Where Are the Fellows Who Cut the Hay? is an ode to rural life, charting traditions of the past, how they were lost and why we need to reconnect. Inspired by George Ewart Evans’s Ask the Fellows Who Cut the Hay, Ashton gives voice to local people and travels rural Suffolk in search for innovation, interweaving his own personal connection to Evans and to the land.
Robert Ashton lives near the Suffolk coast, in the town where he grew up. He worked on local farms in his teens, studied agriculture at college and spent the first decade of his career selling fertiliser. His interest in George Ewart Evans dates back to his early teens, when his parents bought him a copy of Ask the Fellows who Cut the Hay. Already an established business author, Robert graduated from the UEA with a Creative Writing MA in 2020. A Quaker, Robert is driven by a strong sense of social justice and has helped establish a number of social enterprises.