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
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 …
Reposted by Nicola Chester
wild sea | wild winds
old stones
old stones
November 14, 2025 at 12:06 PM
wild sea | wild winds
old stones
old stones
‘Nostalgia is a warping gravity …’
Just for any academics, let me be clear, Hookland is anti-nostalgic. It's an exploration and exorcism of my childhood, not a celebration of falsely remembered sunshine. Nostalgia is a warping gravity.
November 14, 2025 at 12:22 PM
‘Nostalgia is a warping gravity …’
I have plenty of nostalgia for the 70s. Holding Dad's big calloused, fire-bitten hand beside an oil drum brazier, on strike outside the Fire Station. The leccy going off after Black Beauty on TV. Frost ferns on Crittall windows. Christmas theatre trips from the Fire Brigade family hardship fund..
November 14, 2025 at 11:28 AM
I have plenty of nostalgia for the 70s. Holding Dad's big calloused, fire-bitten hand beside an oil drum brazier, on strike outside the Fire Station. The leccy going off after Black Beauty on TV. Frost ferns on Crittall windows. Christmas theatre trips from the Fire Brigade family hardship fund..
Reposted by Nicola Chester
14 November and welcome rain rattles the Epping Forest Woodfordish V-2 crater, finally starting to fill up. How many years until it becomes just another grassy hollow?
November 14, 2025 at 10:24 AM
14 November and welcome rain rattles the Epping Forest Woodfordish V-2 crater, finally starting to fill up. How many years until it becomes just another grassy hollow?
This is a really good read on a wonderful, fascinating artist & life ...
“Tall and slender in 19th-century dress, clasping her hands in front of her, she gazes out at us with two small black eyes. Above her, a ghostly owl swoops low, its wings spread as if in protection of the delicate, earthbound creature below it.” #BookSky 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/11/14/t...
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/11/14/t...
Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious – exhibition and accompanying book
Something a little different from me today – another post in an occasional series of pieces about the art books I’ve accumulated over the past few years, mostly from gallery visits in London and th…
jacquiwine.wordpress.com
November 14, 2025 at 11:14 AM
This is a really good read on a wonderful, fascinating artist & life ...
Reposted by Nicola Chester
A worthwhile visit to Shaftesbury to hear @nicolawriting.bsky.social talk about her wonderful new book.
One among many big questions which came up was how do we reconnect with the farming community and the nature they harbour?
One among many big questions which came up was how do we reconnect with the farming community and the nature they harbour?
November 13, 2025 at 10:13 PM
A worthwhile visit to Shaftesbury to hear @nicolawriting.bsky.social talk about her wonderful new book.
One among many big questions which came up was how do we reconnect with the farming community and the nature they harbour?
One among many big questions which came up was how do we reconnect with the farming community and the nature they harbour?
Wonderful night in Shaftesbury with the lovely Karen & Amber @foldedorset.bsky.social, teasing apart the many threads of #GhostsoftheFarm Super crowd, & so good to see the legendary Sue Clifford & Angela King (of Common Ground fame) again, AND explore the new Folde Up on its 2nd day. It’s GORGEOUS!
November 14, 2025 at 8:35 AM
Wonderful night in Shaftesbury with the lovely Karen & Amber @foldedorset.bsky.social, teasing apart the many threads of #GhostsoftheFarm Super crowd, & so good to see the legendary Sue Clifford & Angela King (of Common Ground fame) again, AND explore the new Folde Up on its 2nd day. It’s GORGEOUS!
Look what came in the post today! Such a lovely crocheted comfort & pick me up @nicwilson.bsky.social & loving the feathered, winged details!
November 12, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Look what came in the post today! Such a lovely crocheted comfort & pick me up @nicwilson.bsky.social & loving the feathered, winged details!
Reposted by Nicola Chester
Working on my online talk about birds and flight, I’ve just written “you’d seat them on the table by the toilets, next to your drunk racist uncle”.
Not sure it’ll make the final edit.
8pm tomorrow. Free for RSPB members, non-members can join for a donation.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/talk-by-le...
Not sure it’ll make the final edit.
8pm tomorrow. Free for RSPB members, non-members can join for a donation.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/talk-by-le...
