Ronald Blythe CBE is considered one of the greatest writers on the English countryside. His work, which has won countless awards, includes Akenfield (a Penguin 20th Century Classic and a feature film). In 2006 he was awarded the Royal Society of Literature’s prestigious Benson Medal. His many columns for the Church Times, collected in ten volumes, described life at his home of Bottengoms Farm, Suffolk, where he lived and worked until his death in early 2023.