| Taunton Literary Festival 2012 |
Sunday 23rd September, Day 2
Hestercombe Gardens, Cheddon
Fitzpaine, Taunton TA2 8LG
Hestercombe Gardens, Cheddon
Fitzpaine, Taunton TA2 8LG
2.30pm An interview with Stephen Moss
Stephen Moss will be interviewed by professional
journalist and broadcaster, Rebecca Pow
Price: £6.50
Stephen Moss's latest book is Wild Hares and Hummingbirds.This is a very
personal celebration of why the natural world matters to all of us, wherever we
live. Wild Hares and Hummingbirds is nature writing at its finest, expressed
through the natural history of one very special place. Stephen Moss works at the
BBC Natural History Unit where he has produced programmes including
Springwatch, Autumnwatch and The Nature of Britain. Author of the 'Birdwatch
‘ column in the Guardian, his other books include The Bumper Book of Nature,
Birds and Weather, A Bird in the Bush and This Birding Life.
Stephen Moss is one of Britain's leading nature writers, brodcasters and wildlife
television producers. A lifelong naturalist, I am passionate about communicating
the wonders of the natural world to the widest possible audience. His special
area of knowledge is birds and climate change, the social history of wildlife-
watching, getting children back in touch with nature and UK environmental
issues. He is the original producer of the BAFTA award winning series of
Springwatch. He has worked with David Attenborough, BIll Oddie, Alan
Titchmarsh, Chris Packham, Kate Humble, Simon King, Charlie Dimmock and
Michaela Strachan.
Stephen Moss will be interviewed by professional
journalist and broadcaster, Rebecca Pow
Price: £6.50
Stephen Moss's latest book is Wild Hares and Hummingbirds.This is a very
personal celebration of why the natural world matters to all of us, wherever we
live. Wild Hares and Hummingbirds is nature writing at its finest, expressed
through the natural history of one very special place. Stephen Moss works at the
BBC Natural History Unit where he has produced programmes including
Springwatch, Autumnwatch and The Nature of Britain. Author of the 'Birdwatch
‘ column in the Guardian, his other books include The Bumper Book of Nature,
Birds and Weather, A Bird in the Bush and This Birding Life.
Stephen Moss is one of Britain's leading nature writers, brodcasters and wildlife
television producers. A lifelong naturalist, I am passionate about communicating
the wonders of the natural world to the widest possible audience. His special
area of knowledge is birds and climate change, the social history of wildlife-
watching, getting children back in touch with nature and UK environmental
issues. He is the original producer of the BAFTA award winning series of
Springwatch. He has worked with David Attenborough, BIll Oddie, Alan
Titchmarsh, Chris Packham, Kate Humble, Simon King, Charlie Dimmock and
Michaela Strachan.
7.30pm Miriam Darlington, Otter Country
Price: £6.50
Over the course of a year, Miriam Darlington travelled around Britain in search of wild otters; from her
home in Devon to the wilds of Scotland; to Cumbria, Wales, Northumberland, Cornwall, Somerset and
the River Lea; to her childhood home near the Ouse, the source of her watery obsession. Otter
Country follows Darlington's search through different landscapes, seasons, weather and light, as she
tracks one of Britain's most elusive animals. During her journey, she meets otter experts,
representatives of the Environment Agency, conservationists, ecologists, walkers, Henry Williamson's
family, Gavin Maxwell's heir; zoo keepers, fishermen, scientists, hunters and poets. Above all she
learns how to track and be around otters, and that the stillness required to actually see this shy animal
can bring many unasked-for wonders. Written in mesmerising, magical prose, Otter Country
establishes Darlington as a prominent voice in the new generation of British nature writers.
Miriam is an English teacher and lives in Devon where she also works as a freelance writer. She
performs at open mic events, at festivals (recently at Glastonbury) in a duo called ‘The
Honeytongues,’ and is a member of Moor Poets, a group of writers from Dartmoor.
Price: £6.50
Over the course of a year, Miriam Darlington travelled around Britain in search of wild otters; from her
home in Devon to the wilds of Scotland; to Cumbria, Wales, Northumberland, Cornwall, Somerset and
the River Lea; to her childhood home near the Ouse, the source of her watery obsession. Otter
Country follows Darlington's search through different landscapes, seasons, weather and light, as she
tracks one of Britain's most elusive animals. During her journey, she meets otter experts,
representatives of the Environment Agency, conservationists, ecologists, walkers, Henry Williamson's
family, Gavin Maxwell's heir; zoo keepers, fishermen, scientists, hunters and poets. Above all she
learns how to track and be around otters, and that the stillness required to actually see this shy animal
can bring many unasked-for wonders. Written in mesmerising, magical prose, Otter Country
establishes Darlington as a prominent voice in the new generation of British nature writers.
