Robert Ashton
@robertashton.bsky.social
Author; latest book explores how our past is guiding us as we create a more sustainable future; charity trustee, Humanist Quaker, MA, FRSA.
www.robertashton.co.uk
www.robertashton.co.uk
I guess we're never too old to start something new @eastangliabylines.co.uk eastangliabylines.co.uk/lifestyle/cu...
Literary success aged 69, I was longlisted for the Wainwright prize
You are never too old to embark on a new adventure as I discovered in 2024, which has kickstarted a new life as a full time writer
eastangliabylines.co.uk
October 28, 2025 at 3:55 PM
I guess we're never too old to start something new @eastangliabylines.co.uk eastangliabylines.co.uk/lifestyle/cu...
I always wondered why grandfather wore suit, waistcoat and time when sitting on the beach at Walton on the Naze.
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
Something prompted me to think about my grandparents
Who when this picture was taken in 1958 were 65 and 66 years old
open.substack.com
October 27, 2025 at 8:46 AM
I always wondered why grandfather wore suit, waistcoat and time when sitting on the beach at Walton on the Naze.
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
The pennies are dropping @wiltonsquare.bsky.social as the thrust of my next book becomes clear open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
I've been seeking parallels
As the shape of my next book becomes clearer
open.substack.com
October 23, 2025 at 8:23 AM
The pennies are dropping @wiltonsquare.bsky.social as the thrust of my next book becomes clear open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
Order your copy of the paperback of my latest book before midnight & enjoy a 25% discount. That's a great deal for a book that says so much about our rural past & what lies ahead @wiltonsquare.bsky.social: shorturl.at/2ByiE
Where Are the Fellows Who Cut the Hay? by Robert Ashton | Waterstones
Buy Where Are the Fellows Who Cut the Hay? by Robert Ashton from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.
shorturl.at
October 17, 2025 at 7:02 AM
Order your copy of the paperback of my latest book before midnight & enjoy a 25% discount. That's a great deal for a book that says so much about our rural past & what lies ahead @wiltonsquare.bsky.social: shorturl.at/2ByiE
Here's a challenge for a Thursday afternoon @wiltonsquare.bsky.social @troopersnooks.bsky.social - How far can this brilliant offer from @waterstones.bsky.social s for a must read book about rural life go if everyone who sees it, shares it?
shorturl.at/2ByiE
shorturl.at/2ByiE
Where Are the Fellows Who Cut the Hay? by Robert Ashton | Waterstones
Buy Where Are the Fellows Who Cut the Hay? by Robert Ashton from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.
shorturl.at
October 16, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Here's a challenge for a Thursday afternoon @wiltonsquare.bsky.social @troopersnooks.bsky.social - How far can this brilliant offer from @waterstones.bsky.social s for a must read book about rural life go if everyone who sees it, shares it?
shorturl.at/2ByiE
shorturl.at/2ByiE
Seeing the play Akenfield at the weekend, reminded me of something George Ewart Evans wrote, after meeting retired Suffolk farmer James Seeley.
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
The Great War changed life on Suffolk farms
The men who came back were changed by their experience, as many writers have explained
open.substack.com
October 16, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Seeing the play Akenfield at the weekend, reminded me of something George Ewart Evans wrote, after meeting retired Suffolk farmer James Seeley.
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
So much news, about climate change denial & extracting more, not less oil and gas, can be depressing @wiltonsquare.bsky.social. But pre-order a copy of my book from @waterstones.bsky.social, get 25% off & discover why I'm so positive about the futurel shorturl.at/2ByiE
October 15, 2025 at 1:49 PM
So much news, about climate change denial & extracting more, not less oil and gas, can be depressing @wiltonsquare.bsky.social. But pre-order a copy of my book from @waterstones.bsky.social, get 25% off & discover why I'm so positive about the futurel shorturl.at/2ByiE
Did you have these when you were at school? open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
Are you old enough to remember these?
On Monday I revisited my old school
open.substack.com
October 15, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Did you have these when you were at school? open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
As winter nears, let's prepare for spring with this @wainwrightprize.bsky.social longlisted exploration of social change in rural #Suffolk. Order from @waterstones.bsky.social today, get a discount & your copy will arrive when the daffs are in bloom! shorturl.at/2ByiE @wiltonsquare.bsky.social
October 14, 2025 at 12:53 PM
As winter nears, let's prepare for spring with this @wainwrightprize.bsky.social longlisted exploration of social change in rural #Suffolk. Order from @waterstones.bsky.social today, get a discount & your copy will arrive when the daffs are in bloom! shorturl.at/2ByiE @wiltonsquare.bsky.social
Look what my new publisher @wiltonsquare.bsky.social has arranged with @waterstones.bsky.social. The chance to pre-order the paperback edition of my latest book for less than a tenner! Order here: shorturl.at/2ByiE
October 14, 2025 at 7:05 AM
Look what my new publisher @wiltonsquare.bsky.social has arranged with @waterstones.bsky.social. The chance to pre-order the paperback edition of my latest book for less than a tenner! Order here: shorturl.at/2ByiE
Research for my next book is now under steam @wiltonsquare.bsky.social & promises to be anything but boring!
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
What connected Quakers with the Titanic?
I was surprised, and the story will appear in my next book, due out in 2027
open.substack.com
October 8, 2025 at 7:41 AM
Research for my next book is now under steam @wiltonsquare.bsky.social & promises to be anything but boring!