Talk by Lev Parikian: Birds and Flight
Join nature writer Lev Parikian for a fascinating, entertaining talk about the marvel of flight, focusing on a variety of bird species
www.eventbrite.co.uk
November 12, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Working on my online talk about birds and flight, I’ve just written “you’d seat them on the table by the toilets, next to your drunk racist uncle”.
Not sure it’ll make the final edit.
8pm tomorrow. Free for RSPB members, non-members can join for a donation.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/talk-by-le...
Not sure it’ll make the final edit.
8pm tomorrow. Free for RSPB members, non-members can join for a donation.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/talk-by-le...
Delighted to be stepping (hobbling) back into the @foldedorset.bsky.social tomorrow evening! In only my 3rd time out the house in nearly 3 weeks, I am toooo excited!
November 12, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Delighted to be stepping (hobbling) back into the @foldedorset.bsky.social tomorrow evening! In only my 3rd time out the house in nearly 3 weeks, I am toooo excited!
Fell in love with this old girl, who retains her youthful spirit of optimism. Against the odds, managed to bring her home. Remember my fierce Northants Nan making pastry on the fold down top of a similar one, bashing it with a milk bottle. The way she was taught in service at the Big House kitchen.
November 11, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Fell in love with this old girl, who retains her youthful spirit of optimism. Against the odds, managed to bring her home. Remember my fierce Northants Nan making pastry on the fold down top of a similar one, bashing it with a milk bottle. The way she was taught in service at the Big House kitchen.
Gloriously atmospheric… the blackbirds’ winterdink …
& though you only find space as light slips & rots it seems you work on avian time & it is noisy at purple hour as cloking pheasants alarm & blackbirds winterdink, corvids hold quorum & the robin repeats dawnsong - headlights on nearfarms swing: all prepare for dark
November 10, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Gloriously atmospheric… the blackbirds’ winterdink …
Reposted by Nicola Chester
I present the UK’s one and only TV show about books. We feature readers & writers from across Scotland, around the UK and all over the world. It’s commissioned by BBC Scotland & made by IWC. Public broadcasting is a shared space for sharing stories & building bridges.
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Scotland - The Big Scottish Book Club - Available now
Available episodes of The Big Scottish Book Club
www.bbc.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 6:17 PM
I present the UK’s one and only TV show about books. We feature readers & writers from across Scotland, around the UK and all over the world. It’s commissioned by BBC Scotland & made by IWC. Public broadcasting is a shared space for sharing stories & building bridges.
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
Reposted by Nicola Chester
My granddaughter, Arrietty (aged 10, and home schooled) has started coming to me this term for Nature Studies.
This Small Copper butterfly is from her nature journal.
Next week we’re studying Jays, and the role they play in the growth of Oak forests, so watch this space…
#nature #butterflies
This Small Copper butterfly is from her nature journal.
Next week we’re studying Jays, and the role they play in the growth of Oak forests, so watch this space…
#nature #butterflies
November 9, 2025 at 7:32 PM
My granddaughter, Arrietty (aged 10, and home schooled) has started coming to me this term for Nature Studies.
This Small Copper butterfly is from her nature journal.
Next week we’re studying Jays, and the role they play in the growth of Oak forests, so watch this space…
#nature #butterflies
This Small Copper butterfly is from her nature journal.
Next week we’re studying Jays, and the role they play in the growth of Oak forests, so watch this space…
#nature #butterflies
Lovely warm welcome from the @waterstones.bsky.social Romsey crowd… & a really wonderful interview from @julia-in-between.bsky.social. So glad I managed to hobble & make it!
November 10, 2025 at 9:17 AM
Lovely warm welcome from the @waterstones.bsky.social Romsey crowd… & a really wonderful interview from @julia-in-between.bsky.social. So glad I managed to hobble & make it!
Reposted by Nicola Chester
#VOH stands for Voices of Hookland, because you can’t tell the truths of anywhere and exclude voices that aren’t the middle class academics, authors and professionals the weird fiction genre relies too heavily upon. Dairy men, shelf stackers, factory workers all sing the strange truths of place.
