High praise for Newbury nature writer in national awards

Congratulations to Inkpen author and Newbury Weekly News nature columnist Nicola Chester whose book On Gallows Down Place, Protest & Belonging was Highly Commended in the Nature Writing category for the James Cropper Wainwright Prize.

Named after much-loved nature writer Alfred Wainwright, the aim of the prize is to inspire everyone to connect with nature and embrace the outdoors.

Nicola said she was “absolutely delighted" and thanked Ray Mears and his fellow judges “who said such glowing things, and my lovely cheerleaders, readers and top indie publishing team Chelsea Green”.

James Aldred’s Goshawk Summer took the top prize in the Nature Writing category, Dan Saladino’s Eating to Extinction for Conservation Writing and Rob and Tom Sears’ The Biggest Footprint: Eight Billion Humans won the children’s Writing on Nature and Conservation category, announced at last week’s ceremony at London Wetlands Centre.

Nicola’s book won the Richard Jefferies Award earlier this year.

On Gallows Down is strongly rooted in Nicola’s background and formative years in the Newbury area, a period that included the Greenham Common Peace Camp and Newbury bypass protests, followed by her own family life in cottages on the Highclere and Inkpen estates. It is filled with gentle protest and hope. It begins with the rewilding of Greenham Common and reflection on the Women’s Peace Camp and then moves to the Newbury Bypass protest, and through other environmental battles along the way, loosely charting Nicola’s children growing up. It is about the fierce desire to protect the nature and landscape that Nicola loves.