THE JAY, THE BEECH AND THE LIMPETSHELL

60 mins

30 Apr 2023

RICHARD SMYTH

Becoming a father, Richard Smyth wanted to introduce his children to the natural world that had always meant so much to him. Was it as rich now as he had felt as a boy? The small things they find on their walks - a beech leaf, a jay’s feather, a limpetshell – stimulate this thought-proving book. Smyth examines his own past as well as that of the early natural historians, weaving together history, memoir and environmentalism to form a new kind of nature writing: one that asks both what we have lost, and what we have yet to find.

Richard will be interviewed by Alison Gomm.