LOCAL bookshop The Bookery, in partnership with Sustainable Crediton, is proud to present acclaimed Cornish conservationist Merlin Hanbury-Tenison in conversation with Nick Bruce-White, CEO of Devon Wildlife Trust at 7pm on Friday, July 4 at Crediton Congregational Church.

Veteran Mr Hanbury-Tenison, who founded The Thousand Year Trust, Britain’s rainforest charity, will be discussing his new book Our Oaken Bones: Reviving a Family, a Farm and Britain’s Ancient Rainforests.

It is described as “an honest and intimate true story about renewal, the astonishing healing power of nature, and our duty to heal it in return”, and “a compelling and inspiring story of heartbreak, hope, and healing trauma by returning to your roots and healing the land itself”.

A summary reads: “Reeling from the pain of devastating miscarriages and suffering from PTSD after military adventures in Afghanistan, Merlin and his wife Lizzie decide to leave the bustle of London and return to Merlin’s childhood home, a Cornish hill farm called Cabilla in the heart of Bodmin Moor.

“There, they are met by unexpected challenges: a farm slipping ever further into debt, the discovery that the overgrazed and damaged woods running throughout the valley are in fact one of the UK’s last remaining fragments of Atlantic temperate rainforest, and the sudden and near catastrophic strickening by Covid of Merlin’s father, the explorer Robin.

“As they fall more in love with the rainforest that Merlin had adventured in as a child, so begins a fight to save not only themselves and their farm, but also one of the world’s most endangered habitats.”

Mr Hanbury-Tenison will be answering questions and signing copies of Our Oaken Bones, which will be available to purchase at the event.

Tickets at £7 and £22 for a book and ticket are available at the bookshop or online: thebookery.org.uk.