Jen Ratcliffe
@jenratcliffe.bsky.social
✏️Writer
Boating birder and travelling poet, loves a good brew ☕ Host of #DailyNature
🌿Nature 🚂Travel
🛶Canals 🌊Nomad
WC Nature Writing Shortlist 24
Porthleven Finalist 23
IntrepidTimes WaterwaysWorld Telegraph
#NatureWriting
#UKCanals
#NaturePoetry
Boating birder and travelling poet, loves a good brew ☕ Host of #DailyNature
🌿Nature 🚂Travel
🛶Canals 🌊Nomad
WC Nature Writing Shortlist 24
Porthleven Finalist 23
IntrepidTimes WaterwaysWorld Telegraph
#NatureWriting
#UKCanals
#NaturePoetry
Pinned
New 🌊📘Water Book Club & Sub Chat!
A space for us to discuss the aquatically inspired books we love a little further
open.substack.com
Feeling concerned about the state of our water? Disconnected from nature?
Like reading & want to connect?
I cordially invite you to the
💙🌊 Water Book Club
A Substack blog & podcast series with interactive discussion
#Water #UKCanals #NatureWriting #BookSky
open.substack.com/pub/jenratcl...
Like reading & want to connect?
I cordially invite you to the
💙🌊 Water Book Club
A Substack blog & podcast series with interactive discussion
#Water #UKCanals #NatureWriting #BookSky
open.substack.com/pub/jenratcl...
A Sunday slow listen, about coming winter and having little moments outdoors
As always - voice over added so you can potter about as you listen
#Nature #Substack
As always - voice over added so you can potter about as you listen
#Nature #Substack
The countdown to #DailyNature challenge for December has begun 💙
Thanks to everyone who has joined in during June and September, this has brought me so much joy
Here's a Substack reflecting on the new season and new ways to join in & be featured
#NatureWriting
open.substack.com/pub/jenratcl...
Thanks to everyone who has joined in during June and September, this has brought me so much joy
Here's a Substack reflecting on the new season and new ways to join in & be featured
#NatureWriting
open.substack.com/pub/jenratcl...
#DailyNature: A Solstice Community Challenge
A challenge I began on BlueSky every solstice is coming to Substack!
open.substack.com
November 23, 2025 at 8:15 AM
The urge to walk fizzes from jaw to finger tip, if I could crawl in ape stance I would, so I let limb fold, then another, up, up into weather, into nonexistence, the disappearance of day and landscape and I'm part of swallowing cloud, just a propella in the mist
#DailyNature #NatureWriting
#DailyNature #NatureWriting
November 22, 2025 at 7:32 PM
The urge to walk fizzes from jaw to finger tip, if I could crawl in ape stance I would, so I let limb fold, then another, up, up into weather, into nonexistence, the disappearance of day and landscape and I'm part of swallowing cloud, just a propella in the mist
#DailyNature #NatureWriting
#DailyNature #NatureWriting
The countdown to #DailyNature challenge for December has begun 💙
Thanks to everyone who has joined in during June and September, this has brought me so much joy
Here's a Substack reflecting on the new season and new ways to join in & be featured
#NatureWriting
open.substack.com/pub/jenratcl...
Thanks to everyone who has joined in during June and September, this has brought me so much joy
Here's a Substack reflecting on the new season and new ways to join in & be featured
#NatureWriting
open.substack.com/pub/jenratcl...
#DailyNature: A Solstice Community Challenge
A challenge I began on BlueSky every solstice is coming to Substack!
open.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 4:46 PM
The countdown to #DailyNature challenge for December has begun 💙
Thanks to everyone who has joined in during June and September, this has brought me so much joy
Here's a Substack reflecting on the new season and new ways to join in & be featured
#NatureWriting
open.substack.com/pub/jenratcl...
Thanks to everyone who has joined in during June and September, this has brought me so much joy
Here's a Substack reflecting on the new season and new ways to join in & be featured
#NatureWriting
open.substack.com/pub/jenratcl...
Reposted by Jen Ratcliffe
Very happy to share I have an article in December's BBC Wildlife magazine which highlights the plight of Kenya's coastal primates & the incredible work by Colobus Conservation to protect them from the increasing threat of development & loss of their coastal forest habitat #primateconservation #kenya
November 19, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Very happy to share I have an article in December's BBC Wildlife magazine which highlights the plight of Kenya's coastal primates & the incredible work by Colobus Conservation to protect them from the increasing threat of development & loss of their coastal forest habitat #primateconservation #kenya
Last night Orion came with sapphire cape and beaded belt of snow that didn't fall, nothing but frosted tips of hedgehog grass - no leaves left to sparkle. The stars are a looking glass, somewhere within this black hole my younger self is seeing them in another winter, in cotton glow.
