Our inaugural Restoring Nature festival hosted by Ambios at Lower Sharpham was a highlight from last year and we are delighted to announce that Restoring Nature 2023 will take place on Saturday 13th May.
We don’t plan to change much: same fantastic location, more fantastic authors encouraging discussion and debate, and a friendly convivial festival for like-minded people to get together and celebrate nature.

Restoring Nature 2023

Restoring Nature: a rewilding literary festival at Lower Sharpham Farm on Saturday 13th May 2023

The East Gate Bookshop and Ambios have teamed up to host a one-day family-friendly festival at Lower Sharpham Farm. There will be talks, walks, books, authors, discussions, live music, a fully licensed bar and delicious locally sourced food.

Discover how rewilding and regenerative farming practices are restoring nature: improving food security, reducing the use of chemicals, rebuilding soil fertility, employing more people on the land and creating places that benefit us all.

The River Dart and Lower Sharpham Farm

How to get there

Address: Lower Sharpham Barton Farm, Ashprington TQ9 7DX

Please note parking at the farm is only available to Blue Badge holders and people speaking at and organising the festival.

Walk from Totnes:

Walk or cycle to the farm along the beautiful River Dart. It’s a 35-minute walk to Lower Sharpham Farm from Totnes. If you would like company, a group will be setting off from The Plains in Totnes by The Curator Café at 9:00am.

View the route map here

Bob the Bus:

Bob the Bus, part of the non-profit Totnes Community Bus Group will be running a shuttle service to and from the farm on the day. To get to the festival the service will depart from outside The Bull Inn on the Rotherford and will run between 8:30 and 10 am, providing at least three opportunities to ride to the festival. For the return journey, from 5:30 pm, there will be two buses providing at least four opportunities to travel back to Totnes. Transport by Bob the Bus is included in the ticket price.

Meet the authors

We have four brilliant and diverse authors speaking on the day; all bring their own unique expertise, passion and experience to the festival, and we are looking forward to hearing all of them present on the day and contribute to our end-of-day panel discussion.

Guy Shrubsole, The Lost Rainforests of Britain:

Guy Shrubsole, the author of the bestselling Who Owns England will be talking about his book, The Lost Rainforests of Britain

This is the story of a unique habitat that has been so ravaged, most people today don't realise it exists. Join Guy as he takes us on an awe-inspiring journey through the Atlantic oakwoods and hazelwoods of the Western Highlands, down to the rainforests of Wales, Devon and Cornwall

Amy-Jane Beer, The Flow: Rivers, Water and Wildness

Amy-Jane Beer is a biologist and nature writer. She is the author of several non-fiction books on science and natural history. In her latest book The Flow, Amy-Jane follows springs, streams and rivers to explore tributary themes of wildness and wonder, loss and healing, mythology and history, cyclicity and transformation.

Amy’s column, wild story, appears in every issue of British Wildlife.

Anita Roy

Anita Roy is a writer, editor and environmentalist based in Wellington, Somerset. Of mixed Indian and British descent, she worked for a variety of publishing houses and lived in New Delhi for two decades, before relocating to the UK in 2015

She co-edited and contributed to the nature almanac Gifts of Gravity and Light, and has published a book about the wildflower meadows of Dorset called A Year in Kingcombe, which she also illustrated

George Monbiot, Regenesis: Feeding the World without Devouring the Planet

George Monbiot is a writer known for his environmental and political activism. He writes a regular column for The Guardian and is the author of numerous books.

In his latest book, Regenesis, Monbiot reveals how astonishing advances can change our relationship with food and farming and replace the age of extinction with a vision of a new future for food and for humanity.

photo credit © Guy Reece

We are really pleased that British Wildlife will be joining us at the festival. Since its launch in 1989, British Wildlife has established its position as the leading natural history magazine in the UK, providing essential reading for both enthusiast and professional naturalists and wildlife conservationists. There is no other publication that offers such high-quality, authoritative, well-researched and accessible articles on such a wide range of subjects. British Wildlife rightly claims to be ‘The Magazine for the Modern Naturalist’

Throughout the day, there will be a forest school at the festival; and don’t miss Wild Birds Singing, a singing group for families, lead by the amazing Holly Ebony between 15:00 and 15:30.

