Ronald Blythe (1922-2023) had a long and illustrious career as a critic and writer. He made his name with Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village, an evocative book about agricultural life in Suffolk from the turn of the century to the 1960s. He also wrote both novels and short stories, as well as a study of Paul Nash, John Nash and Dora Carrington entitled First Friends.

More recently, he was the author of the much-loved Wormingford Trilogy, a beautifully observed evocation of the changing English countryside, and various collections of his popular Church Times columns. He also penned the Aldeburgh memoir The Time by the Sea, published to coincide with the Benjamin Britten centenary.

Ronald lived on the Suffolk-Essex border for all of his life, where he drew inspiration for his unique and lyrical interpretations of the English countryside. In 2006, he was given the prestigious Benson Medal by the Royal Society of Literature, in recognition of a lifetime’s achievement. Next to Nature, a collection of Blythe’s writing, was released in late 2022 to coincide with his 100th birthday.