#NatureWriting
#NatureWriting
November 20, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Last night Orion came with sapphire cape and beaded belt of snow that didn't fall, nothing but frosted tips of hedgehog grass - no leaves left to sparkle. The stars are a looking glass, somewhere within this black hole my younger self is seeing them in another winter, in cotton glow.
#NatureWriting
#NatureWriting
Reposted by Jen Ratcliffe
Query to #rivers #streams people: is £ support/a grant available for a landowner wanting to remove a section of underground pipe carrying stream flow between 2 open channel sections, beneath former pasture?
#daylighting #renaturalising #wetlands
@carlsayer.bsky.social @steveormerod.bsky.social
#daylighting #renaturalising #wetlands
@carlsayer.bsky.social @steveormerod.bsky.social
November 19, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Query to #rivers #streams people: is £ support/a grant available for a landowner wanting to remove a section of underground pipe carrying stream flow between 2 open channel sections, beneath former pasture?
#daylighting #renaturalising #wetlands
@carlsayer.bsky.social @steveormerod.bsky.social
#daylighting #renaturalising #wetlands
@carlsayer.bsky.social @steveormerod.bsky.social
There's a king fisher in this photo I promise 😂
- one for your #birdsfromfaraway @charliebingham.bsky.social ? Maybe more of a #WheresWallyBirds
#Birds #UKCanals
- one for your #birdsfromfaraway @charliebingham.bsky.social ? Maybe more of a #WheresWallyBirds
#Birds #UKCanals
November 18, 2025 at 3:38 PM
There's a king fisher in this photo I promise 😂
- one for your #birdsfromfaraway @charliebingham.bsky.social ? Maybe more of a #WheresWallyBirds
#Birds #UKCanals
- one for your #birdsfromfaraway @charliebingham.bsky.social ? Maybe more of a #WheresWallyBirds
#Birds #UKCanals
A contemplative week, so something slower on my Substack
- with a small announcement of our first book for #WaterBookClub so you can slip into reading in the afternoon and tell anyone who interrupts that they best have biscuits 📚
open.substack.com/pub/jenratcl...
#Substack #Bookclub
- with a small announcement of our first book for #WaterBookClub so you can slip into reading in the afternoon and tell anyone who interrupts that they best have biscuits 📚
open.substack.com/pub/jenratcl...
#Substack #Bookclub
Watching, Listening, Reading, Looking November 1.
A round up of my week in media: Lilly Allen meets Frankenstein
open.substack.com
November 16, 2025 at 9:32 PM
A contemplative week, so something slower on my Substack
- with a small announcement of our first book for #WaterBookClub so you can slip into reading in the afternoon and tell anyone who interrupts that they best have biscuits 📚
open.substack.com/pub/jenratcl...
#Substack #Bookclub
- with a small announcement of our first book for #WaterBookClub so you can slip into reading in the afternoon and tell anyone who interrupts that they best have biscuits 📚
open.substack.com/pub/jenratcl...
#Substack #Bookclub
Black, white, blue - bouncing like a yo-yo over sleek kestrel wings. Then a tar glossy spinner - a crow, outcasting. Are they working together?
Two crows perch on a branch indifferently. Then again, magpie bobbing, mobbing: kestrel swooping, looping - and the crows finishing.
#NatureWriting #Birds
Two crows perch on a branch indifferently. Then again, magpie bobbing, mobbing: kestrel swooping, looping - and the crows finishing.
#NatureWriting #Birds
November 15, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Black, white, blue - bouncing like a yo-yo over sleek kestrel wings. Then a tar glossy spinner - a crow, outcasting. Are they working together?
Two crows perch on a branch indifferently. Then again, magpie bobbing, mobbing: kestrel swooping, looping - and the crows finishing.
#NatureWriting #Birds
Two crows perch on a branch indifferently. Then again, magpie bobbing, mobbing: kestrel swooping, looping - and the crows finishing.
#NatureWriting #Birds
Reposted by Jen Ratcliffe
The original cover of Kenneth Grahame’s ‘Wind in the Willows’ (1908), designed by W. Graham Robertson. Robertson knew Oscar Wilde and John Singer Sargent, who painted his portrait twice. Peter Hunt’s research suggests Robertson shared a house with Kenneth Grahame at the time.
November 15, 2025 at 1:05 PM
The original cover of Kenneth Grahame’s ‘Wind in the Willows’ (1908), designed by W. Graham Robertson. Robertson knew Oscar Wilde and John Singer Sargent, who painted his portrait twice. Peter Hunt’s research suggests Robertson shared a house with Kenneth Grahame at the time.
