PATRICK Barkham, an award-winning author and natural history writer is talking about his latest book, The Swimmer - the definitive biography of beloved author, Roger Deakin – at St Mary’s Church in Ross-on-Wye.

Mr Barkham’s first book, The Butterfly Isles, was shortlisted for the 2011 Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje prize.  His next book Badgerlands, was hailed by Chris Packham as ‘a must read for all Britain's naturalists’.

His book Coastlines was published by Granta Books in April 2015, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the National Trust's campaign to save the British coast.

Wild Child drew on Patrick’s experience as a parent and a forest school volunteer and explored he relationship between children and nature.

And now, Mr Barkham will be talking about The Swimmer – The Wild Life of Roger Deakin – at St Mary’s Church, Ross on Wye on Thursday, July 25 at 7pm, a joint venture between the church and Rossiter Books.

Roger Deakin was the author of the immortal Waterlog and Wildwood, was a man of unusually many parts. He was a born writer who nonetheless took decades to write his first book. Roger was also variously, a maverick ad-man, seller of stripped pine furniture on the Portobello Road, cider-maker, teacher, environmentalist, music promoter, and filmmaker.

But above all he was the restorer of ancient Walnut Tree Farm in Suffolk, the heartland which he shared with a host of visitors, both animal and human, and wrote about - as he wrote about all natural life - with rare attention, intimacy, precision and poetry.

Few authors have left such an immediate legacy as Roger Deakin. When he died of a sudden illness in 2007, aged 63, he had written just two books: Waterlog, which set off the wild swimming craze, and the even more influential Wildwood, which helped kickstart the publishing phenomenon of nature writing. Yet both books only really became well known after his death.

Delving deep into Roger Deakin's library of words, Patrick draws from notebooks, diaries, letters, recordings, published work and early drafts, to conjure his voice back to glorious life in his book and talk.

Tickets £8 each from Rossiter Books The Corn Exchange, High Street, Ross on Wye. rossiterbooks.co.uk  or 01989 564464.