The project is a local initiative with national support. We are delighted to have a number of prestigious patrons with a particular interest in John Clare and the landscape he describes in his prose and poetry. There are currently ten Patrons from a wide range of backgrounds and careers, offering us advice and experience to take the project to the next stage.
Carry Akroyd
“I began reading John Clare’s work in the late 20th century, just as dramatic changes in farming practice significantly altered my local landscape. So his poems not only gave me delight in our shared observations of rural life, but recognition of anger and distress at familiar surroundings being ripped up and changed forever. It is this combination of joy with a realism about how ecology works that makes his writing so vital. Clare could see beauty, interest and pleasure in a ditch. The John Clare Countryside Project is important because this understated landscape is far away from all of our National Parks and other certified areas of natural beauty. It needs to be similarly valued. His poetry helps us to understand that beauty is in how we see the world, and this landscape is as valuable as any of the more famous regions.”
Carry Akroyd is a painter and printmaker who has lived most of her life just 20 miles from John Clare‘s village of Helpston. For three decades she has maintained the vein of work relating to the poetry of John Clare, images included in her books “Natures Powers & Spells, Landscape Change, John Clare and Me” and “Found in the Fields”. She has illustrated three books of Clare’s poetry and for 10 years was president of the John Clare Society. Her richly coloured landscapes often concentrate on birds and wildlife living on the margins. She was elected to the Society of WildLife Artists in 2000.
Mark Cocker
“John Clare’s importance is difficult to quantify. With Mary Shelley, Clare warned us about a loss of relationship with Nature. Like Coleridge, Clare understood that human creativity was a collaborative affair between us and the living world. Like D H Lawrence, Clare captures the joy and miracle of Life. Like no other writer in English, however, John Clare understood that human life and happiness are rooted in a living commonwealth, of which we are merely a part. His writing speaks powerfully of our present crisis, but he embodied a future we have yet to achieve. The John Clare Countryside Project is a torchbearer for those values. It illuminates the path we need to take.”
Mark Cocker is an award-winning British author, naturalist and environmental commentator whose work explores the relationship between people, wildlife and place. He has written extensively on birds, conservation and the natural world for newspapers, magazines and radio, combining rigorous observation with lyrical prose. His acclaimed books include Birds and People, which was named by The Times as one of the 25 best non-fiction books of the 21st century, Crow Country, Our Place and One Midsummer’s Day, many of which examine biodiversity, migration and the cultural meaning of nature. Through journalism, broadcasting and public speaking, Cocker has become a leading voice in contemporary nature writing, championing ecological awareness and a deeper understanding of Britain’s landscapes and wildlife today and internationally for readers.
Adam Frost
Adam began gardening as a child while growing up in Essex and was greatly influenced by his grandparents. Having started out training in traditional horticulture with a parks’ department in Devon, he went on to build and design gardens. A pivotal time in his career began when, aged 21, he began working for the great organic gardener and tv presenter Geoff Hamilton. He encouraged Adam to train with the highly regarded designer David Stevens. Following Geoff’s unexpected death in 1996, Adam set up his own build and design company, going on to create gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show. In 2016 Adam began presenting for BBC Gardener’s World. He has written 4 best selling books and is a popular public speaker.
Today, Adam’s design practice takes on projects big and small around the world, including private, commercial and public gardens. It’s important to him that he continues to oversee every piece of design that leaves the studio. His aim is to create gardens that people really want to spend time in.
He firmly believes that we can find inspiration all around us and today, gardens provide him with a strong connection to the past, as well as a place to spend time with family and friends.
Toby Jones OBE
“The life and poetry of John Clare have had a profound and unexpected influence on my life. I look forward to exploring and extending this influence as Patron of the John Clare Countryside Project. I am excited and proud to share the adventure of this project as it pursues such worthwhile goals for the wider community.”
Toby Jones is widely recognised for his appearances on screen and in the theatre. Most recently he has completed a successful run as Iago in OTHELLO (Haymarket Theatre, London). He has recently returned to reprise his role as Colin Tattersall in the hugely successful Paramount Plus show MOBLAND written by Jez Butterworth with Tom Hardy and Helen Mirren, which will return for a second season. Toby will also soon return to screens in FLAVIA, an adaption of Alan Bradley’s best-selling mystery novels. Last year he played the eponymous Philip Burton in the BAFTA nominated film MR BURTON, and returned to TV in THE HACK by Jack Thorne also starring David Tennant. He can currently be seen in the Apple series HIJACK opposite Idris Elba and this Spring, can be seen in the Sky film FLAVIA with Martin Freeman.
In 2024 he appeared in the BAFTA winning drama ALAN BATES VS THE POST OFFICE in which he played ALAN BATES and for which he was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Actor. Other screen performances include INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY, JURASSIC WORLD, HUNGER GAMES, CAPTAIN AMERICA, TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY. He played Truman Capote in INFAMOUS, Swifty Lazar in FROST NIXON and Karl Rove in Oliver Stone’s W. On television he was nominated for a BAFTA and an Emmy for his performance as Alfred Hitchcock in THE GIRL and won a BAFTA for Best Comedy Performance as Lance Stater in DETECTORISTS. Other television includes THE LONG SHADOW, DANNY BOY, CAPITAL, WORZEL GUMMIDGE, SHERLOCK and as Neil Baldwin in the BAFTA winning MARVELLOUS. He voiced Dobby the House Elf in the HARRY POTTER films.
He has received an OBE for services to drama.
