Arthur Parkinson: Chicken Boy/Planting a Paradise - Part of Summer Derby Book Festival

Description

Most of us want a dog, or a cat, or a pony when we are young - for Arthur Parkinson, it was always hens. Growing up in an ex-mining town in Nottinghamshire, the other kids in the playground called him 'Chicken Boy'.

But the quiet fulfilment of keeping hens became his sanctuary, a tonic for mental and physical health, a connection with his family and the natural world. From the local allotments and his nan's back garden, to Chatsworth and an unlikely friendship with the late Duchess of Devonshire, a famous hen-keeper, Chicken Boy tells the story of the love and satisfaction to be found in caring for living things.

Arthur is now carving a career as an author, gardener, photographer, illustrator and farm animal rights campaigner, spending much of his time living between Nottinghamshire and Gloucestershire. He has a deep love of the countryside and farm animals, especially chickens and gardening organically to help conserve bees. He has written several books on gardening, most notably The Flower Yard and Planting a Paradise.

In partnership with Down to Earth Derby.

Kindly sponsored by East Midlands Business Chamber