULIAN HOFFMAN IN CONVERSATION: THE NIGHTINGALE’S SONG
Learn about the unique songs and cultural significance of nightingales, the bird’s fragile future in Britain, and the nature of loss and possibilities for replenishment. The author of The Long Spring which examines the joints between nature, conservation and culture, Laurence Rose has been getting to know the nightingale population at Boldshaves in connection with his next book. Julian Hoffman’s latest book Irreplaceable: The Fight to save our Wild Places is an urgent and lyrical account of endangered places around the globe and the people fighting to save them.
29th June – 16.00 to 17.00
EMMA MITCHELL – THE WILD REMEDY: HOW NATURE MENDS US
The Wild Remedy is a truly unique book for anyone who has ever felt drawn to nature and wondered about its influence over us. Emma Mitchell has suffered with depression – or as she calls it, ‘the grey slug’ – for twenty-five years. After moving to the Cambridgeshire Fens some 15 years ago, she began to take walks in the countryside around her new home, photographing, collecting and drawing as she went. Each walk lifted her mood, proving to be as medicinal as any talking therapy or pharmaceutical. In this beautifully hand-illustrated diary, she explores the paths and trails around her cottage and further afield, sharing her nature finds and tracking the lives of local flora and fauna over the course of a year. Reflecting on how these encounters impact her mood, Emma’s moving and candid account of her own struggles is a powerful testament to how reconnecting with nature may offer some answers to today’s mental health epidemic. While charting her own seasonal highs and lows, she also explains the science behind such changes, calling on new research into the benefits of spending time outdoors.
30th June 10.30 to 11.30
NAOKO ABE – ‘CHERRY INGRAM’: THE ENGLISHMAN WHO SAVED JAPAN’S BLOSSOMS
As told on BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week,‘Cherry’ Ingram is the irresistible story of Japanese cherry blossoms, threatened by political ideology and saved by an unknown Englishman based in the Weald of Kent. Collingwood Ingram, known as ‘Cherry’ for his defining obsession, was born in 1880 and lived in Benenden until he was a hundred, witnessing a fraught century of conflict and change. Over decades, Ingram became one of the world’s leading cherry experts and shared the joy of cherry blossoms both nationally and internationally. Every spring we enjoy his legacy. ‘Cherry’ Ingram is a portrait of this little-known Englishman, a story of Britain and Japan in the twentieth century and an exploration of the delicate blossoms whose beauty is admired around the world.
30th June – 17.15 to 18.15
NEIL ANSELL & DAN RICHARDS IN CONVERSATION
Neil Ansell and Dan Richards explore their experiences of the remote and wild places on the edge of human civilisation.
Shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize 2018, Neil Ansell’s The Last Wilderness: A Journey into Silence explores the experience of being in nature alone within the context of a series of walks he took into the most remote parts of Britain, the rough bounds in the Scottish Highlands. He illustrates the impact of being alone as part of nature, rather than outside it.
In Outpost: A Journey to the Wild Ends of the Earth, Dan Richards explores the appeal of far-flung outposts in mountains, tundra, forests, oceans and deserts. Following a route from the Cairngorms of Scotland to the fire-watch lookouts of Washington State, from Iceland’s ‘Houses of Joy’ to the Utah desert; frozen ghost towns in Svalbard to shrines in Japan; Roald Dahl’s Metro-land writing hut to a lighthouse in the North Atlantic, Richards explores landscapes which have inspired writers, artists and musicians, and asks: why are we drawn to wilderness? What can we do to protect them? And what does the future hold for outposts on the edge?
It’s going to be a wonderful weekend! Check ticket prices (there’s no charge for children up to age 14) and book author events, creative workshops and outdoor adventures via the official website website www.wealdenliteraryfestival.co.uk
Saturday June 29, 2019 10:00 AM – 07:00 PM
Sunday June 30, 2019 10:00 AM – 07:00 PM
Boldshaves Gardens
Woodchurch, Kent TN26 3RA
United Kingdom
