Nicola Chester
@nicolawriting.bsky.social
2.6K followers 940 following 2.1K posts
Nature. Writer. Reader. Rural. Guardian Country Diary, BBC Countryfile, RSPB. Award winning On Gallows Down. Ghosts of the Farm coming 30/11! Climate Fic Prize Judge. North Wessex Downs. https://nicolachester.com/ https://linktr.ee/nicolachesterwriting
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nicolawriting.bsky.social
Thrilled to announce my new book & reveal its stunning cover! Ghosts of the Farm - Two Women’s Journeys Through Time, Land & Community, published by the lovely @chelseagreenbooks.bsky.social in the UK & US, on 30th September. Available to pre-order now. It’s a delicious, urgent kind of haunting 1/5
Suffragette purple & harvest orange cover: an aerial abstract of fields.
nicolawriting.bsky.social
Had the best time @realfarmed.bsky.social Literary Season, leading & working with some lovely writers in the gorgeous setting of this #RegenerativeAg farm. Good food, inspiration & company. Thank you @fionamountainwrite.bsky.social (who didn’t give away any #TheArchers secrets) #GhostsoftheFarm
nicolawriting.bsky.social
I’m so glad! We were all farmers then!
Reposted by Nicola Chester
iantattum.bsky.social
Just beginning to read @nicolawriting.bsky.social latest book.
I have already experienced that precious overlapping which occurs when a great writer simultaneously invites you into their inner life and returns your own to you.
Carpet farms, the breath of cows, a child galloping ❤️
nicolawriting.bsky.social
Oh my Ian … thank you. So glad it resonated!
nicolawriting.bsky.social
Highly recommend this beautiful book. @nicwilson.bsky.social writes like an angel: a lost little girl, snickets, John Clare, memory, thunderstones, unpredictable illness, deep falling dives into bogs, wild clematis & so much more.. you can read my review @waterstones.bsky.social & order! #booksky
Reposted by Nicola Chester
vronsta.bsky.social
Finally somebody gets it! Thank you @nicolawriting.bsky.social‬ and @caughtbytheriver.bsky.social from all of us. #militarism #SalisburyPlain #colonialcountryside #ruraldiversity #righttoroam #greenwash #armsindustry #endlesswar etc etc
nicolawriting.bsky.social
This is a fascinating, important inquiry of a book - & I can’t think of another like it: how the Army, Salisbury Plain and the Tidworth ranges, even at a few miles distant, are an embedded, camouflaged part of this rural county. My review for @caughtbytheriver.bsky.social @vronsta.bsky.social et al
caughtbytheriver.bsky.social
‘England’s Military Heartland’ is a unique, insightful, in-depth inquiry into how war ideology, preparation and practice has insinuated itself into the narrative of Salisbury Plain, writes @nicolawriting.bsky.social www.caughtbytheriver.net/2025/10/engl...
nicolawriting.bsky.social
So very much resonated, & informed. Thank you for this important work!
nicolawriting.bsky.social
Goodness … incredible to think of that.
nicolawriting.bsky.social
‘Hello, Newbreee 46201?’
nicolawriting.bsky.social
Thank you so much Lesley, that’s such a kind & heartfelt thing to say. It feels good x
nicolawriting.bsky.social
Really interesting stuff Luke!
nicolawriting.bsky.social
Oh my! That’s sad … yes; beautiful but bleak on The Plain!
nicolawriting.bsky.social
Goodbye Kirby Farm on Rooksnest Lane. You were never ours, we were just one of the (longest serving) tenants, but we were utterly yours, with all our shared quirks. Utterly exhausted, too many hats & trying to join a meeting a day early; but a new chapter begins, a mere 880yds over the fields.
nicolawriting.bsky.social
Aware of this one Philip, but not read it - but I think this new book is broader in scope and looks at the garrison towns & their impact, as well as modern conflicts. Must read, thank you.
nicolawriting.bsky.social
This is a fascinating, important inquiry of a book - & I can’t think of another like it: how the Army, Salisbury Plain and the Tidworth ranges, even at a few miles distant, are an embedded, camouflaged part of this rural county. My review for @caughtbytheriver.bsky.social @vronsta.bsky.social et al
caughtbytheriver.bsky.social
‘England’s Military Heartland’ is a unique, insightful, in-depth inquiry into how war ideology, preparation and practice has insinuated itself into the narrative of Salisbury Plain, writes @nicolawriting.bsky.social www.caughtbytheriver.net/2025/10/engl...
Reposted by Nicola Chester
caughtbytheriver.bsky.social
‘England’s Military Heartland’ is a unique, insightful, in-depth inquiry into how war ideology, preparation and practice has insinuated itself into the narrative of Salisbury Plain, writes @nicolawriting.bsky.social www.caughtbytheriver.net/2025/10/engl...
Reposted by Nicola Chester
nicolawriting.bsky.social
Grateful to @lauraparker.bsky.social for this wonderful full page review of #GhostsoftheFarm @chelseagreenbooks.bsky.social in www.countrylife.co.uk 8 Oct. ‘The author is at her best when immersed in rural detail… Mrs Chester has found something truly haunting.’ #booksky
nicolawriting.bsky.social
Thank you for posting this again Richard - it is a sad & beautifully poignant piece. I remember the shock (& pain) of having to go back to work. Lucky to be in very sympathetic, supportive employment then & to take time off. If I’d have been working in school then, it would’ve been very different.
nicolawriting.bsky.social
Oh wonderful, thank you! Barraud’s book was a great reference - as well as @luketurner.bsky.social ‘s excellent introduction @littletollerbooks.bsky.social And yes, so very much effort has been forgotten.
nicolawriting.bsky.social
Grateful to @lauraparker.bsky.social for this wonderful full page review of #GhostsoftheFarm @chelseagreenbooks.bsky.social in www.countrylife.co.uk 8 Oct. ‘The author is at her best when immersed in rural detail… Mrs Chester has found something truly haunting.’ #booksky