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
An autumn Saturday is a time for reflection, putting me in the right mood to hear Simon Barnes speak in Aldeburgh this morning
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
There's something about autumn light
Our Suffolk landscape has a spiritual quality, if you stop rushing to see it.
open.substack.com
October 4, 2025 at 7:51 AM
An autumn Saturday is a time for reflection, putting me in the right mood to hear Simon Barnes speak in Aldeburgh this morning
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
Reposted by Robert Ashton
We were chuffed that Hilary Taylor took the runner-up award at last week’s New Angle Prize, and that four of the six shortlisted books – by @robertashton.bsky.social, @katharineq.bsky.social & Amanda Addison – are now published by us or our sister company @wiltonsquare.bsky.social. Full story ⤵️
September 28, 2025 at 3:46 PM
We were chuffed that Hilary Taylor took the runner-up award at last week’s New Angle Prize, and that four of the six shortlisted books – by @robertashton.bsky.social, @katharineq.bsky.social & Amanda Addison – are now published by us or our sister company @wiltonsquare.bsky.social. Full story ⤵️
Brilliant to pop into @shuckhappens.bsky.social l at #Minories #Colchester today @wiltonsquare.bsky.social & be told that they loved my latest book; they even remembered my name! #ProudAuthorMoment #ColchesterBookEvent?
September 28, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Brilliant to pop into @shuckhappens.bsky.social l at #Minories #Colchester today @wiltonsquare.bsky.social & be told that they loved my latest book; they even remembered my name! #ProudAuthorMoment #ColchesterBookEvent?
After a period of creative constipation, when a new book begins to emerge, you have to go with it, so today I am writing in a rather nice hotel at #Lavenham
September 27, 2025 at 11:39 AM
After a period of creative constipation, when a new book begins to emerge, you have to go with it, so today I am writing in a rather nice hotel at #Lavenham
There's more to Leiston than meets the eye! See what I discovered last night here: open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
September 27, 2025 at 6:04 AM
There's more to Leiston than meets the eye! See what I discovered last night here: open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
Tonight's New Angle Prize dinner has prompted me to reflect on my relationship with #Suffolk, the place I call my home.
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
It's good not to forget
Tonight's book award dinner prompts me to reflect on my return to Suffolk
open.substack.com
September 25, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Tonight's New Angle Prize dinner has prompted me to reflect on my relationship with #Suffolk, the place I call my home.
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
Reposted by Robert Ashton
Still celebrating the marvellous Leiston Book Festival on Saturday and the insights into nature, our landscape and writers before now who have captured our imaginations. Thank you for asking me to host. I absolutely loved it. @robertashton.bsky.social #leiston
September 22, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Still celebrating the marvellous Leiston Book Festival on Saturday and the insights into nature, our landscape and writers before now who have captured our imaginations. Thank you for asking me to host. I absolutely loved it. @robertashton.bsky.social #leiston
I wonder what's the furthest someone's travelled to attend a #literaryfestival? We had a couple who'd come over from #California to attend ours yesterday! robertashton.substack.com/p/this-is-wh...
This is what any book festival speaker wants to see
A room packed with attentive readers
robertashton.substack.com
September 21, 2025 at 1:47 PM
I wonder what's the furthest someone's travelled to attend a #literaryfestival? We had a couple who'd come over from #California to attend ours yesterday! robertashton.substack.com/p/this-is-wh...
I'm expecting to visit @shoemakersmuseum.bsky.social as I dig deeper into what made early Quaker firms so successful open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
Stepping off on the right foot
When writing a new book, I invariably start with a conversation with a friend
open.substack.com
September 18, 2025 at 8:35 AM
I'm expecting to visit @shoemakersmuseum.bsky.social as I dig deeper into what made early Quaker firms so successful open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
Looking forward to this weekend and the #Leiston Book Festival which has now SOLD OUT! www.leistonbookfestival.co.uk
Home | Leiston Book Festival | 20 Sept
The first Leiston Book Festival took place on 7 September 2024 and was a great success. In 2025 we continue the theme established last year as six renowned writers explore ideas about our changing lan...
www.leistonbookfestival.co.uk
September 16, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Looking forward to this weekend and the #Leiston Book Festival which has now SOLD OUT! www.leistonbookfestival.co.uk
I have a soft spot for Tiptree jam. open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
September 15, 2025 at 8:16 AM
I have a soft spot for Tiptree jam. open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
If you want a ticket for Leiston’s Book Festival, you need to be quick as we’ve nearly sold out
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
I'm a little shocked by this success
We've sold 200 tickets to the Leiston Book Festival
open.substack.com
September 10, 2025 at 7:29 AM
If you want a ticket for Leiston’s Book Festival, you need to be quick as we’ve nearly sold out
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
Do you like exploring graveyards?
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
Walking to buy petrol, I spotted an angel
Why would one grave have a farm more ornate headstone than those around it?
open.substack.com
September 8, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Do you like exploring graveyards?
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
I've always taken my knees for granted - and then they got be banned from entering a church! open.substack.com/pub/robertas...
Why does God not like my knees?
I was barred from entering Zadar cathedral a few days ago,
open.substack.com
September 3, 2025 at 8:40 AM
I've always taken my knees for granted - and then they got be banned from entering a church! open.substack.com/pub/robertas...