Roger Deakin (1943-2006), nature writer and independent film-maker who also taught English, co-founded the arts/environment organisation Common Ground, was a campaigns planner for Friends of the Earth, a musical advisor to the Aldeburgh Foundation, and a director of the Eastern Arts Board and Suffolk Dance.

Deakin gained popular success with his book Waterlog: A Swimmer’s Journey Through Britain (1999). The Archive holds draft, proof and manuscript copies of this book; correspondence relating to the book as well as to the journey on which it was based; and papers on other swimming and water related topics.

Wildwood: A Journey Through Trees was published posthumously (2007). Deakin’s wood and tree research took him most notably to Poland, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Australia. The archive includes the book proposal, chapter breakdowns, and research papers.

Included is a series of 45 notebooks in which Deakin recorded his daily thoughts, feelings and observations around his home Walnut Tree Farm, near Mellis, Suffolk. This became the source material for Notes From Walnut Tree Farm (2008), edited by Alison Hastie & Terence Blacker.

The Archive contains working papers, notes and correspondence relating to Deakin’s private and working life; book drafts and manuscripts; scripts for journal and newspaper articles; and radio programme recordings, including the BBC Radio 4 documentary “The House” (Walnut Tree Farm).

Listing of this collection [PDF, 3.1MB]
Roger Deakin leaflet [PDF, 1.5MB]

Deakin's film and television collection is held with the East Anglian Film Archive

External web sites:
The Place that Roger Built (essay and slideshow by Justin Partyka)
Cigarette on the Waveney, BBC Radio 4 programme of Roger's canoe journey down the Waveney Valley - 30 minutes
Vertigo: Collecting and Reading W.G. Sebald (Roger Deakin and W.G. Sebald)