Nature Book Reader June 2020 - Flipbook - Page 10
A Nature Book Reader
SANDRA ARMISHAW
Sandra Armishaw owns River Reads bookshop in Torrington
A Child Alone by Denys Watkins-Pitchford
Being asked to list my top
three favourite nature
writers really set me
thinking. Not because
I don’t have a choice; I
do, because my husband
and I run a bookshop
specialising in angling and
nature books and under
that umbrella, nestles the
angling icon, Chris Yates.
He is essentially a writer of
fishing books which also
embrace elemental forces in
nature. His last book, Out of
the Blue (Hamish Hamilton,
2008) was a ‘must-read’ for
lovers of his work. Chris
is one of those rare writers
who can stimulate your
senses to the point where,
when he describes the sun
on your back, you can feel
its warmth; smell the brine
of a restless ocean, and be
dazzled by the gleaming
scales of a freshly-caught
10
fish. His work never ceases
to be sought-after by a
wide audience, eager for
his latest publication.
Local to Devon is Trevor
Beer; who again, is a writer
of highly readable nature
stories, but my all-time
favourite is, without doubt,
Denys Watkins-Pitchford,
or ‘BB,’ as he is more
popularly known.
He was the son
of a clergyman, and
lived through a longlost Edwardian era.
My favourite book: A
Child Alone charts his
development from natureloving child with a keen
observation of all creatures,
including butterflies, birds
and fish, to an artist of
evocative scraperboards
and oils, and writer of
best-selling nature books.
Without doubt, Yates and
