Ian Collins.
IAN COLLINS
BLYTHE SPIRIT: THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF RONALD BLYTHE)
Ronald Blythe (1922 - 2023) was a prominent writer on the countryside. His most famous book, Akenfield, published in 1969, told the story of a Suffolk village through the preceding decades. To gather his material, Blythe recorded interviews with numerous local residents. One of six children of an agricultural worker, he left school at 14 and later obtained a job working in the Colchester public reference library. He was an avid reader, and was encouraged to become a writer by Christine Nash, the wife of artist John Nash.
In addition to his many books, Blythe wrote a much praised and long-running column about the countryside in the Church Times. Entitled ‘Word from Wormingford’, this ran from 1993 to 2017.
The Spectator wrote of the book: ‘The biography conjures a lost world of letter-writing and weekend visits, with country life providing the time and space to form lasting bonds . . . deeply moving.’
Ian Collins is a writer and curator. His books include a a three volume history of the art of East Anglia. He has worked as a curator of exhibitions at the Aldeburgh Festival, and the British Museum.
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