Late morning, I sat watching a widow's veil of the season twist between fleeing rain - murmurations threading through grey cotton. They shifted lightly at the end of ears and edges of tiptoed storms. Murmuring, like the hushed tones of sleeping thoughts. Sound as vision.
#NatureWriting #Birds
#NatureWriting #Birds
November 14, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Late morning, I sat watching a widow's veil of the season twist between fleeing rain - murmurations threading through grey cotton. They shifted lightly at the end of ears and edges of tiptoed storms. Murmuring, like the hushed tones of sleeping thoughts. Sound as vision.
#NatureWriting #Birds
#NatureWriting #Birds
Things I did today instead of doom scrolling
1. Listened to some nostalgic music (Paramore & emo wins)
2. Perused a secondhand book shop (found a yellow-bound treat)
3. Picked up 2 traditional pies - placed now on the fire
4. Identified some wild flowers and their lore
5. Took a glorious hot shower
1. Listened to some nostalgic music (Paramore & emo wins)
2. Perused a secondhand book shop (found a yellow-bound treat)
3. Picked up 2 traditional pies - placed now on the fire
4. Identified some wild flowers and their lore
5. Took a glorious hot shower
Things I did today instead of doomscrolling
1. Began needlefelting a fox
2. Mended a patchwork throw from papa's I originally made 40 years ago
3. Made clay decorations
4. Met with some friends
5. Rescued the recycling bags from a field (gosh, it's wet and windy!)
1. Began needlefelting a fox
2. Mended a patchwork throw from papa's I originally made 40 years ago
3. Made clay decorations
4. Met with some friends
5. Rescued the recycling bags from a field (gosh, it's wet and windy!)
November 14, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Things I did today instead of doom scrolling
1. Listened to some nostalgic music (Paramore & emo wins)
2. Perused a secondhand book shop (found a yellow-bound treat)
3. Picked up 2 traditional pies - placed now on the fire
4. Identified some wild flowers and their lore
5. Took a glorious hot shower
1. Listened to some nostalgic music (Paramore & emo wins)
2. Perused a secondhand book shop (found a yellow-bound treat)
3. Picked up 2 traditional pies - placed now on the fire
4. Identified some wild flowers and their lore
5. Took a glorious hot shower
In night's deep, when even wind had blown out scared to howl, a long tentacle protruded out of water, knocking like a rent man. I was ready, reaching to grip my weapon - jerking ammunition through the window. Sighing 'you funny creep' to the waggling rump of swan.
#NatureWriting #UKCanals #Birding
#NatureWriting #UKCanals #Birding
November 13, 2025 at 12:25 PM
In night's deep, when even wind had blown out scared to howl, a long tentacle protruded out of water, knocking like a rent man. I was ready, reaching to grip my weapon - jerking ammunition through the window. Sighing 'you funny creep' to the waggling rump of swan.
#NatureWriting #UKCanals #Birding
#NatureWriting #UKCanals #Birding
Reposted by Jen Ratcliffe
What we do to feel alive 📸 #photography
November 12, 2025 at 9:41 PM
What we do to feel alive 📸 #photography
Rain
Two curved dollops of cream wrestle with reeds, kohl lined eyes lost in feast
slick cormorant bow dive: elegant as a fish,
bobble footed blackcurrants with cherry hats walk on water
goldcrest flick, green as the wind
One ghost splash, nothing but fin-tailed sounds
#NatureWriting #UKCanals
Two curved dollops of cream wrestle with reeds, kohl lined eyes lost in feast
slick cormorant bow dive: elegant as a fish,
bobble footed blackcurrants with cherry hats walk on water
goldcrest flick, green as the wind
One ghost splash, nothing but fin-tailed sounds
#NatureWriting #UKCanals
November 12, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Rain
Two curved dollops of cream wrestle with reeds, kohl lined eyes lost in feast
slick cormorant bow dive: elegant as a fish,
bobble footed blackcurrants with cherry hats walk on water
goldcrest flick, green as the wind
One ghost splash, nothing but fin-tailed sounds
#NatureWriting #UKCanals
Two curved dollops of cream wrestle with reeds, kohl lined eyes lost in feast
slick cormorant bow dive: elegant as a fish,
bobble footed blackcurrants with cherry hats walk on water
goldcrest flick, green as the wind
One ghost splash, nothing but fin-tailed sounds
#NatureWriting #UKCanals
Today we remember all those who served in conflict. Often forgotten are those that continued to support the war effort from home waters. The men and women who kept vital supplies flowing through the network worked long hours in challenging conditions. #inlandwaterways #remembranceday
November 11, 2025 at 12:15 PM
'It seemed one of those days when nothing much would happen, the sort that might put a hole in your mood. And yet, as the afternoon wore on, the blanket thinned and colour returned, like someone unexpectedly turning up a dimmer switch.'
