Roger Deakin’s memory lives on

A walnut tree sapling from Roger Deakin’s Suffolk home, Walnut Tree Farm, has been planted at John’s Water on the Blickling Estate, which featured in Waterlog. Deakin’s biographer Patrick Barkham presented the sapling grown from a walnut at Walnut Tree farm to the National Trust.

The story of why a walnut sapling came to be planted on the banks of the River Bure on a cold, bright January day starts back in 1999, when writer and environmentalist Roger Deakin published his book Waterlog: A Swimmers Journey Through Britain, which became a word-of-mouth bestseller and is seen as a classic in the genre of nature writing. Waterlog featured a chapter called ‘A mill-race’, his account of discovering and swimming in John’s Water on the Blickling Estate, following a recommendation from local poet, George Barker.

Head to 2024, and local writer Patrick Barkham published his biography of Deakin The Swimmer – The Wild Life of Roger Deakin. This was the book selected by Henry Layte, owner of The Book Hive bookshops in Norwich and Aylsham, as the first ‘Aylsham Town Read’ book to be read together as a community. At the discussion event in May 2024, Patrick Barkham presented a sapling grown from a walnut at Walnut Tree farm (the moated Suffolk farmhouse Roger had lived in for 38 years), to the National Trust who agreed to plant it for the community at John’s Water in recognition of Deakin’s connection to the place.

The tree planting took place as part of one of the National Trust’s writing workshops run by Jonathan Ward and was attended by The Book Hive, the National Trust and the Tree Council. Jonathan read an extract from Waterlog about John’s Water before inviting members of the creative writing group to reflect on the location, the planting of a new tree and the story of why it was planted in this place. Here are a couple of the creative responses:

Growth

A newly-planted walnut tree, bone-fed,
listens to the mill race tell its old gossip:

how once a man swam here,
whose tree begat this little tree.

I will not live to taste its fruit
or sit in its shade as the planet simmers.

There is so much to forget,
so little to remember.

I want to say:
I had a little nut tree.

I don’t want to say:
and nothing did it bear.

I want to say:
This little nut tree is a promise,
and we must not break our word.

By Sue Burge, January 2025

A Tree For The Future

A crisp morning in January. A clear blue sky.
The sun plays dark shadows
with the alders on the bank of the Bure.
The mill house, startling white, its windows
holding the condensation of a cold night.
The mill pond, John’s Water,
where people swim and play in the lively Bure.
She tumbles and gurgles through the millrace.
Bubbles break the surface to twist and dance
like sprites until swallowed by the hungry current.
This rapid strap of water pushes on
towards the old depth post
where it splits and calms to whisper a blessing
on the walnut sapling planted today
for generations to come
as a symbol of hope in a tumultuous world.
When skies are dark and shadows deep,
may we find a pool to refresh our hope
and a walnut tree to hold us and soothe our troubled soul.

By Maggie Bewley, January 2025

The tree is surrounded by protective fencing and a small sign has been added to the inside of the fencing which says, ‘Tree grown from Walnut Tree farm, home of Roger Deakin, author of Waterlog’.

Adam Curtis from the Tree Council, a charity that promotes tree planting, commented: “Planting this tree is a celebration of nature writing, getting outside to connect with nature and trees and finding that time to do so.”

Henry Layte added, “The planting of this tree completes a lovely circle: This sapling was grown from a parent tree which in turn grew from walnuts gathered by Deakin in Kyrgyzstan. In being presented to the Trust by another great nature writer, Patrick Barkham, it may inspire anyone coming here to wonder at the relationship between landscape and creativity.”

Jonathan Ward said, “It is wonderful to be running creative nature writing workshops at Blickling again this year with all the stimulus that the Estate has to offer. The tree planting was at the heart of a workshop called ‘Being with the Winter: A New Year Day’. The event was an inspiring and hopeful way to begin the year – acknowledging the importance of planting trees and linking to the nature writing legacy of Roger Deakin.

It was a symbolic, communal act for the group to share before having time to reflect, write and read out work beside the river and the newly planted tree.”

Blickling Estate’s General Manager Heather Jermy commented: “Blickling Estate nestled in the Bure valley has inspired countless generations of creative minds over the centuries, and this year we are celebrating creativity in all its forms. It feels appropriate to start the year by planting this tree, which is linked to this special location through creative nature writing,”

Special events, presentations and creative activities will be taking place across the estate in 2025, with lots of opportunities for visitors to be inspired by the nature, art and history of the estate, including creative writing workshops on the theme of ‘Being with the Spring’ including writing visits to the gardens and bluebell woods. Head to the National Trust website to find out more.