Miriam is an English teacher and lives in Devon where she also works as a freelance writer. She
performs at open mic events, at festivals (recently at Glastonbury) in a duo called ‘The
Honeytongues,’ and is a member of Moor Poets, a group of writers from Dartmoor.
| To purchase tickets: Visit Brendon Books, Bath Place, Taunton TA1 4ER. Tel. 01823 337742 email: brendonbooks@gmail.com or click the links below to order online (Please note there is a £1.00 charge for posting out tickets) |
11.30am Rosemary Penfold. Posy of Wild Flowers
Price: £6.50
Rosemary Penfold's A Field Full of Butterflies was an evocative memoir of her life
growing up in the fields of the English countryside. A moving testament to a forgotten
world and a rapidly disappearing and often misunderstood people, Rosemary won the
hearts of the nation with her story. In this, her second book, Rosemary returns to the
idyllic countryside to continue her compelling story. Written in the same elegant
narrative that has made Rosemary a much loved and admired storyteller, she paints a
vivid and touching portrait of a way of life that no longer exists. It is a heartwarming
tale of a fast-changing world, which captures the hopes and struggles, loves and losses,
traditions and prejudices of a Romany community.
Rosemary Penfold lives with her husband of 54 years not far from where she grew up,
in the heart of Somerset. She has 4 children, 11 grandchildren and 2
great-grandchildren. She is still close to her extended Romany family who meet
regularly for family gatherings. Although 'settled', her Romany roots mean she is still a
gypsy at heart.
Price: £6.50
Rosemary Penfold's A Field Full of Butterflies was an evocative memoir of her life
growing up in the fields of the English countryside. A moving testament to a forgotten
world and a rapidly disappearing and often misunderstood people, Rosemary won the
hearts of the nation with her story. In this, her second book, Rosemary returns to the
idyllic countryside to continue her compelling story. Written in the same elegant
narrative that has made Rosemary a much loved and admired storyteller, she paints a
vivid and touching portrait of a way of life that no longer exists. It is a heartwarming
tale of a fast-changing world, which captures the hopes and struggles, loves and losses,
traditions and prejudices of a Romany community.
Rosemary Penfold lives with her husband of 54 years not far from where she grew up,
in the heart of Somerset. She has 4 children, 11 grandchildren and 2
great-grandchildren. She is still close to her extended Romany family who meet
regularly for family gatherings. Although 'settled', her Romany roots mean she is still a
gypsy at heart.
11.30am Rosemary Penfold
2.30pm Stephen Moss
4.00pm Duff Hart-Davis
6.00pm Graham Harvey
7.30pm Miriam Darlington
2.30pm Stephen Moss
4.00pm Duff Hart-Davis
6.00pm Graham Harvey
7.30pm Miriam Darlington
6.00pm Graham Harvey: Quest For Real Food
Price: £6.50
Graham Harvey has been fascinated with agriculture ever since I took a holiday job on
a farm near his home in Reading. It was a mixed farm, the sort that grew both food
crops for people and grass for grazing cattle. Looking back he considers that it was a
great system. Because the milk and meat came from animals grazing pasture they
contained all sorts of nutrients to protect human health. And when the pasture was
ploughed up for wheat or oats, the soil was so fertile it would grow sizeable crops
without the need for pesticides
After a spell at university where he read agriculture he took a job as a reporter on
Farmers Weekly. That’s when he started seeing the traditional mixed farm come under
attack. In its place he believes we now have animal factories and prairie-style wheat,
guzzling oil and constantly buffeted by global commodity markets. In the 1980s he
gave up full-time journalism to write scripts for The Archers. At least in this fictional
world there were a few mixed farms left.
For the past 14 years he has been the show’s ‘agricultural story editor’, a sort of farm
minister for Ambridge. But now he thinks it’s time to get back to the real world. Modern
high-input agriculture, he believes, is wrecking our health, our rural communities and
our planet. In his view there’s only one answer – Britain’s forgotten treasure, family
mixed farms. Real farms producing real food.
