Nicola Chester
@nicolawriting.bsky.social
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
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
Pinned
Nicola Chester
@nicolawriting.bsky.social
· Apr 15
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
Reposted by Nicola Chester
Delighted by @nicolawriting.bsky.social's glowing thoughtful review @caughtbytheriver.bsky.social of my non-fiction book 'Village' (with Mary Chamberlain's 'Fenwomen' - recommended)! 'Village is a glorious, generous compendium'. 'Moving, funny and revelatory’. To buy 'Village' - LINK IN COMMENTS!
November 27, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Delighted by @nicolawriting.bsky.social's glowing thoughtful review @caughtbytheriver.bsky.social of my non-fiction book 'Village' (with Mary Chamberlain's 'Fenwomen' - recommended)! 'Village is a glorious, generous compendium'. 'Moving, funny and revelatory’. To buy 'Village' - LINK IN COMMENTS!
Reposted by Nicola Chester
‘Village is a glorious, generous compendium...moving, funny and revelatory’
@nicolawriting.bsky.social , reviewing @caughtbytheriver.bsky.social.
To meet my irrepressible villagers & their songs -in paperback- or Kindle edition, readable on phone/computer for only 99p
LINK IN COMMENT
@nicolawriting.bsky.social , reviewing @caughtbytheriver.bsky.social.
To meet my irrepressible villagers & their songs -in paperback- or Kindle edition, readable on phone/computer for only 99p
LINK IN COMMENT
November 27, 2025 at 2:43 PM
‘Village is a glorious, generous compendium...moving, funny and revelatory’
@nicolawriting.bsky.social , reviewing @caughtbytheriver.bsky.social.
To meet my irrepressible villagers & their songs -in paperback- or Kindle edition, readable on phone/computer for only 99p
LINK IN COMMENT
@nicolawriting.bsky.social , reviewing @caughtbytheriver.bsky.social.
To meet my irrepressible villagers & their songs -in paperback- or Kindle edition, readable on phone/computer for only 99p
LINK IN COMMENT
Rare voices, & where we come from: the women in the firelit doorways: two great books from rural working class women’s lives …
[email protected]’s ‘Village’ & a re-issue of Mary Chamberlain’s ‘Fenwomen’ give voice to an otherwise largely silent corner of England, writes @nicolawriting.bsky.social, telling the evocative, hard-lived stories of rural working class women www.caughtbytheriver.net/2025/11/vill...
November 27, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Rare voices, & where we come from: the women in the firelit doorways: two great books from rural working class women’s lives …
Oh! Oh! I know this one! (As a former cowgirl an all that) Ben Johnson!
Where is everybody?
Where is everybody?
Stumbled across a trivia question I expect only @rickburin.bsky.social can answer without cheating. Who is the only person to have won both an Oscar and a world rodeo championship?
November 27, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Oh! Oh! I know this one! (As a former cowgirl an all that) Ben Johnson!
Where is everybody?
Where is everybody?
Two really important, fascinating books to add to the slimmest of cannons, of rural, working class women. @abrackenbury.bsky.social’s Village is a glorious compendium!
[email protected]’s ‘Village’ & a re-issue of Mary Chamberlain’s ‘Fenwomen’ give voice to an otherwise largely silent corner of England, writes @nicolawriting.bsky.social, telling the evocative, hard-lived stories of rural working class women www.caughtbytheriver.net/2025/11/vill...
November 26, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Two really important, fascinating books to add to the slimmest of cannons, of rural, working class women. @abrackenbury.bsky.social’s Village is a glorious compendium!
Reposted by Nicola Chester
And everyone should be sure to check out too … goldengrenades.com/podcast/epis...
Episode 22: Nicola Chester
In this episode of Golden Grenades nature writer Nicola Chester discusses her work and recently published memoir, On Gallows Down. Why do people keep giving her dead things in a Bag For Life?
goldengrenades.com
November 26, 2025 at 8:39 AM
And everyone should be sure to check out too … goldengrenades.com/podcast/epis...
Hope & action, right here, with joy (& the ever joyful @anitaroy1000.bsky.social) “we are part of a grassroots movement – ordinary people like us across the country, working together to care for the land & each other.”
Country diary: Once a plain old field, now a thriving forest garden | Anita Roy
Wellington, Somerset: The five years we’ve spent transforming this patch has been recognised with an RHS award. We’re proud, but we’re not done yet
www.theguardian.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Hope & action, right here, with joy (& the ever joyful @anitaroy1000.bsky.social) “we are part of a grassroots movement – ordinary people like us across the country, working together to care for the land & each other.”
This’ll be a treat with @yolobirder.bsky.social! Always an excellent & entertaining listen, & #TheCuckoosLea is wonderful!
