Obituaries

Roger Deakin, who died on Saturday aged 63, was a writer, documentary-maker and
environmentalist; he enjoyed a considerable following among those who care about the
environment, particularly about the fields, rivers, waterways and trees of England.
Deakin wrote highly readable articles about these and other matters for newspapers and
magazines, including The Daily Telegraph and BBC Wildlife. He was a co-founder and
trustee of Common Ground, the group that promotes and celebrates the interdependence of
nature and culture. One of its activities of which he was particularly fond was the promotion
of "Apple Day", a celebration of the English apple and its trees.
What brought him international fame, however, was his book Waterlog (1999), which
recounted his adventures during his self-appointed mission to swim across Britain from
Cornwall to the east coast. He swam across bays, up and down rivers, along canals, through
lakes and ponds and, on one occasion, a swimming pool.
The undertaking was inspired by John Cheever's short story about a young man who swims
home across his neighbours' pools after a party on Long Island. Deakin believed not only in
the right to roam but also in the right to swim.
Beyond all his learning, his ability to connect with other people and his gentleness, he had
an unconventional streak. He believed in what he called "Wild Swimming", feeling that
nature was there to be energetically enjoyed.
Waterlog was written in a style that was perceptive, learned, amused, and typically selfeffacing,
and its insights into the countryside as well as into the condition of England itself
won it admirers as far afield as Australia, Japan and California.
As a sequel to that success, Deakin embarked on a journey which was to take him across
the ancient woods of the world, covering hundreds of miles on foot, traversing the woodland
and forests of more than a dozen countries including Portugal, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland,
Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan and Australia. During this odyssey he
was attacked by dogs, stalked by a wolf, shot at by a peasant who thought he was a bear,
and confronted by a venomous King Brown snake as he crawled up a gully in Australia.
Happily, before he became ill he was able to complete his book Wildwood: A Journey
through Trees, and he had a meeting with his editor from Hamish Hamilton several days
before he died. Part memoir, part natural history, part travelogue, the book examines the
mutually dependent relationship between human beings and trees.
Roger Stuart Deakin was born on February 11 1943 at Watford. His family was originally
from the Midlands, and his father worked as a railway clerk. Roger was educated at