From 2018 Wainwright Prize–shortlisted author Neil Ansell, The Circling Sky is a beautifully crafted blend of childhood memoir, nature writing, and a year-long journey through one of Britain’s most remarkable landscapes: the ancient New Forest of Hampshire.

Beginning in January 2019, Ansell returns again and again to the New Forest, close to where he grew up, undertaking a series of solitary walks across its shifting heathlands, quiet woods and open glades. His keen, patient observations bring the forest vividly to life, from birds and butterflies to the subtle changes in trees, insects and weather throughout the seasons.

Alongside these exquisite encounters with wildlife, Ansell reflects on the forest’s deep history: a landscape shaped over centuries, once home to Gypsy communities who were later displaced into surrounding towns and cities. What emerges is not only a memoir of place and memory, but a thoughtful meditation on our responsibility to the land we inherit, and the natural world we are in danger of losing.

A lyrical, contemplative and quietly powerful book for readers of British nature writing, landscape history, and the deep connections between people and place.