It’s available today, my episode with @yolobirder.bsky.social for his brilliant @goldengrenadesco.bsky.social podcast. Listen on to discover my chosen 5 birds to join me in Armageddon (plus chat on #thecuckooslea)! goldengrenades.com/podcast/ #GoldenGrenades #naturewriting #birdsandplace
November 26, 2025 at 8:06 AM
This’ll be a treat with @yolobirder.bsky.social! Always an excellent & entertaining listen, & #TheCuckoosLea is wonderful!
Very excited to hear news of a new book, #SaidtheDead from Doireann Ni Ghriofa @faberbooks.bsky.social Her book, A Ghost in the Throat was influential in a breakthrough in writing mine … I loved it. www.faber.co.uk/journal/fabe...
November 25, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Very excited to hear news of a new book, #SaidtheDead from Doireann Ni Ghriofa @faberbooks.bsky.social Her book, A Ghost in the Throat was influential in a breakthrough in writing mine … I loved it. www.faber.co.uk/journal/fabe...
Reposted by Nicola Chester
Beautiful piece about a group of young people who ignored the cynics, critics and gatekeepers and just cracked on restoring nature, bringing as many people as they could along for the ride.
"Action, access and agency".
You want a rural revival? This is it.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
"Action, access and agency".
You want a rural revival? This is it.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘It fully changed my life!’ How young rewilders transformed a farm – and began a movement
At Maple Farm, nature is returning in droves: nightingales, grass snakes, slowworms, bats and insects. All due to the vision of a group determined to accelerate its recovery
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Beautiful piece about a group of young people who ignored the cynics, critics and gatekeepers and just cracked on restoring nature, bringing as many people as they could along for the ride.
"Action, access and agency".
You want a rural revival? This is it.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
"Action, access and agency".
You want a rural revival? This is it.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Perhaps a Christmas book? The best nature writing & storytelling I’ve done so far: a haunting of barn owls, how we lost the birds & why we didn’t have to, proper winters & astonishing encounters (historical, modern, aural) with the northern lights. #GhostsoftheFarm Available for articles! #booksky
November 25, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Perhaps a Christmas book? The best nature writing & storytelling I’ve done so far: a haunting of barn owls, how we lost the birds & why we didn’t have to, proper winters & astonishing encounters (historical, modern, aural) with the northern lights. #GhostsoftheFarm Available for articles! #booksky
Wonderful to return to #Highclere Castle (we used to work & live on the estate) & be a guest on Lady Carnarvon’s Book Club with #GhostsoftheFarm. I met #DaughtersofBritain earlier who had the same sunflower yellow Fordson tractor as Doris & Julia’s Racing Lizzie! @chelseagreenbooks.bsky.social 1/2
November 24, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Wonderful to return to #Highclere Castle (we used to work & live on the estate) & be a guest on Lady Carnarvon’s Book Club with #GhostsoftheFarm. I met #DaughtersofBritain earlier who had the same sunflower yellow Fordson tractor as Doris & Julia’s Racing Lizzie! @chelseagreenbooks.bsky.social 1/2
Really looking forward to @orfc.bsky.social! So many exciting talks, panels & people in such a gorgeous place. Very excited to say I’ll be chatting #GhostsoftheFarm with @benraskin.bsky.social! And later, all things #WildService …
November 21, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Really looking forward to @orfc.bsky.social! So many exciting talks, panels & people in such a gorgeous place. Very excited to say I’ll be chatting #GhostsoftheFarm with @benraskin.bsky.social! And later, all things #WildService …
Dear young & lively, keen-to-do-stuff doggo, I am sorry I am currently rubbish.
[Love how she keeps bringing me suggestions on stuff we can still do together.]
[Love how she keeps bringing me suggestions on stuff we can still do together.]
November 20, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Dear young & lively, keen-to-do-stuff doggo, I am sorry I am currently rubbish.
[Love how she keeps bringing me suggestions on stuff we can still do together.]
[Love how she keeps bringing me suggestions on stuff we can still do together.]
The bedwine - betwine, betwined, between - coming into its smoky, wreathing, tiny gas lamp light, right now ..
For all wild clematis lovers including @nicolawriting.bsky.social @nicwilson.bsky.social
November 20, 2025 at 1:54 PM
The bedwine - betwine, betwined, between - coming into its smoky, wreathing, tiny gas lamp light, right now ..
Last leaves hanging on like little birds.
November 19, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Last leaves hanging on like little birds.
Actual snow falling on the most western edge of Berkshire, if very fatly, wetly.
November 19, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Actual snow falling on the most western edge of Berkshire, if very fatly, wetly.