Tony Juniper OBE
“The John Clare Countryside presents a huge opportunity for the people of Peterborough and surrounding areas to recognise Clare’s genius and give life to an ambitious environmental and heritage project. The John Clare Countryside will not only celebrate his name, work and legacy, but more importantly enable local people to enjoy the landscapes, flora and fauna that inspired a poet whose major published works appeared in print before Victoria was Queen. Such commemoration is more than simply a case of remembering, but also about meeting modern challenges. Time in natural environments is beneficial for wellbeing and as John Clare knew is linked with mental health. Following more than a century of obscurity, Clare’s work is inspiring ambition for nature recovery in a part of England where too little nature remains, and this will be good not only for health, but also for the regional visitor economy.”
Tony Juniper is a leading British environmentalist, author and sustainability adviser whose work has shaped public understanding of conservation and climate issues for more than three decades. A former Executive Director of Friends of the Earth and current Chair of Natural England, he has played a prominent role in environmental policy, advocacy and international debate. He is the author of influential books including What Has Nature Ever Done For Us?, Rainforest, Harmony (co-authored with King Charles III and Ian Skelly) and Just Earth. Through campaigning, broadcasting and public engagement, Juniper continues to champion practical solutions for restoring ecosystems and creating a more sustainable relationship between people and the natural world.
Martha Kearney
“I have loved John Clare’s nature poetry for a long time so I’m delighted to support The John Clare Countryside project which celebrates and protects the landscape he loved. “I found the poems in the fields, And only wrote them down.”
Martha is a British-Irish journalist and broadcaster. She was the main presenter of BBC Radio 4’s lunchtime news programme The World at One for 11 years. She continues to host a series called This Natural Life and episodes of Open Country, one of which featured the work of Clare and was recorded at Swaddywell Pit.
Tom Naylor-Leyland
I spent my childhood in the countryside in and around Milton Park, and in turn my children are now fortunate to call this beautiful area home. Whether it is listening for the nightingales at Castor Hanglands or walking through the fields between Marholm and Castor we are fortunate to live, work and support an area rich in heritage and the natural environment. The JCC initiative is bringing an energy and a commitment to enhancing the land of Clare’s birth whether that is through protecting the heritage, supporting the local economy or protecting the environment. Through the Milton Estate I am delighted to support this project.
Tom is managing director of the Fitzwilliam Estates, which includes large areas of land in the John Clare Countryside.
Dame Fiona Reynolds DBE
‘In my years as Master of Emmanuel I spent a lot of time walking in the Cambridgeshire countryside. It was magical to explore Helpston and Barnack with their traces of history still visible; to discover the work of the John Clare Countryside Project and the revelations it is bringing about; and – most meaningfully for me – to read Clare’s evocative words of loss and enclosure as I walked the fields. I’m proud to be a Patron and keen to see the project progress.’
Dame Fiona Reynolds is a non-Executive Chair and Director, holding roles in organisations that align with her passions. Fiona is Chair of the National Audit Office, the Governing Council of the Royal Agricultural University, the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England, and Cambridge University’s Botanic Garden.
Fiona has lived in Gloucestershire, near Cirencester since 2002, and is High Sheriff for the county from 2026 – 2027. She is Patron of New Brewery Arts in Cirencester and President of the hugely successful Cirencester History Festival which was founded in 2024. She is President of the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and a Vice-President of CPRE nationally and its Gloucestershire Branch.
Fiona was previously Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge (2012-2021), Director-General of the National Trust (2001-2012), Director of the Women’s Unit in the Cabinet Office (1998-2000), Director of the Council for the Protection of Rural England (now Campaign to Protect Rural England) from 1987-98 and Secretary to the Council for National Parks (now Campaign to Protect National Parks) from 1980-87. She has held previous non Executive roles at the BBC and the Grosvenor Estate. She has an MA and MPhil from Cambridge University in Geography and Land Economy and published a book The Fight for Beauty in 2016. She was appointed CBE in 1998 and DBE in 2008.
Michael Warren
Michael J. Warren is an author, naturalist, medievalist, ecocritic and teacher. Most recently, he has published his debut book in nature writing, The Cuckoo’s Lea (Bloomsbury, 2025), which explores the relationship between birds and place, especially in connection to the many birds that appear in our place-names. His PhD was on the subject of birds in English poetry, which subsequently appeared as a monograph (Boydell and Brewer, 2018). Michael teaches English in Chelmsford, was formerly an honorary research fellow at Birkbeck College, as well as chair of the steering group for the arts-conservation charity New Networks for Nature, and is currently a trustee for Curlew Action, a series editor for Medieval Ecocriticisms and a Guardian Country Diary contributor. Michael lives in Essex with his family, nearby to the marshes between Maldon and Mersea.
Nic Wilson
‘As a nature writer and Wildlife Trust volunteer, I’m passionate about connecting people with local landscape and wildlife. I have a particular fondness for John Clare’s countryside as my shepherding ancestors lived in Clare Cottage alongside the poet and his family in the 1820s. And with my academic hat on, I research the lives of Clare’s non-literary and non-literate friends and neighbours, in the series of essays ‘John Clare’s Contemporaries’.
The John Clare Countryside Project is such a fantastic example of a community coming together to support nature recovery and engage with the landscape, wildlife and heritage of a truly special area. I feel privileged to be a patron of this ambitious and inspiring project.’
Nic Wilson is a writer, editor, Guardian country diarist and author of the nature memoir Land Beneath the Waves, which was chosen as one of the best nature books of 2025 by BBC Wildlife Magazine. She works for BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine, specialising in wildlife, wild plants and environmental issues and has nearly 30 years’ writing experience spanning academia, education, journalism and narrative non-fiction.
Nic volunteers for the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust and helps organise a community nature network group. She gives talks and leads workshops on gardening, wildlife and nature writing for a range of organisations including the Wildlife Trusts.