Restoring Nature 2026
Restoring Nature: a literary festival at Lower Sharpham Farm on Saturday 16th May 2026
The East Gate Bookshop and Ambios have teamed up again 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.
Meet the authors
We have brilliant authors speaking on the day; all bringing 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.
John Wright, Grasslands: The Intricate Life of Britain's Hidden Habitats
John Wright uncovers the beauty and rich diversity of Britain's grasslands. Bursting with mushrooms, lichen and wildflowers; home to butterflies, bees and beetles, and vital to foxes and birds alike.
John Wright is a naturalist, forager and bestselling author, whose books books including The Forager's Calendar, A Natural History of the Hedgerow and a number of River Cottage Handbooks. In Grasslands John looks closely at this often milagned habitat, because grasslands are never just patches of grass.
John will be in-conversation with tbc
Brigit Anna McNeill, The Wild Within: What Plants Taught Me about Life, Recovery and Renewal
In a series of seasonal chapters, exploring the wildlife, folklore and medicinal properties of common wild plants, The Wild Within tells Brigit’s own story of recovery and rewilding: an immersive, enriching and sensory journey of healing, one wild plant at a time.
Brigit is a writer, guide, botanist, forager, herbalist, ecotherapist, and mother. Her work is rooted in wildness; guiding people to rewild their psyche, to return to the aliveness within, and to remember their belonging in the living world.
Brigit will be in-conversaion with tbc
Dr Eloise Kane, Wilderland: The Human History of Wild Britain
When was Britain last truly wild?
In Wilderlands, archaeologist Eloise Kane unearths 12,000 years of our changing relationship with and influence on the landscape. Through prehistory, Roman occupation, the Middle Ages and beyond.
Eloise Kane invites us to renew our definition of the wild - not as separate from us - but as the result of millions of human lives lived, and demonstrates how we are integral to the ecology and biodiversity of our land - with the power to shape its future for the better.
Eloise will be in-conversation with tbc
Merlin Hanbury-Tenison, Our Oaken Bones: Reviving a Family, a Farm and Britain’s Ancient Rainforests
Merlin returned to his childhood home Cabilla, a Cornish hill farm in the heart of Bodmin Moor. There he is met by unexpected challenges: a failing farm and one of the UK’s last remaining fragments of Atlantic temperate rainforest being ravaged by overgrazing. Falling back in love with the rainforest he had adventured in as a child, Merlin begins a fight to save one of the world’s most endangered habitats and is the founder of The Thousand Year Trust, the only charity in the UK dedicated to the restoration of our temperate rainforest landscapes
Our Oaken Bones is an honest and intimate true story about renewal, the astonishing healing power of nature, and our duty to heal it in return.
Merlin will be in-conversation with tbc
Throughout the day, there will be a forest school at the festival to keep our younger ecologist entertained; and don’t miss Wild Birds Singing, a singing group for families held between 15:00 and 15:30 and led by the amazing Holly Ebony.
We are delighted that singer-songwriter, Colin Manson will be once again be performing his wonderful folk music throughtout the day.
Listen to Colin performing Where Do We Go here
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.
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 Rotherfold 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.
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.
Chantal Lyons keeping the crowd enthralled with her brilliant talk about wild boar and her nook Groundbreakers at Restoring Nature 2024
There will be a fully licensed bar open from 1:00 pm
Tickets will be available from the East Gate Bookshop and online here
Adult ticket (over 18): £25.00 each
Under 18: £10.00 each
Tickets for under 8s are free of charge, but they will still need a ticket
Please note: tickets will gain you entry to the festival and attendance to all the talks, but do not include food and drink. You are welcome to bring your own food to eat, or you can purchase the locally sourced and freshly cooked food that will be available at the festival.
So, save the date: Saturday 16th May for a brilliant day out in nature and on the farm.
Read our blog post looking back at Restoring Nature in 2024 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.
Read on for an overall view, or find out more details on the drop-down links
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 from 10:00 continuing 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.
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Make your way to the farm between 9:15 and 10 in time for a quick breakfast and our first author Bonnie Lander Johnson talking about her book Vanishing Landscapes
And at 12:00, our second author Sophie Pavelle will take the stage to present her latest book To Have or To Hold which will take us into lunch at 13:00
The forest school area will be open from 10:00 with fully qualified forest schol leaders in attendence.
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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.
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At 14:00, Poppy Okotcha, our third author will be talking about how gardens can grow us with her book A Wilder Way. We hope Poppy can present from the newly created garden area above the main barn. This venue is outsde, so is entirely weather dependent. It offers an appropriate setting for Poppy’s book and beautiful views down the river Dart, so fingers crossed.
After a short break Guy Shrubsole will be our final speaker at 15:30 talking about The Lie of the Land
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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, we will gather them all together at 17:00 for a panel discussion to discuss and debate many of the topics, ambitions and visions they have for the future of wildlife. 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 and it’s part in mitigating recent catastrophic biodiversity loss and the effects of climate change.
After our panel discuss ends around 18:00 the bar 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