Wednesday 22nd July 2026 | 7.15pm–9pm
This July, The Bookery comes to Symondsbury Estate for a special evening celebrating landscape, wildlife and the written word.
Hosted in The Old Pottery, this summer edition brings together three acclaimed writers whose work explores our relationship with the natural world, offering an evening of readings, conversation and audience discussion.
Meet the Authors
Brian Jackman: Wild About Dorset
Veteran travel writer, passionate conserva7onist, leading safari specialist and re7red Sunday
Times journalist, 91-year-old Brian will present a retrospec7ve on his book, Wild About
Dorset (above leF). A compendium of the monthly columns he wrote for his local
community magazine, the book is a “love leKer” to the wildlife and wild places in West
Dorset’s Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty where he has lived for fiFy years; the only place
in the Bri7sh Isles, he says, that reminds him of the lost countryside of his youth.
Brian’s latest book, Lion Song: A Portrait of Wild Africa, was published in March this year.
Sarah Hudston: The Lady of Exmoor
Dorset-based journalist, editor, ac7vist and regular contributor to the Guardian’s Country
Diary, Sarah Hudston (centre) describes herself as an eco-feminist writer, telling “stories that
need to be told”. At the Bookery in July she will introduce her forthcoming book (published
in November 2026), on the life and work of Hope Bourne – who lived for many years in a
dilapidated off-grid caravan in a remote part of Exmoor. One of the 20th century’s greatest
nature writers, the erstwhile “Lady of Exmoor” was an early advocate of self-sufficiency,
rewilding, recycling and “living lightly on the earth”. Sarah tells her story.
Roger Sewill: Hiding in Plain Site
In 2024, land agent, Roger Sewill (above right) embarked on a 200-mile hike from his
childhood home in Surrey to his current home in Dorset, alongside his ‘one-horse-power
companion’, a Dales pony called Scarlet. This year, man and horse set off any another
adventure: this 7me walking across Dorset, exploring the landscapes “in a different way” by
taking the slow paths that connect the county’s 30 Iron Age hillforts. At the Bookery, Roger
will talk about the highs and lows of his Dorset odyssey, reveal his extraordinary rela7onship
with Scarlet and read from the book he is wri7ng about their life-changing journey through
history.
Event Information
Date: Wednesday 22nd July 2026
Time: 7.15pm–9pm (Doors open at 6.30pm)
Venue: The Old Pottery, Symondsbury Estate
Price: £10 per person
Parking: Free parking available