[3] Blashford was close to Fryern Court, the large property in Fordingbridge where Augustus John, Dorelia McNeill and an extended group of their friends and family were living the bohemian life.
The Macnamara children moved freely between the two households and although Nicolette received little formal education, and did not learn to read until she was twelve, she did gain both an appreciation of art, from the artists at Freyn Court, and also a love of nature, particularly ornithology, from exploring the New Forest.
Macnamara did well at the Slade and throughout the 1930s began establishing her career as an artist with works shown at the New English Art Club, the Royal Academy and the London Group.
Her first novel, Bonfire was recommended for publication by Cecil Day Lewis and when it was eventually published, in 1958, it sold well and received good reviews including one by John Betjeman in the Daily Telegraph.
[1] Anthony Devas died in 1958 and several years later Macnamara married Rupert Shephard, an artist and contemporary of hers from the Slade who was also a widower with three children.