Fennel Hudson Author

Hi, I'm Fennel. I'm a nature writer, outdoorsman and conservationist. You've probably never heard of me. That's fine. I've spent most of my life hiding in hedgerows.

I'm also known as Nigel, Hubby, Daddy, and Professor Hudson; but these are names with very different stories. So, for my nature writing, I'm Fennel: the gentle one with strong roots.

Fennel's been my nickname since 1995. It stems back to my early career as a gardener on a country estate, when I flavoured some fishing bait with the herb. The aroma stuck and so did the name, so it seemed appropriate to use as my pen name. It's helped me to separate my day job and writing career, always reminding me of who I am when I sit down at my writing desk.

In 1996 I formed a little publishing company called Fennel's Priory. It enabled me to share my writing about the natural world, rural life, and countryside pursuits. During the last 30 years I've published books, magazines, newspapers, blogs, podcasts, and films. More than two million words shared with my much-loved readers. I'm proud of this but I should have found more time to 'Stop, Unplug, Escape, Enjoy'.

My story

I was born in Worcestershire, England, in 1974. Dad was a schoolteacher and Mom was a housewife whose family had farmed in Shropshire for 300 years. In 1976 we moved to a village next to the 6,500-acre Enville Estate in rural Staffordshire. Inspired by John Seymour's Self Sufficiency book and TV's The Good Life, we lived a simple and deliberately traditional life. Mom loved gardening and nature, Dad was a keen angler, and I was captivated by the local living museums at Blists Hill, Acton Scott, and the Black Country. So I spent most of my time outdoors, gardening, fishing, and exploring the local countryside while dressed like a kid from a Victorian schoolhouse.

Life was very different back then. Wildlife was more prolific and diverse, the seasons were more distinct, electricity wasn't guaranteed and central heating was only for the rich. Being cooped up indoors wasn't much fun. Life was to be found outdoors.

I got my first job, aged 11, in 1985. 'An old head on young shoulders', apparently, which enabled me to work as a gardener for a local country house. I was too small to control a lawn mower, so I was handed a scythe and told not to chop my legs off.

Gardening suited my character well. (I'm happiest in my own company and never more so than when I'm outdoors amongst nature.) It gave me the space and time to collect my thoughts, which resulted in my first book. Called 'Timekeep', it was a nicely bound handwritten thing that I shared with family and friends in 1985. It's a precocious tome for an 11-year-old, a time capsule of sorts that captured my thoughts and values for reference by my future self. It's kept me grounded for forty years.

I excelled in English at school, due to my fabulous English teacher and my love of reading. I wrote my second book in 1987, a Hobbit-inspired funny story about dwarves and a pyro-flatulent dragon, which was published by my school and placed in the school library. I was super proud. It led to me becoming editor of my school newspaper in 1988 and then, having been introduced to BB's countryside books, I switched to writing about nature and the countryside. I wrote four little nature books (extended essays) and then, at the grand old age of 19, began a phenomenally successful writing and publishing career.

Yeah, right.

I'd like to say that writing and publishing has paid the bills. It hasn't. Far from it. Like most writers, I've had a day job. 

I studied horticulture at college and landscape architecture at university, indulging my love of plants, ecology, design, and green spaces, then worked in horticulture for a further eight years before moving into environmental and sales consultancy. I wrote prolifically throughout this time, penning three thousand words each night. Most were letters sent to my friends, some where little storybooks, and a great deal were magazine articles that, due to shyness, I never submitted.

In 2004, after a bump in life's road, I met Mrs-H-to-Be. She discovered my secret writing and insisted that I do something positive with it. I decided to share the unpublished articles as letters with my friends and then, in 2012, I published them as magazines that became known as 'Fennel's Journal'. The last of these sold out in 2017, so I republished them as books. It's for these titles that I'm best known, along with my conservation work leading The Wild Carp Trust.

These days I live in north Wales, where I'll be found exploring the mountains and river valleys with notepad or fishing rod. 

I'm gradually republishing my back catalogue of books, while working on new titles. It's a slow process, always balanced with other activities and appreciation of life, so I'm pleased if I publish three titles per year.

2026 is the 30th Anniversary of Fennel's Priory. I'm treating it to a makeover, starting by making it an imprint of a much larger brand called Nature Writer. There will be many more things to come, so let's stay connected.

Thanks for being with me on this exciting journey.

Fennel