‘Bird School is a feast for mind and soul, a treasure trove of insights into the enigmatic and enchanting world of the birds we share our lives with but barely notice. I have learnt so much. Every page is a thrill. Bird School has opened my eyes.’ Isabella Tree, author of Wilding
Step into the hide for the evening in The Apple House, with bestselling and award-winning nature writer Adam Nicolson and bestselling author and esteemed horticulturist Sarah Raven for a glorious encounter with the wild to mark the publication of Adam’s brilliant new book: Bird School.
Over the last two or three years Adam and Sarah have embarked on getting to know the birds they have found around them at Perch Hill, their home in Sussex, engaging with a layer of life they had previously almost taken for granted.
Close to Perch Hill, there is a forgotten field overrun by bracken and thicketed by brambles. It is the haunt of deer and many birds – nightingales, the occasional cuckoo, ravens, robins, owls and in summer the sweet-singing warblers that come north from Africa to breed in English woods.
Adam Nicolson wanted to look and listen, to return to ‘bird school’ and see what it might teach him. He built a small shed amongst the trees with nesting boxes and bird feeders. Cocooned inside, season after season, he got to know the birds: where they nest, how they sing, how they mate and fight, what preys on them, what they are like as living things.
At the same time Sarah embarked on a long and careful study of how to make the garden more bird-rich, providing food, shelter and diversity for the birds, while coming to understand just how much a garden benefits from its birds.
The natural world is under siege. This event will illustrate that knowing and understanding more about the birds that surround you, is one way of doing something about it.
Hosted in The Apple House eco-barn, in an old orchard, guests can explore Tom Stuart-Smith’s Plant Library of over 2000 herbaceous perennials and bulbs ahead of the talk and enjoy a drink while they do so.
The event will be followed by a book signing with books provided by our local independent bookshop, Books On The Hill, St Albans.
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About Adam Nicolson
Adam Nicolson,(born 12 September 1957) is an English author who has written about history, landscape, great literature and the sea.
He is noted for his books Sea Room (about the Shiant Isles, a group of uninhabited islands in the Hebrides); God's Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible; The Mighty Dead (US title:Why Homer Matters) exploring the epic Greek poems; The Seabird's Cry about the disaster afflicting the world's seabirds; The Making of Poetry on the Romantic Revolution in England in the 1790s; and Life Between the Tides, a boundary-crossing account of the tides in human and animal life. His most recent book is How to Be, an exploration of the world of the first Greek thinkers.
He has worked as a journalist and columnist on the Sunday Times, the Sunday Telegraph, the Daily Telegraph, National Geographic Magazine and Granta, where he is a contributing editor. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, the Society of Antiquaries and the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
He has made several television series (with Keo Films) and radio series (with Tim Dee, the writer and radio producer) on a variety of subjects including the King James Bible, 17th-century literacy, Crete, Homer, the idea of Arcadia, the untold story of Britain's 20th-century whalers and the future of Atlantic seabirds.
He is married to the writer and gardener Sarah Raven, with whom he has two daughters: Rosie (born 1993); Molly (born 1996). The family live at Perch Hill Farm in Sussex.
About Sarah Raven
Sarah was brought up in the world of horticulture and, from an early age, loved to go botanising with her father. Holidays were spent in Scotland and in the mountains of Italy, where Sarah, and her twin sister Jane, were allowed to pick (the occasional) dandelion clocks on the hillside. After initially training to be a doctor, and then starting her own family, Sarah decided on a career change. Following her passion to grow her own flowers on her farm in East Sussex, she decided to turn this hobby into a thriving kitchen table business. After trialling and testing, Sarah gathered the very best seed from her own garden at Perch Hill, so that friends and acquaintances could grow the exact same plants and flowers in theirs. Sarah’s deep love of gardening extends to all areas, from growing cut flowers and delicious vegetables from seed, to designing gardens overflowing with incredible colour and scent. With a huge focus on the environment, Sarah’s gardens are havens for birds, bees, and other pollinators. Sarah is the author of 14 books, and hosts the weekly podcast ‘grow, cook, eat, arrange’ which welcomes guests from the world of horticulture and beyond, and equips gardeners with the knowledge and practical skills they need to grow their own dream garden.
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Visitor Information
On arrival, please follow signs to the parking at the end of Featherbed Lane. Parking onsite is limited so please car-share or come by public transport wherever possible.
Please note this is a no smoking and no vaping site.
Accessibility
Accessible parking for those who require it is available directly outside The Apple House. There is step-free access to the building and all areas. However, there are many potential trip hazards and uneven surfaces that may be encountered whilst visiting the gardens, along with gravel paths that aren’t suitable for walking frames with wheels. The gardens are extensive so there’s a lot of ground to cover. Please be aware that due to the ongoing building works around the Orchard, there may be additional hazards to look out for.