November 7, 2025 at 9:17 AM
#VOH stands for Voices of Hookland, because you can’t tell the truths of anywhere and exclude voices that aren’t the middle class academics, authors and professionals the weird fiction genre relies too heavily upon. Dairy men, shelf stackers, factory workers all sing the strange truths of place.
This is lovely… the women in my book, their loyal, brilliant farmworkers & community are my community 60-80yrs ago. People knew them. Had to give the research my all to bring them to authentic, wry & funny life. They were modern, then. #booksky #GhostsoftheFarm
Ah, @nicolawriting.bsky.social , such a delightful read. Beautifully written, and the exhausting research was well worth the effort. How wonderful to have such a story on your doorstep and be able to bring it, and the lovely characters, to life and make us think about how much we have lost. Bravo!
November 9, 2025 at 10:23 AM
This is lovely… the women in my book, their loyal, brilliant farmworkers & community are my community 60-80yrs ago. People knew them. Had to give the research my all to bring them to authentic, wry & funny life. They were modern, then. #booksky #GhostsoftheFarm
Reposted by Nicola Chester
This is lovely on the most gorgeous plant. There was a brief phase of fashion in, I think 2000, of clashing pink & orange. I was on trend (briefly) then, & had a sheer layered skirt & top in those colours, for dancing in, when we could get a babysitter. I still remember it as my 'spindle outfit.'
In today's @theguardian.com country diary, I'm hunting for the county's first ever recorded wild plant along the same the road where it was spotted by the father of British botany, William Turner, in 1548.
#naturewriting #countrydiary
#naturewriting #countrydiary
Country diary: Red-hot spindle sets the hedgerow ablaze | Nic Wilson
Braughing, Hertfordshire: This fiery plant is one of the most startling sights of autumn – and it has a place in history in this county
www.theguardian.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:18 PM
This is lovely on the most gorgeous plant. There was a brief phase of fashion in, I think 2000, of clashing pink & orange. I was on trend (briefly) then, & had a sheer layered skirt & top in those colours, for dancing in, when we could get a babysitter. I still remember it as my 'spindle outfit.'
Oh that I had Sky! Look at this!
On Sunday at 10pm, Sky Arts are showing the fabulous film about women war artists. It's really worth watching. tveveryday.com/war-paint-wo...
War Paint - Women At War Airs November 9 2025 on Sky Arts - TV Everyday
"War Paint - Women At War" is set to air on Sky Arts at 10:00 PM on Sunday, November 9, 2025. This compelling documentary shines a light on the significant
tveveryday.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Oh that I had Sky! Look at this!
Reposted by Nicola Chester
Grasmere today on student field trip - dwelling perpectives & 'taskscapes' - & managed to disappear for 10 to buy Ghosts of the Farm @nicolawriting.bsky.social from @samreadbookseller.bsky.social - winding back towards M6 & the weekend...
November 7, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Grasmere today on student field trip - dwelling perpectives & 'taskscapes' - & managed to disappear for 10 to buy Ghosts of the Farm @nicolawriting.bsky.social from @samreadbookseller.bsky.social - winding back towards M6 & the weekend...
Reposted by Nicola Chester
Finally, finally, I am getting round to reading this. Ghosts of the Farm by @nicolawriting.bsky.social (Well, y'know, a pile of good books to read is a wonderful thing and I've had a few). I am engrossed from the start. What a terrific book, what writing. This is going to be so interesting.
November 7, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Finally, finally, I am getting round to reading this. Ghosts of the Farm by @nicolawriting.bsky.social (Well, y'know, a pile of good books to read is a wonderful thing and I've had a few). I am engrossed from the start. What a terrific book, what writing. This is going to be so interesting.
Horses tell the story of the rural working class, particularly women, which is often a surprise to many (work, not ownership.) Women historically gatekept from any other influence on the land. #GhostsoftheFarm tells this story, as well as the remarkable, forgotten, warm & funny narrative of 1/2
November 6, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Horses tell the story of the rural working class, particularly women, which is often a surprise to many (work, not ownership.) Women historically gatekept from any other influence on the land. #GhostsoftheFarm tells this story, as well as the remarkable, forgotten, warm & funny narrative of 1/2