God how this changed me. In fact, no, made me realise there were ‘things’ out there - music, art, books - that spoke to me, even if they spoke to no one else I knew… & that was ok, & a good thing.
Four decades back a major label released a debut album that sounded like almost nothing on earth while still sounding incredibly familiar. Our man in San Francisco Ned Raggett takes stock of it all
Happy Birthday to the JAMC's Psychocandy, which turns 40 today!
buff.ly/nflmjN6
Happy Birthday to the JAMC's Psychocandy, which turns 40 today!
buff.ly/nflmjN6
November 18, 2025 at 6:20 PM
God how this changed me. In fact, no, made me realise there were ‘things’ out there - music, art, books - that spoke to me, even if they spoke to no one else I knew… & that was ok, & a good thing.
Reposted by Nicola Chester
Lifelong renting in the UK is too often a trauma that follows you around: gutted to have passed it on to our kids (even though we’re out of it for now, in a lovely family home.) The bitter disputes & pettiness, conditions, the what you have to do to get a place, is a national disgrace. Rant. Sorry.
November 17, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Lifelong renting in the UK is too often a trauma that follows you around: gutted to have passed it on to our kids (even though we’re out of it for now, in a lovely family home.) The bitter disputes & pettiness, conditions, the what you have to do to get a place, is a national disgrace. Rant. Sorry.
Reposted by Nicola Chester
Heartfelt and on the nail. We can do better: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Greens back plan to 'abolish' private landlords - BBC News
A motion passed at its party conference called for the party "to seek the effective abolition of private landlordism" while backing building more council houses.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 17, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Heartfelt and on the nail. We can do better: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Lifelong renting in the UK is too often a trauma that follows you around: gutted to have passed it on to our kids (even though we’re out of it for now, in a lovely family home.) The bitter disputes & pettiness, conditions, the what you have to do to get a place, is a national disgrace. Rant. Sorry.
November 17, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Lifelong renting in the UK is too often a trauma that follows you around: gutted to have passed it on to our kids (even though we’re out of it for now, in a lovely family home.) The bitter disputes & pettiness, conditions, the what you have to do to get a place, is a national disgrace. Rant. Sorry.
Reposted by Nicola Chester
Great news obviously, but surely this is a Doctor Who episode? The Sausages of Tremedioth.
British and Australian chemists have discovered a powerful new antibiotic called pre-methylenomycin C lactone, hiding in a well-known soil bacterium. This molecule kills drug-resistant bacteria without triggering resistance. buff.ly/YlXaONo
#ShareGoodNewsToo
#ShareGoodNewsToo
Scientists find hidden antibiotic 100x stronger against deadly superbugs
A team of scientists discovered a hidden antibiotic 100 times stronger than existing drugs against deadly superbugs like MRSA. The molecule had been overlooked for decades in a familiar bacterium. It…
buff.ly
November 16, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Great news obviously, but surely this is a Doctor Who episode? The Sausages of Tremedioth.
Reposted by Nicola Chester
How do we, as a society, let companies get away with this behaviour?
I am bewildered that this labour of Sisyphus is being carried out by volunteers, while Southern Water, which has admitted responsibility for the catastrophe, is doing nothing to remediate it.
‘We feel we’re fighting a losing battle’: the race to remove millions of plastic beads from Camber Sands
A huge cleanup effort has seen volunteers working to remove beads by hand and machine. They can only wait and see the extent of damage to wildlife and dune habitat
www.theguardian.com
November 15, 2025 at 8:50 AM
How do we, as a society, let companies get away with this behaviour?
Reposted by Nicola Chester
RIP Rachel Cooke, fellow Puffin Club member and evangelist of All the Devils Are Here, formidable critic and true believer in the power and importance of the good stuff, in whatever form it takes. I’m gutted we won’t get to talk about books again. My condolences to Rachel’s friends and family. x
We are very sad to learn of the death of our friend Rachel Cooke. In addition to being a wonderful writer and a superb critic, she loved books to her core. She kept us on our toes and it was a joy and a privilege to spend time with her, on and off the show. RIP. observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
Remembering Rachel Cooke | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 14, 2025 at 10:56 PM
RIP Rachel Cooke, fellow Puffin Club member and evangelist of All the Devils Are Here, formidable critic and true believer in the power and importance of the good stuff, in whatever form it takes. I’m gutted we won’t get to talk about books again. My condolences to Rachel’s friends and family. x
On my Christmas list every year …
we don't have a Christmas advert but we *do* have an online shop with mugs, t-shirts and more that will dramatically heighten the rural representation within your personal wardrobe and kitchen cupboards
explore: merl-shop.co.uk
explore: merl-shop.co.uk
November 14, 2025 at 3:28 PM
On my Christmas list every year …