Some of you might remember Holly’s band from last year’s festival, where they played a fantastic evening set.

This year we are delighted that singer-songwriter, Colin Manson will be performing his wonderful folk music throughtout the day. Listen to Colin performing Where Do We Go here

It’s a beautiful walk above the river Dart from Totnes to Lower Sharpham Farm

The barn provides the perfect venue for author talks and enjoying locally sourced and freshly cooked food.

Derek Gow keeping the crowd enthralled at Restoring Nature 2022

There will be a fully licensed bar open from 1:00 pm

Tickets are on sale now, available from the East Gate Bookshop and online here
Adult ticket (over 18): £18.00 each
Under 18: £10.00 each
Tickets for under 5s are free of charge, but they will need a ticket

Please note: tickets will gain you entry to the festival and attendence to all the talks, but do not include food and drink. You are welcome to bring your own food to eat, or you can purshase the locally sourced and freshly cooked food that will be available at the festival.

So, save the date: Saturday 13th May for a brilliant day out in nature and on the farm.

Read our blog post looking back at Restoring Nature 2022 here

Well behaved dogs, kept under control will be allowed into the festival site free of charge. We politely remind you that Lower Sharpham Farm is a working farm, and that dogs must not be allowed to roam freely and they must be under supervision at all times. Thank you for your cooperation.

What to expect on the day.

The day will be filled with talks, walks, books, authors, discussions, family activities and delicious locally sourced food.

Please aim to arrive at the farm between 9 and 10 am. The day begins with and a chance to grab breakfast and settling down for our first author at 10:30. Authors will read and present from inside the barn and there will be Q&A sessions and book signing after each talk to give people a chance to find out more.

The day will be split with two authors before and two after lunch. Lunch will be served in the barn at 1:00pm,

and for children, we have forest school activities throughout the day. Around 4:30pm, after the fourth author, the barbeque will have been lit ahead of a lively panel discussion, providing stimulating chat around the festival’s themes. After which there will be time to relax and chat at our fully licensed bar. The late evening light over the river Dart is a beautiful sight and will provide a fitting end to the day.

  • Make your way to the farm between 9:15 and 10 in time for a quick breakfast and our first author: Guy Shrubsole at 10:30 will be talking about his book, The Lost Rainforests of Britain.

    The forest school area will be open from 10:00 with fully qualified forest schol leaders in attendence.

    At 12:00, Anita Roy will take the stage talking about her life in conservation at a local level and her talk will lead us into lunch at 13:00

  • We will break for a lite lunch (leaving room for the evening BBQ) at 13:00, which will be served in the barn.
    The break will be an hour giving people chance to relax and explore parts of the farm,

    For those wanting to quench their thirst, the fully licensed bar will open at lunch.

  • at 14:00 our third author, Amy-Jane Beer will be talking about her book Flow, where she follows springs, streams and rivers to explore tributary themes of wildness and wonder, loss and healing, mythology and history, cyclicity and transformation

    At 15:30 author and enviromental activist, George Monbiot will be talking about his latest book Regenesis : Feeding the World without Devouring the Planet Reveals how astonishing advances can change our relationship with food and farming and replace the age of extinction with a vision of a new future for food and for humanity.

  • Our BBQ will be lit – there will be vegetarian options and food will be still available after the discussion panel and into the evening, so there is no need to hurry.

    After all these fantastic author have shared their stories with us, from 17:00 we are hoping to gather them all together for a panel discussion to dicuss and debate many of the topics, ambitions and visions they have for the future of wildlife and farming. This will be a great platform for finding common ground and develop a strong voice and narrative around one of the most important issues facing us: land management, food security and it’s part in mitigating recent catestrophic biodiversity loss and the effects of climate change.

    After our panel discuss ends around 18:00 the bar and our BBQ will still be open. taking us to the end of the day and (hopefully) a glorious sunset over the River Dart

Last light and a fond farewell over the river Dart