Price: £6.50
Graham Harvey has been fascinated with agriculture ever since I took a holiday job on
a farm near his home in Reading. It was a mixed farm, the sort that grew both food
crops for people and grass for grazing cattle. Looking back he considers that it was a
great system. Because the milk and meat came from animals grazing pasture they
contained all sorts of nutrients to protect human health. And when the pasture was
ploughed up for wheat or oats, the soil was so fertile it would grow sizeable crops
without the need for pesticides
After a spell at university where he read agriculture he took a job as a reporter on
Farmers Weekly. That’s when he started seeing the traditional mixed farm come under
attack. In its place he believes we now have animal factories and prairie-style wheat,
guzzling oil and constantly buffeted by global commodity markets. In the 1980s he
gave up full-time journalism to write scripts for The Archers. At least in this fictional
world there were a few mixed farms left.
For the past 14 years he has been the show’s ‘agricultural story editor’, a sort of farm
minister for Ambridge. But now he thinks it’s time to get back to the real world. Modern
high-input agriculture, he believes, is wrecking our health, our rural communities and
our planet. In his view there’s only one answer – Britain’s forgotten treasure, family
mixed farms. Real farms producing real food.
| To purchase tickets: Visit Brendon Books, Bath Place, Taunton TA1 4ER. Tel. 01823 337742 email: brendonbooks@gmail.com or click the links above to order online (Please note there is a £1.00 charge for posting out tickets) |
4.00pm Duff Hart-Davis, Man of War
Price: £6.50
The incredible life story of Captain Alan Hillgarth, soldier, spy, goldhunter and hero from the Sunday
Times bestselling writer Duff Hart-Davis.'A lot of people know me,' wrote Alan Hillgarth in a letter,
'but I'm very much an enigma to most of them and regarded with suspicion because I don't fit into any
category . . . I'm a trouble-maker. I ride the storm.'Captain Alan Hillgarth was just 15 years old when
he found himself aboard the HMS Bacchante as the First World War broke out. Within months he'd
fought at Gallipoli, bayoneted an attacking Turkish soldier, and been shot in the head and leg.
After the war, Hillgarth became an author of thrillers, a gold-hunter in South America, a diplomat and a
spy-master. As British Consul in Majorca during the Spanish Civil War, from 1936 to 1939, he saved
countless lives acting as mediator between the two sides. From 1940 to 1943 he was Britain's most
important intelligence officer in Spain, a key player in the successful Allied subterfuge Operation
Mincemeat. Later he became Chief of Intelligence for the Eastern Fleet, in Ceylon, and a key advisor to
Churchill, during and after the war.
With exclusive access to the family archive, Hart-Davis is uncovering the truth about an era previously
shrouded in mystery and a man that wanted it that way.Duff Hart-Davis has written and edited over
fifty books on a wide variety of subjects, including eight adventure novels and the Sunday Times
bestseller The War That Never Was, an enthralling account of the secret war fought by British
mercenaries in the Yemen during the 1960s.He worked on the Sunday Telegraph as Literary Editor and
feature writer and as a columnist for the Independent. Together with his wife Phyllida, he now lives on
the Cotswold escarpment.
Price: £6.50
The incredible life story of Captain Alan Hillgarth, soldier, spy, goldhunter and hero from the Sunday
Times bestselling writer Duff Hart-Davis.'A lot of people know me,' wrote Alan Hillgarth in a letter,
'but I'm very much an enigma to most of them and regarded with suspicion because I don't fit into any
category . . . I'm a trouble-maker. I ride the storm.'Captain Alan Hillgarth was just 15 years old when
he found himself aboard the HMS Bacchante as the First World War broke out. Within months he'd
fought at Gallipoli, bayoneted an attacking Turkish soldier, and been shot in the head and leg.
After the war, Hillgarth became an author of thrillers, a gold-hunter in South America, a diplomat and a
spy-master. As British Consul in Majorca during the Spanish Civil War, from 1936 to 1939, he saved
countless lives acting as mediator between the two sides. From 1940 to 1943 he was Britain's most
important intelligence officer in Spain, a key player in the successful Allied subterfuge Operation
Mincemeat. Later he became Chief of Intelligence for the Eastern Fleet, in Ceylon, and a key advisor to
Churchill, during and after the war.
With exclusive access to the family archive, Hart-Davis is uncovering the truth about an era previously
shrouded in mystery and a man that wanted it that way.Duff Hart-Davis has written and edited over
fifty books on a wide variety of subjects, including eight adventure novels and the Sunday Times
bestseller The War That Never Was, an enthralling account of the secret war fought by British
mercenaries in the Yemen during the 1960s.He worked on the Sunday Telegraph as Literary Editor and
feature writer and as a columnist for the Independent. Together with his wife Phyllida, he now lives on
the Cotswold escarpment.
