Clare Balding: Pastures New

Ahead of the Belfast Book Festival 2026, The Crescent is offering a taste of Festival events in a new series called Bookmarks, and we are excited to welcome the fantastic Clare Balding as she joins us to talk about her debut novel Pastures New.

From growing up in a racing yard to commentating in the King’s Coronation procession and fronting the Olympics and Wimbledon, Clare Balding’s life has been extraordinary. Now, she has written her debut novel following a young woman who relocates from London to a struggling farm in Monmouthshire.

Brimming with the warmth and wit that has made Clare Balding one of our best-loved TV personalities, Pastures New is a joyful celebration of new beginnings, community, and the delightful surprises of rural life. Discover more in conversation with Clare about Pastures New as well stories from behind the scenes of her 30 years in broadcasting.

About the author: Clare Balding grew up in the countryside surrounded by horses and dogs, and reading everything from Jilly Cooper to Henry James. Her autobiography, My Animals and Other Family, won the National Book Award for Autobiography of the Year. A keen rider, she competed as an amateur flat jockey during her teenage years, winning Champion Lady Rider in 1990.

After an English Literature degree at Cambridge she became a journalist. Alongside her award-winning sports broadcasting and coverage of major Royal events, Clare hosts her much-loved Ramblings series on Radio 4, taking her across the British Isles exploring its landscape and its storytelling.

A passionate campaigner for equality and women’s sport, Clare was awarded a CBE for her services to Sport and Charity in 2022, which she was honoured to receive at Buckingham Palace.

About Pastures New: Sometimes home is where you least expect it…

Alex has perfected the art of dodging responsibility during her almost 40 years — until an unexpected letter turns her life upside down. She’s inherited a crumbling sheep farm in wildest, wettest Wales. This was not her life plan. Not at all.

Now, her closest companion is a stubborn Welsh terrier, she’s speed-reading ‘The Idiot’s Guide to Farming’, and her arrival has set the village gossip mill spinning.

With the farm near collapse and its community now relying on her, Alex sets out to uncover the truth behind her mysterious inheritance. Then she can finally get back to the carefree life she thought she wanted. But as secrets surface, Alex finds her heart pulling her in a direction she never saw coming.

Save the Date: Book lovers are invited to save the date for The Crescent's Belfast Book Festival which will run from 4–11 June 2026. The full programme and tickets will be announced in April 2026, with all events offered on a pay-what-you-decide basis.