Lovely morning read from @calmandfearless.bsky.social
Lovely morning read from @calmandfearless.bsky.social
November 11, 2025 at 9:55 AM
'It seemed one of those days when nothing much would happen, the sort that might put a hole in your mood. And yet, as the afternoon wore on, the blanket thinned and colour returned, like someone unexpectedly turning up a dimmer switch.'
Lovely morning read from @calmandfearless.bsky.social
Lovely morning read from @calmandfearless.bsky.social
I wait too long under vanilla smoked clouds, then turn. For two seconds the sound of tinsel, then mass dropping of pins before rain can finally be seen on the water. Straight and speedy. Making a silver plait as run off twists into stagnant canal. The world is gloriously drenched.
#NatureWriting
#NatureWriting
November 11, 2025 at 1:09 AM
I wait too long under vanilla smoked clouds, then turn. For two seconds the sound of tinsel, then mass dropping of pins before rain can finally be seen on the water. Straight and speedy. Making a silver plait as run off twists into stagnant canal. The world is gloriously drenched.
#NatureWriting
#NatureWriting
Hedge Vetch
This year is the first year I noticed that there seems to be a purple season. Everything goes purple before it goes gold, rolling over the ground between summer and autumn like living twilight.
@wildflowerhour.bsky.social #wildflowerhour
This year is the first year I noticed that there seems to be a purple season. Everything goes purple before it goes gold, rolling over the ground between summer and autumn like living twilight.
@wildflowerhour.bsky.social #wildflowerhour
November 9, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Hedge Vetch
This year is the first year I noticed that there seems to be a purple season. Everything goes purple before it goes gold, rolling over the ground between summer and autumn like living twilight.
@wildflowerhour.bsky.social #wildflowerhour
This year is the first year I noticed that there seems to be a purple season. Everything goes purple before it goes gold, rolling over the ground between summer and autumn like living twilight.
@wildflowerhour.bsky.social #wildflowerhour
"In the darkness one may touch fires from the earth itself. Sparks fly round one's feet as the nails strike rock, and sometimes, if one disturbs black ooze in passing, there leap in it minute pricks of phosphorescent light."
Nan Shepherd - the living mountain on walking in the dark
#NatureWriting
Nan Shepherd - the living mountain on walking in the dark
#NatureWriting
November 9, 2025 at 7:24 PM
"In the darkness one may touch fires from the earth itself. Sparks fly round one's feet as the nails strike rock, and sometimes, if one disturbs black ooze in passing, there leap in it minute pricks of phosphorescent light."
Nan Shepherd - the living mountain on walking in the dark
#NatureWriting
Nan Shepherd - the living mountain on walking in the dark
#NatureWriting
Reposted by Jen Ratcliffe
🎵Everybody's working for the Winter...🎶
November 9, 2025 at 3:07 PM
🎵Everybody's working for the Winter...🎶
This Sunday I'm advocating rest, especially as part of the creative process - and as my own experience from the summer
Audio enabled so you can truly rest this morning 🔊
open.substack.com/pub/jenratcl...
#Writing #Rest #Substack #Blog #Autumn #ChronicIllness #Culture
Audio enabled so you can truly rest this morning 🔊
open.substack.com/pub/jenratcl...
#Writing #Rest #Substack #Blog #Autumn #ChronicIllness #Culture
Stop in order to Go
On Writing: An advocacy for rest in the creative process. Reflecting on a year of two autumns, restorative friendships, one sprained ankle and a really big pause...
open.substack.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:35 PM
This Sunday I'm advocating rest, especially as part of the creative process - and as my own experience from the summer
Audio enabled so you can truly rest this morning 🔊
open.substack.com/pub/jenratcl...
#Writing #Rest #Substack #Blog #Autumn #ChronicIllness #Culture
Audio enabled so you can truly rest this morning 🔊
open.substack.com/pub/jenratcl...
#Writing #Rest #Substack #Blog #Autumn #ChronicIllness #Culture
Reposted by Jen Ratcliffe
"Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced."
~ Søren Kierkegaard
November Afternoon (1881)
🎨 Alfred Sisley
~ Søren Kierkegaard
November Afternoon (1881)
🎨 Alfred Sisley
November 9, 2025 at 12:22 PM
"Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced."
~ Søren Kierkegaard
November Afternoon (1881)
🎨 Alfred Sisley
~ Søren Kierkegaard
November Afternoon (1881)
🎨 Alfred Sisley
Photos from Sophie this week have been out of this world 😍⛰️
Another view from the magnificent Stokksnes, with the peaks of Vestrahorn and Brunnhorn visible.
#Iceland
#Iceland
November 8, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Photos from Sophie this week have been out of this world 😍⛰️