A teacher who lives with her family near Marlborough has just bought out her first book and it captures life on the farm where they live.

Entitled ‘A Day in the Life of Bart’, it is about her son Willem’s chicken and is aimed at seven or eight year olds.

Marijke and Schalk Herselman are originally from South Africa and following a decade living in London they moved to the South Hams in 2011 with their three children.

The couple run East Soar Outside Experience on a farm near Marlborough and are tenants of The National Trust.

Marijke said: ‘‘We named her Bart thinking she was a cockerel but we soon discovered she was a hen and started calling her Bartie!’’

The book follows Bart’s adventures on the farm, visiting different places and all her friends.

Marijke wrote the book during the Covid lockdown and although it didn’t take her long to write the story it took much longer to get the illustrations and production done, in all around 18 months.

The next book planned is about Jimmy the Sheep and Marijke explains: ‘‘I expect it will take around another 18 month to produce.

‘‘I am planning to write a series of stories about the animals on the farm.’’

The website gives more details about the farm: “On the headland, just above the picturesque town of Salcombe the location is perfectly suited to provide children and young people with an outdoor experience that will stay with them forever. The centre primarily provides outdoor educational opportunities for children with additional educational needs but also caters for mainstream groups.”

Under the Giving Back Scheme the farm offers local schools and youth groups the opportunity to enjoy free outdoor educational days.

“As we are situated on a National Trust farm we also work very closely with our local Rangers to ensure schools and families have access to our beautiful surroundings,” said the couple.

“As well as residential school trips and day workshops, in our spare capacity we offer a catered camping service. To fund our Giving Back Scheme we host a maximum of nine weddings a year in our newly refurbished wedding barn. East Soar farm also has a holiday cottage and a Walkers’ Hut.”

The book is available from: https://olympiapublishers.com/book/a-day-in-the-life-of-bart as well as Amazon, The Harbour Bookshop in Kingsbridge and elsewhere.